ArchiveJuly 2025

Tasmanian food activist Matthew Evans from The Fat Pig Farm has been on my radar for a very long time but until recently our paths had never crossed. Well, blow me away, if he didn’t walk into the hall of the Ballymaloe Cookery School the other day. I couldn’t believe my eyes. He was over this side of the world to attend Groundswell, the regenerative farming conference in Hertfordshire in the UK and decided to swing by Ireland where some of his ancestors hailed from.
Matthew has had a fascinating life, originally the restaurant critic for the Sydney Morning Herald, he became a chef, restaurateur, food writer, TV broadcaster and now is also a farmer.
His seventy acre mixed farm is in the beautiful Huon Valley, south of Hobart, right down on the southern end of Tasmania.
He grows vegetables and fruit, makes cider, fattens a few heritage pigs and milks a couple of house cows to have beautiful fresh milk, the subject of MILK, one of his fifteen books. Another simply entitled SOIL is a hymn to the underappreciated three or four inches of earth below our feet on which our very existence depends.
He, just like me, is passionate about the importance of rich fertile soil. After all, the only reason we have life on earth is topsoil, crucial for the health of the planet and our ability to grow food.
Matthew came to farming from the kitchen. As a chef, he became intrigued by flavour and super curious about why some vegetables and fruits and herbs were so much more delicious than others. What was it that made a simple ingredient like carrots for example, taste so much more intensely sweet than others?
This inevitably led him to the soil. Richer, more fertile organic soil, usually produces better tasting and more nutrient dense food – Surprise, surprise!
And so he has become a feisty advocate for regenerative, ecological farming – growing food in a way that replenishes the soil and ecosystems and keeps us healthy.
Groundswell on Lannock Farm, now in its tenth year, creates a forum for farmers, growers, anyone interested in food production and the environment to come together to share ideas and learn about the theory of practical applications of regenerative farming systems.
A series of brilliant speakers entice thousands of people from all over the world. www.groundswellag.com
(There was quite a contingent from Ireland and NOTS – National Organic Training Skillnet). www.nots.ie  
There is a consensus that we urgently need a global metric to measure outcomes on our farms. Polluters need to pay for the damage to the environment and farmers who deliver positive climate, nature and social outcomes, should be rewarded financially. These actions would be a game changer…
One of the many inspirational sessions I attended was entitled, Farming: Our Health Service. There is a growing concern that our current food system is broken but farming has the potential to be our natural health service so what do we need from food production to regenerate public health?
They explored how whole health agriculture is needed to realign farming with both human and environmental health and wellbeing.
Regenerative Farming or ‘Regen’ is the great new buzzword, but it is already being commandeered by the multinational food companies in their marketing and labelling.
Thus far, however there is no definition so there is considerable confusion amongst the general public and a definite possibility of greenwashing….
Regen is an admirable way to embark on a journey towards less artificial inputs, pesticides, herbicides and ultimately organic farming, however many ‘regen ‘ farmers are still using glyphosate, albeit less, to kill weeds but it also damages life in the soil. Without a strict definition this inspirational movement runs the risk of being discredited.
Matthew Evans gave me a present of his latest book, ‘The Real Food Companion’ published by Murdoch Books, a lifetime’s worth of food knowledge, from the soil (where it all begins) to the table.
Difficult to pick just three recipes from the hundreds in this inspirational tome, but enjoy these to get started.

All recipes are from ‘The Real Food Companion’ by Matthew Evans published by Murdoch Books.

Crab and Chilli Omelette

Rich egg, sweet crab and the spice of chilli combine to make this one hell of an omelette.

Ingredients

100g cooked crab meat

2 small red chillies, seeded and finely sliced

3 tbsp chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves

1 tsp fish sauce

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tbsp peanut oil

1 large garlic clove, crushed

Serves 1-2

Method

Mix the crabmeat in a bowl with the chilli, coriander, and fish sauce, then add the remaining sauce to the eggs.

Heat the peanut oil in a large non-stick frying pan over high heat and quickly fry the garlic until starting to colour. Add the egg and stir until it is half cooked. Scatter the crab mixture over the top and press gently into the egg. When the egg is nearly cooked, fold the omelette over, and tip onto a plate.

Halve the omelette and serve with steamed rice.

Wild Strawberry Salad with Vanilla Drained Yoghurt

I love strawberries as much as I love Hobart on a sunny Sunday afternoon. And that’s a lot. Unlike Hobart, however, I only love fresh strawberries in summer.

Serves 4

Ingredients

500g Greek-style yoghurt

1 tsp natural vanilla extract

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest

500g strawberries

3 peaches or nectarines, stones removed, cut into chunks

2 bananas, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks

1 tbsp lemon juice

5 basil leaves, finely sliced

Method

Place the yoghurt in a strainer lined with muslin (cheesecloth) or strong, clean, absorbent paper. Cover the yoghurt, place
a bowl underneath the strainer, and place the whole lot into the refrigerator to let the whey drain out overnight. The next day, put the thickish yoghurt into a bowl and stir in the vanilla extract.

In a large frying pan, heat the honey and zest over medium heat. Add the strawberries, peaches and bananas and toss to warm through. Add the lemon juice and basil and serve warm with the yoghurt.

Honeyed Anzac Biscuits  

I like my Anzac biscuits (cookies) chewy, and it may take a couple of attempts to get them just right. Honey makes a nice change from the golden syrup that is used in most traditional recipes.

Makes 25

Ingredients

100g rolled (porridge) oats

135g plain flour, sifted

200g caster sugar

70g shredded coconut

125g butter, cubed

2 tbsp honey

1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), sifted

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.

Line two baking trays with baking paper.

Mix the oats, flour, sugar and coconut together in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre.

Heat the butter and honey in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until melted and combined. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda to combine (it will foam up, this is normal).

Pour the honey mixture into the dry ingredients and mix to combine. If it seems too stiff, add 1-2 teaspoons of water. Place dessertspoon-sized blobs about 5cm
apart on the prepared trays, allowing room for them to spread.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden. They will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

At last, the conversation around the impact of ultra-processed foods on the health of the nation is gathering momentum. I’ve written before about how we are sleepwalking into a health crisis of gargantuan proportions. It has crept up on us so rapidly and stealthily that it has almost gone unnoticed.
Ultra-processed foods now make up over half of the average diet in Ireland. To be precise, 54.9% according to research published in The Journal of Public Health Nutrition. Ireland tops the poll in 19 EU countries, contrast that percentage with 10.2% in Portugal. Ireland is now the second most obese country in Europe with more than a quarter of the adult population classified as obese.

For some time now, it has been altogether easier to find what used to be called fake or junk food now called UPF’s, than real food…
Plus there’s huge confusion amongst the general public about what exactly constitutes UPF’s, ultra-processed food.
These are foods that are mass produced in industrial systems,  purposely engineered to be irresistible and hyper palatable, cheap with a long shelf life.
Foods that you couldn’t be made in your home kitchen with ingredients you would never find in your pantry.
Packed with artificial flavourings, colourings and preservatives, emulsifiers, stabilisers, flavour enhancers… Often with a long list of ingredients, many unrecognisable to the general public. A chicken curry on the recently introduced Free School Meals menu had over 50 ingredients – where are our priorities…?

These foods are highly profitable and are aggressively marketed to both children and grown-up’s. In the UK, only 2% of advertising is on real food, 98% is spent on ultra-processed food. I’ve no doubt it’s similar over here.
The reality is, our food system is built for profit not to nourish the population. New research links harmful ultra-processed foods to the alarming rise in obesity, Type 2 diabetes, metabolic and inflammatory diseases, cancers, even early death….

So why, knowing what we know is it legal to sell these foods? What will it take to reverse this trend and break free but reverse it we must.
We may think we actually have a choice in what we eat, but the reality is an immense amount of money, thought and research goes into making these foods utterly irresistible and addictive and super cheap. UPF’s have quietly taken over the food system and they are unquestionably making us sick. Is it possible that the manufacturers are unaware of this? 

About 10 major food corporations control 80% of the food supply on our supermarket shelves. Meal Deals, Takeaways, Grab, Gobble and Go, Deliveroo and its many incarnations have become a way of life…

So, what to do?

In the words of Michael Pollan, “Eat nothing your grandmother wouldn’t recognise as Food”. kind of sums it up simply… 

Chris Van Tulleken’s excellent book ‘Ultra-Processed People’ published by Cornerstone Press draws a direct correlation between high levels of ultra-processed food consumption and the rise in both physical and mental health issues.

Should the production companies not be required to pay for the ill health they are causing?

How long before the Irish government will no longer be able to fund the health service? 

So, what to do? Time for bold and coordinated action and a huge rethink about how to tackle the decline in national health.

This will not be an easy matter, many of the major food corporations are wealthier and more powerful than governments.

As the grandmother of 11 grandchildren, the UPF food situation is keeping me awake at night. We need a coalition of parents, teachers and citizens to demand action. 

We urgently need to reexamine our priorities – after all, what could be more important than the future health of the nation, our children and grandchildren. This is no easy task to tackle. but what could be more important, what could be more urgent? After all, the wealth of the nation depends on the health of a nation and the health of a nation depends on the food we eat…time for action!

Many of the foods we take for granted are ultra-processed. Here is an alternative to the bottled tomato sauce which has become a staple for so many. Avoid the majority of breakfast cereals, with a few very rare exceptions like real porridge, most are ultra-processed…Here too is a super simple recipe for homemade fish fingers, make a little homemade garlic mayo to go with them and whizz up a few homemade breadcrumbs, they take just a couple of seconds to make, a brilliant way to use up leftover stale bread.

Win, win all the way… 

Two Breakfast Cereals:

Apple, Blackberry, Strawberry, or Raspberry Muesli

This is right up there with porridge as the best and most nourishing breakfast ever. It’s also super delicious, can be made in minutes, even when you are semi-comatose in the morning. Choose ripe eating apples for this recipe. The proportion of apple to oatmeal should be equal, taste and adjust as you wish. During the soft fruit season, we crush strawberries, raspberries, loganberries or tayberries and fold into the oatmeal instead of almonds. A few blackberries are delicious added to the muesli in Autumn.

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 heaped tbsp organic rolled oatmeal

110g dessert apples, preferably Worcester Pearmain or Cox’s Orange Pippin

approx. 1 tsp honey, depending on the tartness of the fruit

single cream and soft brown sugar, to serve

Method

Measure out 6 tablespoons of water into a bowl and sprinkle the oatmeal on top.  Let the oatmeal soak up the water while you grate the apple. A stainless-steel grater is best for this job; use the largest side and grate the apple coarsely, skin and all. I grate through the core but watch your fingers when you are coming close to the end. Pick out the dark pips and discard.

Stir the honey into the oatmeal and then stir in the grated apple, taste and add a little more honey if necessary. This will depend on how much you heaped up the spoon earlier on and how sweet the fruit is. Serve with cream and soft brown sugar.

Ballymaloe Crunchy Granola

A toasted grain cereal. Use organic ingredients where possible to really nourish your family.

Serves 20

Ingredients

350g local runny honey

225g light olive oil

470g oat flakes

200g barley flakes

200g wheat flakes

100g rye flakes

150g seedless raisins or sultanas

150g peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds or cashew nuts split and roasted

70g wheatgerm and /or millet flakes

50g chopped apricots or75g chopped dates are nice too

toasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds are also delicious

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

Method

Mix oil and honey together in a saucepan, heat just enough to melt the honey.  Mix well into the mixed flakes. Spread thinly on two baking sheets.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes, turning frequently, making sure the edges don’t burn. It should be just golden and toasted, not roasted!

Allow to get cold.  Mix in the raisins or sultanas, roasted nuts, toasted seeds, chopped dates, apricots and wheatgerm.  Store in a screw top jar or a plastic box, keeps for 1-2 weeks.

Serve with sliced banana, berries in season, milk or yoghurt.

Tomato Fondue

One of our favourite recipes and  one of our great convertibles, it has a number of uses, we serve it as a vegetable or a sauce for pasta, filling for omelettes, topping for pizza…It will keep for four or five days in the fridge and freezes perfectly. It will be particularly delicious at this time from now on made with Irish summer tomatoes.

Serves 6 approx.

Ingredients 

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

110g sliced onions

1 clove of garlic, crushed

900g very ripe tomatoes in summer, or 2 x 400g tins of tomatoes in winter, but peel before using

salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar to taste

1 tbsp of any of the following: freshly chopped mint, thyme, parsley, lemon balm, marjoram or torn basil

Method

Heat the oil in a stainless steel sauté pan or casserole.  Add the sliced onions and garlic toss until coated, cover and sweat on a gentle heat until soft but not coloured – about 10 minutes. It is vital for the success of this dish that the onions are completely soft before the tomatoes are added.  Slice the peeled fresh tomatoes or chopped tinned tomatoes and add with all the juice to the onions.  Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar (tinned tomatoes need lots of sugar because of their high acidity).  Add a generous sprinkling of herbs. Cover and cook for just 10-20 minutes more, or until the tomato softens, uncover and reduce a little.  Cook fresh tomatoes for a shorter time to preserve the lively fresh flavour. 

Tinned tomatoes need to be cooked for longer depending on whether one wants to use the fondue as a vegetable, sauce or filling.

Variations

Tomato Fondue with Chilli

Add 1-2 chopped fresh chillies to the onions when sweating.

Penne with Tomato Fondue

Toss 450g of cooked penne or spaghetti with Tomato and Chilli Fondue.

Tomato and Chorizo Fondue 

Add ½-1 sliced or diced chorizo to the tomato fondue five minutes before the end of cooking, great with pasta.

Tomato, Bean and Rosemary Stew

Add 1 x 400g can of haricot beans or black-eyed beans and 1 tablespoon of chopped rosemary to the above.

Yummy Fish Fingers with Garlic Mayo

The hake stocks are in good shape, fresh hake is a superb fish, sweet and flaky.

Serves 8

Ingredients

8 pieces fresh haddock, hake or pollock cut into fingers 11.5 x 3cm approximately

salt and freshly ground black pepper

white flour, seasoned well with salt, freshly ground and pepper and a

a little cayenne or smoked paprika (optional)

egg wash

2-3 beaten free-range, organic eggs and a little milk

panko or dried white breadcrumbs

To Serve

crunchy Little Gem lettuce leaves

Garlic Mayo (Aioli)

225g homemade mayonnaise (see recipe)

Add 1-4 crushed garlic cloves (depending on size) to the egg yolks as you start to make the mayonnaise.  Add 2 tsp of chopped flat-leaf parsley at the end and season to taste.

Method

Heat the oil in a deep fry to 180˚C.

Season the fingers of fish with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Then, dip the fish, first into the well-seasoned flour and then into the beaten egg and finally coat evenly all over with the crumbs of your choice.  Pat gently to firm up…!

Heat some olive oil or clarified butter in a wide frying pan over a medium heat. Cook the fish fingers until golden and crispy on the outside and cooked through into the centre. Drain on kitchen paper.

I love to wrap them in crunchy Little Gem lettuce leaves, add a dollop of garlic mayo (aioli)/mayo of choice and enjoy.

Homemade Mayonnaise

Ingredients

2 egg yolks, preferably free range

¼ tsp salt

pinch of English mustardor ¼ tsp French mustard

1 dsp white wine vinegar

225ml oil (sunflower or olive oil or a mixture) – We use 175ml sunflower oil and 50ml olive oil, alternatively use 7/1

Method

Put the egg yolks into a bowl with the salt, mustard and the white wine vinegar (keep the whites to make meringues). Put the oil into a measure. Take a whisk in one hand and the oil in the other and drip the oil onto the egg yolks, drop by drop whisking at the same time to create an emulsion. Within a minute you will notice that the mixture is beginning to thicken. When this happens, you can add the oil a little faster, but don’t get too complacent or it will suddenly curdle because the egg yolks can only absorb the oil at a certain pace. Taste and add a little more seasoning and vinegar if necessary.

If the Mayonnaise curdles (splits), it will suddenly become quite thin, and if left sitting the oil will start to float to the top of the sauce. If this happens, you can quite easily rectify the situation by putting another egg yolk into a clean bowl, then whisk in the curdled Mayonnaise, a half teaspoon at a time until it emulsifies again.  Alternatively, if you catch it just as it begins to curdle, you can sometimes rescue the situation by whisking in 1-2 tablespoons of hot water.

If you’re longing for a bit of peace and quiet, it’s super difficult these days to find a place for a family holiday away from the madding crowd, yet with enough activities within reasonable driving distance to keep several generations occupied and amused. Recently, we managed to find just that almost by accident. We found ourselves in an agricultural area in the southwest of France that I’d never even heard of before called Gers, sometimes Gascony. Apparently, it’s one of, if not the most rural part of France, internationally renowned for its fine gastronomy, how about that for a find! 
It’s also famous for its many bastides, beautiful fortified medieval towns and villages. There are no motorways in Gers, no high-speed trains though you can get a train to the capital Auch or ‘Ouch’ as I mistakenly pronounced it. Best of all there is no mass tourism, and the locals seemed genuinely delighted to see us. We drove for miles through rolling countryside, undulating fields of sunflowers and sweet corn, grazing pastures with bales of hay and occasional Blond Aquitaine cattle. Beautiful allés of plane trees originally commissioned by Napoleon to provide shade for his marching troops. Hedges bursting with yellow broom and honeysuckle, perennial sweet pea and purple vetch…sounds like I’m writing tourist blurb, but I kid you not, this is exactly what it’s like! How come, I never knew about it before.
There were 18 of us, so we had rented a restored 17^th century château just outside the little village of Seissan called Château Labarthe. As was the custom, it had its own chapel close by where the bells rang out both morning and evening, so, so beautiful and tranquil.
On the first evening, we went to a little restaurant called CRU – Cave et Repas à l’Unisson that we had pre-booked in the city of Auch. Tables outside under a spreading Judas tree, we ordered everything on the little blackboard menu, typical French bourgeois food and delicious.

Every village has a market day, most  start early in the morning and finish at noon-ish, but in the Armagnac and  d’Artagnan area, they often start in the late afternoon and continue on into the night, finishing circa 11pm.
On Sunday we headed for the market in the medieval village of Bassoues, dating back to 1016 and happily coincided with their annual fiesta to celebrate the feast of their patron Saint Fris. The whole community were out in their Sunday best and the village brass band played merry tunes with gusto before the long table feast under the village square. Lots of little shops, another impressive chateau and a beautiful church dedicated to the Saint.
On Monday, we drove 45 minutes to Samatan, a much bigger market, spread over many of the streets in centre ville, apart from stalls piled high with seasonal vegetables and fruit, ripe nectarines, peregrine and doughnut peaches, apricots, and a bounty of summer produce. Many stalls selling green Moroccan pottery, candles, wispy cane lampshades and tajines. Among many things, this area seems to be famous for its foie gras and ducks, so we made a pilgrimage to the Halle de Gras which literally translates to the Hall of Fat. Local farmers were proudly selling their prize produce, whole ducks, magret de canards, ducks hearts, and of course beautiful fresh foie gras. Close by, other farmers were proudly selling a selection of live poultry, chickens, fine cockerels, ducks, quail, geese, a turkey, rabbits, pigeons, even canaries and budgies.
My favourite section is where small farmers and their wives were selling their small harvest of homegrown produce, often organic or chemical-free on simple stalls. Little bunches of the rich and spicy local white garlic, dried Tarbais beans, new season onions, tiny Gariguette and Charlotte strawberries, state of the art Boucherie and Charcuterie vans were selling artfully butchered meat, charcuterie and coils of Saucisse de Toulouse and the local Noir de Bigorre pork. Others had a fantastic array of cheeses. We ate steak frites at one of the little cafés on the edge of the market soaking up the atmosphere. The steak was rare and juicy and delicious, possibly from the local Blonde d’Aquitaine cattle, famous for their delicious beefy flavour.
We filled our bags and baskets with beautiful produce, some of the famous prunes from Agen and a fine bottle of Armagnac for which the area is also justifiably famous.
Home again with my head swirling with memories of an area that I long to explore further. Here are some recipes to remind me of the week.

Salad of Heritage Tomatoes, Peaches and Mozzarella

We used huge heritage tomatoes, super ripe peaches and tender buffalo mozzarella – a delicious combination.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

2-3 ripe peaches depending on size

4-8 heritage tomatoes depending on size

2 balls of buffalo mozzarella

8-12 leaves of basil or mint

flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Dressing

2 tbsp of lemon juice or mild white wine vinegar such as Forum

8 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp honey

salt and pepper

Method

Slice the peaches off the stone – you will get 8 pieces approx. from each fruit and place in a large low sided bowl. Cut the heritage tomatoes into similar chunky pieces as the nectarines and add to the bowl. Tear each piece of buffalo mozzarella into 4 pieces and add to the bowl. Season with flaky salt and freshly ground pepper.

Whisk the dressing ingredients together, taste and correct the seasoning.

Tear the herbs on to the fruit and cheese and add the dressing. Stir and mix gently, being careful not to break up the fruit.

Place on a large platter or individual plates and serve immediately garnishing with a few more mint or basil leaves if you have them to spare.

Agen Prunes in Armagnac

Super easy to make, serve as a delicious dessert with vanilla bean ice cream or just a blob of whipped cream if you will…also delicious served as an accompaniment to roast duck, goose or pork.

Ingredients

225g Agen prunes with stone in (20 prunes approx.)

grated rind of 1 organic lemon

150ml Armagnac

150ml sugar syrup (*equal quantities of sugar and water – dissolve the sugar in the water and bring to the boil for 2 minutes then allow it to cool. Use any leftover sugar syrup to make lemonade, fruit compotes…) 

1 Kilner jar

Method

Fill a sterilised Kilner jar with Agen prunes, add the freshly grated lemon rind. Half cover with Armagnac, then top up with the sugar syrup. Seal and allow to macerate for at least ten days.

Tarte aux Pomme from Gers

Use freshly ground cinnamon or mixed spice or sprinkle generously with Armagnac, the local spirit.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

1 packet of filo pastry (you may not need it all)

50g butter, melted

3-4 dessert apples, e.g., Cox’s Pippins

110g caster sugar

1 tsp cinnamon or mixed spice or 1 tablespoon of Armagnac (optional)

icing sugar

1 x 23-25.5cm round tart tin, preferably with a pop-up base.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

Brush the tin with melted butter, cut 3 sheets of filo in half widthways, brush with melted butter, fold in half and arrange overlapping in the tin. Peel and cut the apples into chunks, sprinkle with plenty of sugar (plus cinnamon or mixed spice or Armagnac if using) and toss. The tin should be generously filled with fruit. Fold the edges of the filo back into the tart.

Divide another 3 sheets of filo into 4 pieces each. Brush generously with melted butter.  Scrunch up each piece and arrange on top.  Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour approx. or until the apple is cooked and the pastry crisp and golden.

Pop the tart out of the tin onto a serving plate.

Dredge with icing sugar, serve warm with softly whipped cream.

Note: The apple may be par cooked ahead in which case it will take a shorter time to cook.