Can a house change one’s life? I wouldn’t have believed it. But almost from the day Patricia and Walter Wells first saw Chanteduc – their 18th Century farmhouse in northern Provence – their future was altered forever. Ever since the wooded ten acres on top of a stony hill in Vaison–la–Romaine became theirs in 1984, Patricia says that she and her husband Walter have looked differently at the world.
Chanteduc – a tumble-down mas whose name poetically translates as ‘song of the owl’ – turned what was to have been a Paris interlude into a permanent sejour in France. And what was to have been a weekend house became a home, a lifestyle, an obsession, an extension of their very personalities.
Almost before they’d unpacked their bags in Provence, they had more French friends than they had made in all their time in Paris. Within a year, they could no longer even remember life before Provence. For them, it symbolised all the essential elements of happiness they sought in life – friends, family, food and feasts. It opened their eyes, their ears, their sensibilities to the rituals of French daily life in the countryside. Before, they had only read about this life , and finally they were witnesses, participants; they were making it happen. Was it just the sun, or did this place have a magic way of magnifying ordinary pleasures?
Before long, they could not go to town for a morsel of goat cheese or a sack of nails without the errand turning into a social event. Conversation is central to a Provencal’s life: so there was always talk of the sun (or lack of it); talk of the raging local wind known as the mistral, talk of the tourists (or lack of them); talk of the latest scandal or outrage in faraway Paris.
Weather – be it sunshine, rain, or drought – became a preoccupation, for whatever happened in the sky affected their day, their garden, their crops, and the moods of the farmers and merchants around them. When the half–dozen gnarled old cherry trees in the orchard began to bear fruit, they dropped everything to pick the shiny, purple-red fruits and set about putting that bounty to work, making clafoutis, ice creams, confitures, and homemade liqueurs. The unfurling of every leaf – lettuce, grapes, figs, and irises – became the object of their weekly attention. They eagerly turned their attention to a fledgling vegetable garden, only to find that about all this parched, chalky soil could promise were vegetables that tasted of struggle. The growth of nearly every olive in their small grove of trees was followed throughout the season, though more than once they arrived at harvest time to find the trees picked nearly bare by passersby. Thankfully, the village farmers’ market is overflowing with baskets of ripe, uncured olives at Christmas time, so their home-cured olives were generally of mixed origins!
They learned about spotting the property’s edible wild mushrooms, but only after years of listening to the neighbours boast of discoveries on their land. An invitation to join them for a hunt, with the promise of a multi-mushroom feast to follow, was the key to uncovering the secret gardens hidden amid the pines. They also learned about unearthing the rare black truffles that hid beneath the soil of their vines, not far from the rows of scrub oak that enclosed their vineyards, but knew secretly that, most years, the poachers’ bounty far exceeded their meagre findings.
And sometimes they came closer to certain flora and fauna than one would desire. They’ve fled wild boar at the compost pile, chased wild pheasant and quail in the vegetable garden, and know more about the night habits of the loir – a squirrel-like rodent that loves the proximity of humans and their central heating system – than could fill a book.
Patricia and her husband Walter spent most of their adult lives working in cities like Washington, DC, New York, and Paris, and now, as country folk, they found that their lives were curiously affected by the phases of the moon, the colour of the sky, the moistness of the earth, the presence (or lack of) bees, salamanders, rabbits, or butterflies. Soon, like all the locals, they followed the rhythms of the moon, learning that if they planted parsley just after the new moon, the herb would flourish, and if they picked flowers with the full moon, they would last longer.
I first met Patricia Wells in Italy in 1980 when we were both in Bologna to take a cooking course from the doyenne of Italian cooking Marcella Hazan – she had to leave before the end of the week and I remember hoping that our paths would cross again – she is now a renowned international food writer who has sold over 750,000 copies of her books worldwide. She is the author of the best-selling Bistro, Trattoria and The Paris Cookbook. Patricia is a restaurant critic for the International Herald Tribune and the first female restaurant critic for the French newsweekly L’Express. In 1989, the French government honoured Patricia Wells for her contributions to French culture, awarding her the coveted Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
The new edition of Patricia Wells at home in Provence is one of my favourites, packed with really tempting recipes – delicious comfort food to transport us to Provence.

Patricia Wells at home in Provence, published by Kyle Cathie, May 2005, £14.99 stg.
Buy this Book at Amazon
Here are some recipes from the book.

Gratin Dauphinois

Patricia uses the Charlotte potato in France, just be sure that the potatoes are nice and firm-fleshed and make sure the cheese is a good Gruyere.

Serves 4-6

1 plump fresh garlic clove, peeled and halved.
1kg (2lb) firm-fleshed potatoes, peeled and sliced very thinly.
125g (4oz) freshly grated Gruyere cheese
500ml (16fl.oz) whole milk
125ml (4 fl.oz) crème fraiche or double cream
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

One 2- litre (3½ pint) ovenproof dish

Preheat the oven to 190c/375F/gas mark 5

Rub the inside of the baking dish with garlic.
In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, three-quarters of the cheese, the milk, crème fraiche, salt and pepper. Mix well. Spoon the mixture into the baking dish, pouring the liquid over the potatoes. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Place in the centre of the oven and bake until the potatoes are cooked through and the top is crisp and golden, about 1¼ hours.

French Country Guinea Fowl and Cabbage

Serves 4-6

1 guinea fowl (about 1kg/2lb) or substitute chicken
2 shallots, peeled and halved
1 thin slice of smoked ham, finely chopped
Bouquet garni: a generous bunch of flat-leaf parsley, celery leaves, fresh bay leaves and sprigs of thyme, tied in a bundle with string
90g (3oz) unsalted butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
500ml (16 fl.oz) chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 large green cabbage, quartered lengthwise
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Season the exterior and cavity of the bird with salt and pepper. Place the shallots, ham and bouquet garni inside the cavity and sew up the opening. Set aside.
In a large covered casserole, melt 15g (½ oz) butter with the oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Add the guinea fowl and brown it carefully on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer the bird to a platter and discard the fat in the pan. Season the exterior generously with salt and pepper. Still over moderate heat, add another 15g (½ oz) butter to the casserole, scraping up the browned bits that cling to the bottom of the pan. Add the onion and carrot and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Return the bird to the pan, add the stock, cover and simmer over a low heat until the chicken is cooked, about 50 minutes.
In a large pan, bring 6 litres (10 pints) of water to a rolling boil. Add 3 tablespoons of salt and the cabbage, and blanch, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
In a large frying pan, melt the remaining butter over moderate heat. Add the vinegar, cabbage, seasoning, and cook, trying to keep the pieces of cabbage intact and well coated with sauce. Cover and cook over low heat until soft, about 20 minutes. Season to taste.
Meanwhile, carve the guinea fowl and arrange the pieces on a warmed serving platter. Spoon the stuffing, sauce and warmed cabbage over the sliced poultry and serve at once.

Eli’s Apple Crisp

Prepare this with a good tangy cooking apple, and if possible, combine several varieties such as Granny Smith, McIntosh, and Fuji – for a more complex depth of flavour and texture. This is a quick easy appealing and inexpensive dessert, and you don’t have to make pastry!

Serves 8

Unsalted butter for preparing the baking dish
45g (1½ oz) unsalted butter
1kg (2lb) cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut lengthwise into 8 even wedges
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
75g (2½ oz) sugar
250ml (8 fl.ozs ) crème fraîche or double cream

1 x 27cm (10½ inch) baking dish

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6

Generously butter the bottom and sides of the baking dish, set aside.
In a large frying pan, combine the butter, apples, lemon juice and ¼ teasp. cinnamon and cook until just soft, about 7 minutes. Stir in ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Transfer the apples to the baking dish, evening them into a single layer with a spatula.
In a large bowl, combine the eggs and sugar and whisk until well blended. Add the cream, the remaining vanilla extract and cinnamon. Whisk to blend and pour over the apples in the baking dish.
Place the baking dish in the centre of the oven and bake until the top is a deep golden brown, 30-45 minutes. Do not underbake, or the results will be soggy, rather than crisp.
Serve cut into wedges, accompanied by a dollop of crème fraîche. The dessert is best served the day it is made, as the delicate flavours will fade.

Fresh Lemon Verbena Ice-Cream

Throughout the spring and summer, Patricia uses lemon verbena leaves liberally, preparing refreshing and lightly sedative herbal teas, or infusions, as well as this popular summer ice cream. It is also delicious prepared with fresh mint, or with less traditional ‘sweet’ herbs, such as thyme or rosemary.

Serves 4

500ml (16 fl.oz) double cream
250ml (8fl.oz) whole milk
125g (4oz) sugar
60 fresh lemon verbena leaves

In a large saucepan, combine the cream, milk, sugar and verbena leaves and place over moderate heat just until tiny bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Remove from the heat, cover and let steep for 1 hour.
Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, discarding the verbena. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Transfer to an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Serve with Provencal Almond cookies or other crisp biscuits.


Schaum Torte : Meringues for the month of May
Patricia Wells has fond memories of Schaum Torte in her childhood home of Wisconsin where it is a Memorial Day speciality created to greet the season’s first crop of strawberries. 

4 large egg whites, at room temperature
½ teaspoon cream of tartar, (optional)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
200g (7oz) castor sugar
1 kg (2lb) fresh strawberries (or mixed berries)
1 tablesp. sugar
175ml (6fl.oz) double cream

Preheat the oven to 110C/230F/gas mark ¼. Line a baking sheet with foil or a non-stick liner. 
In a heavy-duty mixer fitted with a whisk, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, if using, and vanilla extract at medium-low speed until small bubbles appear and the surface is frothy, about 45 seconds. Increase the speed to medium and gradually add half of the caster sugar, whisking until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes more. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Sprinkle the rest of the castor sugar over the mixture and, with a large spatula, quickly and gently fold it in, working the egg whites as little as possible.
Using a large serving spoon, ladle six large round dollops of meringue on the prepared baking sheet. Work as quickly as possible so as not to deflate the whites. Place the baking sheet in the centre of the oven and bake until crisp and dry but not yet beginning to colour, about 2 hours.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and, with a spatula carefully transfer the meringues to a wire rack to cool. If they stick to the foil, they haven’t sufficiently dried out: If this happens, return them to the oven to dry thoroughly. (The meringues can be prepared several days in advance; if so. Store fully cooled meringues in a dry, airtight container.)
About 2 hours before serving the meringues, rinse and stem the strawberries. Cut lengthwise into thin slices. Toss with the sugar and set aside at room temperature.
In a heavy duty mixer fitted with a whisk, beat the cream until it forms soft peaks.
Using a sharp, serrated knife, slice the top quarter from each meringue. (The meringues may chip or break off, but try to avoid transforming them to bits). Place each meringue on a dessert plate. Spoon the strawberries into the shell, allowing the fruit to overflow on to the plate. Top the berries with the whipped cream. Place the meringue caps on top of the cream and serve immediately. 

Foolproof food

Fork Biscuits

Makes 45-50 biscuits approx.

8 ozs (225g) soft butter
4 ozs (110g) castor sugar
10 ozs (275g) self raising flour
Grated rind of one lemon or orange

Cream the butter, add in the castor sugar, sifted flour and grated lemon or orange rind and mix just until it all comes together. Alternatively, place all four ingredients in the bowl of a food mixer and mix slowly until all the ingredients come together. At this stage the dough can either be used right away or put in the deep freeze or kept in the fridge for up to a week. 
When required, bring up to room temperature and form into small balls the size of a walnut. Flatten them out onto a baking sheet using the back of a fork dipped in cold water. Allow plenty of room for expansion. 

Bake in a preheated oven - 180C/350F/regulo 4 for 10 minutes approx. Sprinkle with Vanilla sugar. When cold, store in air tight containers.
Variations: Freshly ground cinnamon, ginger or chocolate chips can be a delicious addition to these biscuits.

Hot Tips

Euro-toques Small Food Initiative – Producer Showcase Events
Monday 23rd May 2005 – Castle Leslie, Glaslough, Co Monaghan
Chefs/Restaurateurs – book today €20 – Spit Roast Pig BBQ, Gastro-Goody Bag. 
Chat with chefs and producers, sample best of local fare and enjoy a glass of wine in the sun or mingle in the marquee. Producers secure your place at the showcase. Contact Abigail or Ruth at Euro-Toques, 11 Bridge Court, City Gate, St Augustine St. Dublin 8. Tel 01-6753837, email: Abigail@goodfood.ie  Funded through EU Interreg 111A programme, Ireland/Northern Ireland.

BIM have just launched the 2005 edition of the 2005 Seafood Circle Pub Lunch Guide. 
The aim of the programme which was initiated in 2001 by BIM in association with the Licensed Vintners Association and the Vintners Federation of Ireland, is to support and encourage pubs to improve the quality, range and understanding of seafood dishes on their lunchtime menus. The Guide is available in members’ premises, on www.seafoodcirclepubs.com  or by order on 01-2144250

Cork Farmers Market in conjunction with Munster Agricultural Society, will open at Cork Showgrounds on Saturday 14th May and will run every Saturday from 10-2
- Featuring an array of organic and fresh produce to tempt the palate of Corkonians. Only 10 minutes walk from city centre. All stalls will be indoor and parking is free.
corkfarmersmarket@eircom.net  www.corkshowgrounds.com  

Garryvoe Hotel – Wonderful new reception area, bar & lounge just opened – a really stylish addition to East Cork – wishing them continued success.

Congratulations to Hurleys Super-Valu in Midleton – Winners of the Super-Valu store of the year 2005.

Recently I’ve had several requests from readers of this column who are deep in preparation for their children’s Holy Communion or Confirmation Day. Could I please suggest some delicious easy recipes that can be prepared ahead and easily reheated on the special day? Must be a combination of treats that will tempt and be relished by all ages, in one case four generations! No problem, there are lots of options.

Soup, and or a simple pâte, are a really good basis. Its probably best to choose comforting favourites like Tomato and Basil or a slightly chunky Mushroom Soup. Have lots of good bread or maybe cheddar cheese scones. The soup can be made weeks ahead and frozen. The pâte will also keep in the fridge for several days. When the party return from the church those who are peckish can tuck into pate immediately to take the edge off their hunger, while the soup reheats. I suggest fresh and smoked Salmon Rillettes with cucumber salad. If you’d rather some shellfish, Dublin Bay Prawns with homemade mayonnaise are always a treat.

Chicken with Mushrooms is a safe bet for any age group, if you want to add a little extra pzazz one could add a little rosemary or freshly grated ginger to the sauce.

One could of course serve some fluffy mashed potato, but rice would be even easier. Piperonata or Tomato Fondue complement the chicken perfectly and don’t forget a lovely big bowl of green salad to aid digestion.

A gorgeous Mango and Passion Fruit Meringue Roulade, a Spring Fruit Salad, or a juicy Rhubarb & Strawberry Tart for pudding with soft brown sugar and cream should bring in the compliments. 

Tomato and Basil Soup

We worked for a long time to try and make this soup reasonably fool-proof. Good quality tinned tomatoes (a must for your store cupboard) give a really good result. Homemade tomato purée although delicious can give a more variable result depending on the quality of the tomatoes. Careful seasoning is crucial so continue to season and taste until you are happy with the result.

Serves 6

1¾ pints (750 ml) homemade tomato purée or 2 x 14 oz (400 g) tins of tomatoes, liquidized and sieved
1 small onion, finely chopped
½ oz (15 g) butter
8 fl ozs (250 ml) Béchamel sauce (white) (see recipe)
8 fl ozs (250 ml) homemade chicken stock or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons freshly chopped basil
Salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar
4 fl ozs (120 ml) cream

Garnish
Whipped cream
Fresh basil leaves

Sweat the onion in the butter on a gentle heat until soft but not coloured. Add the tomato purée (or chopped tinned tomatoes plus juice), Béchamel sauce and homemade chicken stock. Add the chopped basil, season with salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes.

Liquidize, taste and dilute further if necessary. Bring back to the boil, correct seasoning and serve with the addition of a little cream if necessary. Garnish with a tiny blob of whipped cream and some basil.

*Tinned tomatoes need a surprising amount of sugar to counteract the acidity.
* Fresh milk cannot be added to the soup – the acidity in the tomatoes will cause it to curdle
Note: This soup needs to be tasted carefully as the final result depends on the quality of the homemade purée, stock etc.

Tomato and Mint Soup

Substitute Spearmint or Bowles mint for basil in the above recipe.

Béchamel Sauce

1 pint (300 ml) milk
Few slices of carrot
Few slices of onion
3 peppercorns
Small sprig of thyme
Small sprig of parsley
1½ozs (45 g) roux (see recipe)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

This is a wonderfully quick way of making Béchamel Sauce if you have roux already made. Put the cold milk into a saucepan with the carrot, onion, peppercorns, thyme and parsley. Bring to the boil, simmer for 4-5 minutes, remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Strain out the vegetables, bring the milk back to the boil and thicken to a light coating consistency by whisking in roux. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, taste and correct seasoning if necessary.

Tomato and Coconut Soup

Substitute Coconut milk for béchamel in the above recipe

Roux 

4 ozs (110 g) butter
4 ozs (110 g) flour

Melt the butter and cook the flour in it for 2 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally. Use as required. Roux can be stored in a cool place and used as required or it can be made up on the spot if preferred. It will keep at least a fortnight in a refrigerator.

Rillettes of Fresh and Smoked Salmon

The texture of this pate should resemble that of pork rillettes, where the meat is torn into shreds rather than blended.

Serves 12-16

340 g/: lb freshly-cooked salmon
340 g/: lb smoked wild or organic Irish salmon
340 g/: lb softened butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
Lemon juice to taste
For the Smoked Salmon
30 g/1 oz butter
28 ml/2 fl oz water

Melt 30 g/1 oz butter in a low saucepan; add the smoked salmon and 1 tablespoon of water. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes or until it no longer looks opaque. Allow it to get quite cold. 

Cream the butter in a bowl. With two forks, shred the fresh and smoked salmon and mix well together. Add to the soft butter still using a fork (do not use a food processor). Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and nutmeg. Taste and add lemon juice as necessary, and some freshly chopped fennel if you have it.

Serve in individual pots or in a pottery terrine. Cover with a layer of clarified butter. Serve with hot toast or hot crusty white bread. Salmon rillettes will keep perfectly in the refrigerator for 5 or 6 days provided they are sealed with clarified butter.

Salmon Rilettes on Cucumber Slices

2 cucumbers

Salmon rillettes as above 
Cut the cucumber into ¼ slices. Pipe or spoon a blob of pâté onto the cucumber slices. Garnish with sprigs of chervil and chive or white garlic flowers.
Clarified Butter

Melt 8 ozs (225g/1 cup) butter gently in a saucepan or in the oven. Allow it to stand for a few minutes, and then spoon the crusty white layer of salt particles off the top of the melted butter. Underneath this crust there is clear liquid butter, which is called clarified butter. The milky liquid at the bottom can be discarded or used in a white sauce.

Clarified butter is excellent for cooking because it can withstand a higher temperature when the salt and milk particles are removed. It will keep covered in a refrigerator for several weeks.

Melba Toast

Serves 4

2 thin slices of white bread (sliced pan will do as long as it's not too thick)
Toast the bread on both sides. Cut the crusts off immediately and then split the slice in half. Scrape off any soft crumb, cut into triangles and put back under the grill, untoasted side up for a few seconds until the edges curl up.

Serve with pates.

Salmon Rillettes on Sour Dough
Toast or char grill a slice of sour dough bread, spread with some rillett mixture. Top with a few tiny Rocket leaves and some Chive or wild Garlic flowers.

Extra Posh Salmon Rillettes
12 – 16 very thin slices of smoked Salmon
12 – 16 moulds 5cm (2ins) diameter, 2.5cm (1in) deep 2½ fl oz capacity

Line the moulds with cling film. Put a slice of smoked salmon into each mould. Fill the moulds with the rilletts; fold the ends of the smoked salmon over the rilletts to cover. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least one hour. 

Serve with Cucumber salad

Ballymaloe Sweet Cucumber Salad

½ cucumber, very thinly sliced

2 ozs (55g) onion, cut into fine rings
2 ozs (55g) castor sugar
1¼ teasp. salt
1½ fl ozs (40ml) wine vinegar or 2 tablesp. cider vinegar

Mix the cucumber with the onion, castor sugar, salt and wine vinegar. Leave to marinate for about 1 hour.

Chicken Breasts with Mushrooms

Soaking the chicken breasts in milk gives them a tender and moist texture but it is not essential to this dish.

Serves 4 

4 chicken breasts, free range and organic 
milk, optional
salt and freshly ground pepper
15g (½oz) butter
2 tablespoons shallot or spring onion, chopped
110g (4oz) mushrooms, sliced
150ml (¼ pint) Chicken Stock - preferably homemade
150ml (¼ pint) cream
1 tablespoon chopped parsley or marjoram

Garnish
sprigs of flat parsley

Soak the chicken breasts in milk, just enough to cover them, 1 hour approx. Discard the milk, dry with kitchen paper. Season with salt and pepper (this step is not essential).

Choose a saute pan just large enough to take the chicken breasts in a single layer.

Heat the butter in the sauté pan until foaming, put in the chicken breasts and turn them in the butter; (do not brown). Cover with a round of greaseproof paper and the lid. Cook on a gentle heat for 5-7 minutes or until just barely cooked. 

Meanwhile sweat the shallots gently in a pan in a little butter, increase the heat, add the sliced mushrooms, season with salt and freshly ground pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes. They should be slightly golden. Keep aside.

When the chicken breasts are cooked remove to a plate. Add the chicken stock and cream to the saucepan . Reduce the liquid by one-third over a medium heat, this will thicken the sauce slightly and intensify the flavour otherwise thicken with a little roux (see recipe). When you are happy with the flavour and texture of the sauce, add the chicken breasts and mushroom mixture back in with the parsley or marjoram. Simmer for a 1-2 minutes, taste and correct the seasoning. * Scatter some sprigs of flat parsley over the top. 

Serve with freshly cooked Orzo or rice.

* may be prepared ahead to this point, cool quickly, cover and refrigerate and reheat later.

Chicken with Mushroom and Ginger

Add 1-2 teaspoons of freshly grated ginger to the mushrooms in the pan.

Chicken with Mushroom and Rosemary
Tuck a sprig of rosemary in between the chicken breasts as they cook, discard later. 
Substitute 1 teaspoon of chopped rosemary for ginger in the above recipe. Garnish with sprigs of rosemary. Serve with Penne or Orzo.

Plain Boiled Rice

I find this way of cooking rice in what we call ‘unlimited water’ to be very satisfactory for plain boiled rice. The grains stay separate and it will keep happily covered in the oven for up to half an hour.

Serves 8

400g (14oz) best quality long-grain rice, eg. Basmati rice 
8 pints of water
2 teaspoons salt
a large pot of cold water
a few little knobs of butter (optional)

Bring 8 pints of water to a fast boil in a large saucepan. Add salt. Sprinkle in the rice and stir at once to ensure that the grains don’t stick. Boil rapidly, uncovered. After 4 or 5 minutes (depending on the type of rice), test by biting a few grains between your teeth - it should still have a slightly resistant core. If it overcooks at this stage the grains will stick together later.

Strain well through a sieve or fine strainer. Put into a warm serving dish, dot with a few knobs of butter, cover with tin foil or a lid and leave in a low oven, 140ºC/275ºF/regulo 1, for a minimum of 15 minutes. Remove the lid, fluff up with a fork and serve.

Meringue Roulade with Passion Fruit and Mango

Serves 10

4 egg whites
225g (8oz) castor sugar

Mango and passion fruit Sauce
1 large ripe mango 
4 passion fruit 
1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1-2 tablespoons castor sugar

Filling
1 large ripe mango peeled and thinly sliced
2 passion fruit
300ml (½ pint) whipped cream

Garnish
Sweet Cicely
Swiss roll tin 12 x 8 inch (30.5 x 20.5cm)

First make the roulade
Preheat the oven to 180C\350F\regulo 4. 

Put the egg whites into the spotlessly clean bowl of a food mixer. Break up with the whisk and then add all the castor sugar in one go. Whisk at full speed until the meringue holds a stiff peak 4 - 5 minutes approx. 

Meanwhile, line a swiss roll tin with tin foil. Brush lightly with a non scented oil (eg. sunflower or arachide). Spread the meringue gently over the tin with a palette knife, it should be quite thick and bouncy. 
Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. 
Put a sheet of tin foil on the work top and turn the roulade onto it. Remove the base tin foil and allow the meringue to cool. 

Meanwhile make the Mango and Passionfruit sauce.

Peel the mango, chop the flesh and puree in a food processor. Put into a bowl, add the passion fruit seeds and juice, add freshly squeezed lime juice and sugar to taste. Cover and chill. Slice the mango for the filling into a bowl, add the passion fruit seeds and juice, toss gently.

To assemble 
Turn the roulade out onto a sheet of silicone paper dredged with icing sugar. Spread two thirds of the cream over the roulade, cover with a layer of fruit keep a little for decoration. 
Transfer carefully onto a serving dish. Pipe some rosettes of cream onto the top, decorate with some of the reserved fruit. 
Garnish with Sweet Cicely, dredge with icing sugar and serve.
If you prefer you could fill the roulade with lemon curd – see recipe March 26th.

Rhubarb and Strawberry Tart

This pastry is made by the creaming method so people who are convinced that they suffer from 'hot hands' don't have to worry about rubbing in the butter.

Serves 8-12

Break all the rules

Pastry
8 ozs (225g) butter
2 ozs (55g) castor sugar
2 eggs, preferably free range
12 ozs (340g) white flour, preferably unbleached

Filling
1½lbs (700g) sliced red rhubarb (about ½ inch thick) 
½lb 225g) strawberries, sliced 
13 ozs (370g) granulated sugar, approx..
Castor sugar for sprinkling

To Serve
Softly whipped cream
Barbados sugar

tin, 7 inches (18cm) x 12 inches (30.5cm) x 1 inch (2.5cm) deep

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/regulo 4.

First make the pastry. Cream the butter and sugar together by hand or in a food mixer (no need to over-cream). Add the eggs and beat for a minute or two. Reduce speed to lowest setting and mix in the flour. Turn out onto a piece of floured greaseproof paper, flatten into a round wrap and chill. This pastry needs to be chilled for at least 1 hour otherwise it is difficult to handle. 

To make the tart
Roll out the pastry 1/8 inch (3mm) thick approx., and use about 2/3 of it to line a suitable tin. Put the sliced rhubarb and strawberries into the tart, sprinkle with sugar. Cover with a lid of pastry, seal edges, decorate with pastry leaves, egg wash and bake in the preheated oven until the rhubarb is tender, approx. 45 minutes to 1 hour. When cooked cut into squares, sprinkle lightly with castor sugar and serve with softly whipped cream and Barbados sugar. 

Foolproof Food

Mushroom Soup

Serves 8-9

Mushroom soup is the fastest of all soups to make and surely everyone's favourite. It is best made with flat mushrooms or button mushrooms a few days old, which have developed a slightly stronger flavour.

450g (1 lb) mushrooms (flat mushrooms are best)
110g (4 oz) onions 
25g (1oz) butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper
30g (1oz) flour
600ml (1 pint) milk
600ml (1 pint) homemade chicken stock or vegetable stock 

Rinse the mushrooms quickly under cold running water. Chop the onion finely. Melt the butter in a saucepan on a gentle heat. Toss the onions in the butter. Cover and sweat until soft and completely cooked. Meanwhile, chop up the mushrooms very finely.* Add to the saucepan and cook on a high heat for 4 or 5 minutes. Bring the stock & milk to the boil. Stir the flour into the onions, cook on a low heat for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, then add the stock and milk gradually, stirring all the time. Increase the heat and bring to the boil. Taste and add a dash of cream if necessary. Serve immediately or cool & reheat later.

Tip: If you can't be bothered to chop the mushrooms finely, just slice and then whizz in a liquidizer for a few seconds when the soup is cooked. Stalks may also be used. Mushroom soup freezes perfectly.

Watchpoint: Bring the milk to the boil otherwise it may curdle if added to the soup cold.

Hot Tips

The Apple Farm, Moorstown, Cahir, Co Tipperary www.theapplefarm.com 

Have for sale – Jonagored eating apples and Bramley cookers, apple juice, apple jelly, farm-made cider vinegar and strawberry and plum jams. They also stock Anne Keating’s fine Baylough cheese. Their apple juice is now also for sale in John Griffin’s shop in William St. Listowel and McKeogh’s Londis on the Ballina (Co Tipperary) side of the Shannon at Killaloe, Co Clare. They have recently planted a new orchard which includes a selection of 50 old apple varieties which should produce next year.

Growing Awareness Gardening Workshops
Sunday 15th May – Summer Gardening Workshop- Keep your garden thriving through the summer by learning how to weed, mulch, water and control pests organically. Discover which salad crops to grow for winter use. All gardening workshops are with Jean Perry at Glebe Gardens, Baltimore – 4.5 acres of beautiful organic gardens with garden sculptures and a wildflower meadow. More planned for the summer months.
Contact Jean Perry on 028 20232 Email: glebegardens@eircom.net  only €25 per workshop

Eurotoque Ireland has joined the long list of organisations which support the campaign for a GM-free Ireland.
Eurotoques are the European Association of Chefs who are primarily concerned with supporting the producers of the best foods in Europe and thus maintaining the fine quality and flavour of our ingredients. They wish to maintain the traditional dishes and traditional ways of preparing and cooking foods of the regions of Europe.

Eurotoques as an organisation has taken a vigorous anti-GMO stance. ‘The prospect of genetically modified crops being released into our environment is possibly the most worrying development yet in the agri-food world and one which may have far reaching effects on all aspects of food, health and the environment’.

They have urged their members to take various initiatives to heighten awareness and to support the anti GMO campaign.

So what is a GMO – a genetically modified organism (GMO) is a plant, animal or micro-organism whose genetic code has been altered in order to give it characteristics that it does not naturally have. GMO’s normally include a combination of DNA from viruses and bacteria together with DNA from other plants and/or animals. These infect the modified organism with completely novel combinations of genes, proteins and allergens whose long-term health and ecological impacts are scientifically impossible to predict. Scientific evidence shows that GMO seeds and crops can be genetically unstable, have led to massive crop failures, create superweeds, and can never be recalled after their release. Insurance companies refuse to cover the risks.
GMO seeds and crops are normally patented by transnational agri-biotech corporations which charge farmers an annual licensing fee to grow their GM seeds. Monsanto typically requires farmers to sign onerous contracts which prohibit them from saving and replanting the GM seeds, oblige them to waive their human right to freedom of speech (e.g. by talking to the media) if anything goes wrong, and waive their right to sue the biotech company if the crops fail to perform as expected. Monsanto has filed hundreds of patent infringement lawsuits against farmers whose fields have been contaminated by GMOs.

There are many documented cases of cross contamination of conventional and organic farms as a result of wind-borne pollen drift, seed dispersal by insects, animals and humans, and by the process of horizontal gene transfer through which transgenic DNA is carried across species boundaries by microbial organisms. This, according to Michael O’Callaghan coordinator of GM Free Ireland Network, creates superweeds, reduces biodiversity and threatens human, animal and plant health by releasing new allergens and genes for pesticide production and antibiotic resistance that could spread to humans, crops, livestock and wildlife including bees and other beneficial insects.
The introduction of GMO animal feed, seeds, crops anywhere on the island of Ireland — whether through deliberate legal release or contamination — would give transnational agri-biotech companies like Monsanto patented ownership of Irish farmers’ seeds and crops. It would burden farmers and food producers with more red tape, restrict our access to EU export markets, and ruin our reputation as Ireland - the food island.

Food containing GMO’s has been on the shelves of our shops and supermarkets, some labelled and some not, for over 10 years now.

Farmers confirm that almost all animal feed contains genetically modified soya, organic feed is guaranteed GMO free-. According to the FSAI, meat from animals fed on GMO is not required to be labelled.

In just a decade, agricultural transgenics has been transformed from a fledgling science into a dominant player in the world’s food supply, from almost zero acreage in the early 1990’s to more than 160 million acres worldwide in 2004. Already, 80% of the US soyabean crop is genetically modified and almost 40% of US corn, 25% of the world’s cotton, canola, corn and soyabean is now transgenic. At least 60% of processed food sold in supermarkets contains GM ingredients. Bio-technology allows scientists to cut and paste any gene from any plant or animal into any other plant or animal - this opens up a myriad of possibilities.

Already there are tomatoes with synthetic flounder ‘anti-freeze’ genes, rice with vitamin producing daffodil genes and much more – there are many unanswered questions and unpredicted results. 

In 2000 scientists at Purdue University in the US inserted a salmon growth promoter gene into a fresh water fish called medaka. The fish grew faster, had a mating advantage, but also a must higher mortality rate. Scientists calculated that if a mere 60 of these fish escaped into a wild population of just 60,000 they would result in local extinction in 40 generations – this was just a lab experiment, but it is important to understand the risks stressed Professor of Genetics at Purdue – Bill Muir.

There are many similar stories. Another particularly frightening episode was reported recently by environmental author John Robbins. When students at Oregon State university were testing a transgenic variant of soil bacteria - Klebsiella Planticola, the found that they had accidentally invented a fungus killer that had it escaped into the wild ‘could have ended all plant life on this continent.’

The implications are very simply terrifying. The bio-tech companies argue that GM crops produce higher yields and need less artificial pesticides and so help to feed the world. However, aid agencies have united to refute this claim and to point out that the principal cause of world hunger is distribution difficulties and local politics.

With such an imprecise science, we surely need to evoke the precautionary principle - the reality is that we cannot know what the long term effects of eating food containing GMO’s will be on animals and humans because there is no control group.

In the words of Dr. Ml Antoniou – Clinical Geneticist and senior lecturer in pathology at Guys Teaching Hospital in London - ‘Once released into the environment, unlike a BSE epidemic or chemical spill, genetic mistakes cannot be contained, recalled or cleaned up, but will be passed on to all future generations’.

So once the genie is out of the bottle, there’s no putting him back in. We would be crazy from every point of view to go down this path in Ireland.

If we declare Ireland a GM free zone we will be able to tap into the growing market for certified GM free produce. Ireland the GM Food Island doesn’t quite have the same ring to it somehow.

Many EU Governments still hesitate to ban GMOs due to a US-led WTO dispute with the EC, but 100 regional and 3,500 sub-regional areas in 22 EU countries have already passed legislation which prohibits or restricts the release of GMO seeds and crops. Across the water, Cornwall, the Highlands of Scotland, the whole of Wales, and 22 Councils in the UK now have GM bans in place. The Assembly of European Regions (AER), Friends of the Earth Europe and a wide coalition of EU regional governments, local authorities and NGOs have launched a campaign for EC legislation that clearly recognises the democratic right of Regions (including Irish Counties) to declare themselves GMO-free. 

The GM-free Ireland Network will launch 1,000 local GMO-free zones throughout Ireland at 2pm on Earth Day, 22 April 2005. The objective is for organic and conventional farmers, hotels, restaurants, pubs, retailers, schools and homes North and South of the border to display GMO-free zone signs and simultaneously declare their lands and premises GMO-free. This goal may seem ambitious but already there are over 1,000 organic farmers in Ireland and the network now includes 53 organisations representing over 30,000 conventional and organic farmers, foresters, food producers / distributors / exporters, retailers, chefs, restaurants, Non Governmental Organisation (NGOs), professional associations, doctors, economists, lawyers, journalists, students, and consumers collaborating to keep GM food and farming out of Ireland.

For more information check out www.gmfreeireland.org  and www.eurotoquesirl.org

Ballymaloe Brown Yeast Bread

When making Ballymaloe brown yeast bread, remember that yeast is a living organism. In order to grow, it requires warmth, moisture and nourishment. The yeast feeds on the sugar and produces bubbles of carbon dioxide which causes the bread to rise. Heat of over 50˚C will kill yeast. Have the ingredients and equipment at blood heat. White or brown sugar, honey golden syrup, treacle or molasses may be used. Each will give a slightly different flavour to the bread. At Ballymaloe we use treacle. The dough rises more rapidly with 30g (1oz) yeast than with 25g (¾oz) yeast.

We use a stone ground wholemeal. Different flours produce breads of different textures and flavour. The amount of natural moisture in the flour varies according to atmospheric conditions. The quantity of water should be altered accordingly. The dough should be just too wet to knead - in fact it does not require kneading. The main ingredients - wholemeal flour, treacle and yeast are highly nutritious. Yeast was one of the first commodities to be genetically modified, so seek out non-GM yeast.

Note: Dried yeast may be used instead of baker's yeast. Follow the same method but use only half the weight given for fresh yeast. Allow longer to rise. Fast acting yeast may also be used, follow the instructions on the packet.

Makes 1 loaf

450g (16oz) wholemeal flour OR
400g (14oz) wholemeal flour plus 50g (2oz) strong white flour
425ml (15floz) water at blood heat (mix yeast with 140ml (5floz) lukewarm water approx.)
1 teaspoon black treacle or molasses
1 teaspoon salt
30g (3/4oz -1oz) fresh non GM yeast
sesame seeds - optional
1 loaf tin 13x20cm (5x 8inch) approx.
sunflower oil

Preheat the oven to 230C/450F/gas mark 8.

Mix the flour with the salt. The ingredients should all be at room temperature. In a small bowl or Pyrex jug, mix the treacle with some of the water, 140ml (5floz) for 1 loaf and crumble in the yeast.

Sit the bowl for a few minutes in a warm place to allow the yeast to start to work. Grease the bread tins with sunflower oil. Meanwhile check to see if the yeast is rising. After about 4 or 5 minutes it will have a creamy and slightly frothy appearance on top. 

When ready, stir and pour it, with all the remaining water, into the flour to make a loose-wet dough. The mixture should be too wet to knead. Put the mixture into the greased tin. Sprinkle the top of the loaves with sesame seeds if you like. Put the tin in a warm place somewhere close to the cooker or near a radiator perhaps. Cover the tins with a tea towel to prevent a skin from forming. Just as the bread comes to the top of the tin, remove the tea towel and pop the loaves in the oven 230C/450F/gas mark 8 for 50-60 minutes or until it looks nicely browned and sound hollow when tapped. The bread will rise a little further in the oven. This is called “oven spring”. If however the bread rises to the top of the tin before it goes into the oven it will continue to rise and flow over the edges. 

We usually remove the loaves from the tins about 10 minutes before the end of cooking and put them back into the oven to crisp all round, but if you like a softer crust there's no need to do this.

Tofu in Spicy Coconut Sauce

Serves 4-6

1 tablespoon peanut or sunflower oil
1 small onion (4 oz approx.), thinly sliced
1 small green or red pepper, thinly sliced
2 serrano chiles, chopped
1 to 2 teaspoons Thai curry paste
100ml (4 floz) canned unsweetened coconut milk
100ml (4 floz) water or Vegetable stock, well laced with fresh ginger
½ teaspoon salt
1 lb Chinese-style firm tofu, cut into ¾ inch cubes and fried (see below)
4 tablespoons coriander leaves, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons roasted chopped peanuts

Heat a wok, add the oil. When hot, add the onion, pepper and chiles and stir-fry for 

1-2 minutes. Add the curry paste, stir, then add the coconut milk, stock, salt and tofu. Simmer for 2-3 minutes or until the tofu is heated through. Serve over rice or noodles garnished with coriander and chopped peanuts.

Golden Tofu

1lb Chinese-style firm tofu, cut into slabs about ¾ inch thick

2 tablespoons peanut or sunflower oil
salt

Drain the tofu with kitchen paper. Cut into ¾ inch cubes. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan over a medium heat. Add the tofu and fry until golden. It will take several minutes to colour, so allow to cook undisturbed. Turn the pieces when golden. Drain briefly on kitchn paper, then transfer to a warm dish and season with salt. 

To simmer Tofu in liquid: cut into cubes, don’t bother to drain, then lower it into a pot of lightly salted simmering water or the vegetable stock Simmer gently for 5 minutes. Remove carefully with a slotted spoon, drain briefly on kitchen paper. Serve warm or chilled or use with another recipe.

Foolproof Food

Ballymaloe Nut and Grain Muesli

This muesli bursting with goodness keeps in a screw top jar for several weeks. Measure the ingredients in cups for speed.

Serves 12

8 Weetabix
7 ozs (200g) oatmeal (Quaker oats or Speedicook oatflakes)
1½ ozs (45g) bran
2¼ ozs (62g) fresh wheatgerm
2¼ ozs (62g) raisins
2½ ozs (62g) sliced hazelnuts or a mixture of cashews and hazelnuts
2½ ozs (62g) soft brown sugar - Barbados sugar
2 tablesp. Lecithin* - optional – make sure it is non GM 

Crumble Weetabix in a bowl, add the other ingredients and mix well. Store in an airtight container. Keeps for 2-3 weeks in a cool place.

Serve with fresh fruit and fresh creamy milk.

*Available from Chemist or Health food shops - Lecithin comes from soya beans, it is rich in phosphatidyl Choline - an important nutrient in the control of dietary fat, it helps the body to convert fats into energy rather than storing them as body fat.
Hot Tips

Food & Wine Magazine –
April issue showcases Cork – Europe’s Capital of Culture – so many terrific places to eat, drink and shop for food.

Farmers Market at Cork Showground, Ballintemple, Cork – opening soon
For further information contact Teresa Murphy, 087-2363536 or email CorkFarmersMarket@eircom.net  

Want to buy some fruit or nut trees –
Woodkerne Nurseries, Gortnamucklagh, Skibbereen, Co Cork. Specialize in fruit and nut trees, grown on their organic farm. Available at Skibbereen Farmers Market on Saturdays 10-1 or by appointment at the nursery. Tel 028-23742 email:woodkernenurseries@eircom.net  

New Aga and Fired Earth Interiors Showroom in Dun Laoghaire has just opened.
Will showcase a comprehensive range of brands from the Aga Group at the Clubhouse, 20 Lr. Georges St. Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.

Open Day at the Bog of Allen Nature Centre on Saturday 28th May. Tel Irish Peatland Conservation Council for details 045-860133 www.ipcc.ie

Today was a lovely day, a new calf was born in the field behind the Cookery School in full view of the cookery students, most of whom had never even imagined they would witness such a miracle of nature. A beautiful black Aberdeen Angus heifer calf, the cow gently licked it all over and within minutes it tottered to its feet. We called her Easter.

While all this excitement was going on in the field, other students were doing their cooking exam in the kitchen, proving to me that they could cook at least one delicious meal after spending 12 weeks absorbing an avalanche of information on food and wine.

Mid way through the afternoon Olivia Lacey arrived with a huge parcel, other students gathered round, they couldn’t wait to open the box – it was full of their very own cookbook hot off the printing press. The very favourite recipes of the January 12 week Certificate students 2005.

All the students, the office staff, many of the teachers, several of the gardeners and Haulie the farm manager all contributed a recipe. The idea came about just a few weeks ago when Olivia and a few pals were walking along Shanagarry strand as ever discussing food. The talked about their favourite standby recipes for dinner parties, survival food at college – Gran’s yummy choccie cake – they each described their favourite nosh – often forgotten flavours enveloped in nostalgic memories of childhood.

“Wouldn’t it be brilliant to gather all these little gems into a cookbook! , chirped Olivia in her inimitable way, brilliant, but how exactly to go about it. Olivia, whose Mum Nicola Beauman is a publisher with a cult following – Persephone Books, mooted the idea to the rest of the students. Recipes poured in, in every shape and form, everything from Derek’s Hunger Buster to Charlie’s Marshmallow and Digestive Sandwiches, Huw contributed the one and only recipe he knew before he came to the school, William’s Special Tuna Pasta. This was his staple diet at college. Kinue Harada from Tokyo hand wrote her lovely recipe for Sesame Miso Soup. Richard Mills got all nostalgic about his Mum’s meatballs, he had painstakingly written ithe recipe down on a scrap of paper when he was eight and he knew it was still under his bed at home. 

Olivia, also a wizard speed typist typed, Ciara did drawings, Anne Marie Hourihane and Caroline Williams did the layout, and hey presto the manuscript was complete.

Just three weeks ago they contacted Margo McGrath at the Print Factory in Midleton, even though she was frantically busy, she couldn’t resist their enthusiasm and she too performed a minor miracle and produced the adorable little cookbook complete with illustrations in just three weeks, Gill and Macmillan and Kyle Cathie eat your hearts out.

Its full of little gems, some easy peasy, all delicious, they sold like hot cakes for €5 - there are just a few left so if you would like a copy contact the school. I hope it will be the first of many, congrats to all concerned.

Twiglet (for Marmite lovers only)

Very fresh white bread, butter, twiglets, marmite (optional). Apart from the great taste, seriously satisfying texture combo!

Marshmallow and Chocolate Digestive

Sandwich 3 white marshmallows (proper pink will do if no white) between 2 milk chocolate digestives (McVities are best), with chocolate facing inwards. Wrap in tin foil and bake in oven till the biscuits are hot, the chocolate’s melted and the marshmallows are well and truly gooey).

Toasted Mars Bar

Slice a Mars Bar and sandwich between 2 pieces of sliced white bread (pan). Lightly butter the outside and put in toasted sandwich maker. Truly amazing!” Only eat a whole one if you have the hunger and sweet tooth of 10 bears!

Richard’s Lost Recipe – Richard Mills

Meatballs with onions – fried on top of the stove then put on a baking tray.

Long grain rice
Tin of condensed tomato soup
Tin of water

Mix together the rice, soup and water and pour over the meatballs (dried oregano added to this in the 80’s).

I loved this as a kid and consequently every time I came home from university it was proudly presented to me by my Mum. Whereas as a child I could eat three helpings, now I can only manage one.!

Somewhere I have a copy of this recipe that I wrote out on lined paper when I was eight years old.

Baked Bean Cake

by Lucy Goodchild

1 box Rice Krispies
2 bags of pink and white marshmallows (give or take a few – chef’s prerogative)
6 bars of Cadbury’s Caramel bars or similar 

Start by melting the chocolate in a heavy based saucepan on a gentle heat.

Add the marshmallows, mixing continually with a wooden spoon until they are all melted.

Take off the heat and slowly mix in the rice krispies, you won’t need the whole box – you just want them to be ‘stringy’ and covered by the mixture, pour into greased baking tin and chill.

Cut into squares. Drizzle with extra white/dark chocolate if you want to be really naughty.

Yum, but not one for dentists.

Sue-Sue’s Special Brown Bread

– Sue Cogan

2 lbs extra coarse wholemeal flour

8oz pinhead oatmeal
8oz self raising flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon bread soda
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 litre buttermilk
1 extra ½ cup milk if needed

Sesame, pumpkin, sunflower and poppy seeds

Will make 3 x 2 lb loaves

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add oil and buttermilk. Mixture must resemble wet porridge. Oil the tins. Spread sesame seed on bottom. Fill tins with mixture. Spread pumpkin seed, sunflower and poppy seed on top. Cooking in oven 200C/400F/gas 6 for 40 minutes.

Turn out on wire rack to cool.

Lemongrass and Ginger Sorbet

- Olivia Lacey

I made this variation on lemon verbena sorbet on the course, on the day after we made Thai curries. It is very refreshing after spicy food.

1 pint water
6oz sugar
2 stalks of lemongrass
2 inch piece of fresh ginger

Cut the lemongrass stalks in half lengthwise. Peel and coarsely grate the ginger. Put all the ingredients in a saucepan, bring slowly to the boil, simmer for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave to infuse for at least 30 minutes or until cold. Taste and add more sugar if necessary. Sieve and freeze in an ice- cream maker.

My Stepmother Juliet’s Chocolate Mousse – Olivia Lacey
Break a bar of chocolate into a liquidiser or magimix. Put ¼ litre of single cream in a saucepan, bring nearly to the boil and pour over the chocolate. Whizz up until chocolate melts. Break in 1 egg. Whizz again for 2-3 minutes until bubbly. Pour into a bowl, or little coffee cups and glasses, and put in a cool place until set (3-4 hours).

Butterfly Cakes

by Laura Clarke

4oz butter

4oz sugar
2 eggs
6oz plain flour
1 teasp. baking powder
1 tablesp. milk

Beat the butter and sugar to a cream. Add eggs, well beaten, then flour and baking powder mixed, and lastly milk.

Half fill paper cases with the mixture, place on a cold oven tray and bake about 10-15 minutes at 200C. When cool cut a small piece off the top of each, fill with a teaspoon of jam and a heaped teaspoon of whipped cream, cut the small piece in half and stand these on the edge of the cream.

Ki’s Sesame Miso Soup with Tofu

– Kinue Harada

Serves 4

100g sesame seeds
800ml dashi or fish stock
300g soft/silken tofu
4 tablesp miso paste

Roast the sesame seeds. Be careful not to burn the seeds, taking the pan off the heat once the seeds start to pop.

In a pestle and mortar, grind them to a sticky paste. (It should smell wonderfully nutty.) Transfer the paste to a large mixing bowl.

Pour the dashi or fish stock into a pan on a moderate heat. Just before it comes to the boil add the miso paste, stirring until it dissolves. Bring to a gentle boil, add the tofu, breaking it up into bite-sized pieces with your hand.

Serve immediately, garnished with a little chopped spring onion and a little ground sesame according to taste. You can also add seasonal cooked vegetables if you like.

Dominic’s All Purpose Chilli

– Dominic McCartan

This is a version of my vegetarian chilli that I have used to feed myself for the best part of 20 years since I decided not to eat meat or fish. The availability of vegetarian food was limited and therefore this was a dish I created to keep me from starving. It was and still is the most popular dish on the menus in my pubs in Brighton (The Hop Poles and the Eagle), so I hope you enjoy it.
Serves 6-8

3 tablespoons olive or sunflower oil
1 large onion about 6oz/220g
2 large cloves of garlic
1-2 good fresh red chillies
1 medium carrot chopped finely
2-3 celery stalks chopped finely
200g of unflavoured GMO free soya mince
1 litre of good vegetable stock, homemade or cubes
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 tablespoon Marmite or yeast extract
salt and pepper
1-2 tablespoons soya sauce or mushroom soya
2 tablespoons freshly ground cumin
2 tablespoons of coriander finely chopped (use stalks). Add more at end of cooking to taste.
1 red pepper and 1 green pepper sliced and chopped
2 cans good quality tinned tomatoes, chopped, or use fresh overripe ones peeled and chopped
1-2 tablespoons of hot chilli sauce to taste
14oz tinned cooked red kidney beans
chopped coriander leaves for final additions.

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed large pan and add chopped and crushed garlic, the onion shred relatively coarsely and the chillis finely chopped, along with the carrot and celery.

Allow these to cook on a moderate heat until the onions are nearly soft but still with some resistance. Watch they do not burn and stir frequently. Add the cumin stirring all the time until the aroma rises and the spice has started to cook. You can if you like add a half glass of good red wine at this point and and reduce before adding soya items. Reduce the heat and add sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Add the hydrated soya, stir well and add the peppers, increasing the heat to bring the chilli to a gentle simmer, stirring frequently to prevent the soya sticking. Once the mixture is hot through, reduce the heat to a medium simmer and cook for 40-50 minutes until the mixture becomes soft and deepens in colour. Add kidney beans 5 minutes before the end of cooking.

During this slow cooking you can add some hot chilli sauce to taste if you like it hotter, but do allow the chilli to cook through before being over generous. Also use the soya sauce or mushroom sauce to darken the chilli and provide a little more depth. If the chilli looks a little thin, thicken with a tablespoon or so of extra tomato puree.

Season with chopped coriander leaves before end of cooking time and also check for seasoning. When cooked the chilli should be of a good consistency with plenty of flavour, and taste great.

This chilli can be served with rice, in tortilla wraps topped with guacamole and soured cream, also on a plate of Nacho chips topped with melted cheese. It can also be served as a topping for jacket potatoes.

This chilli is vegan and many people do not realise that there is not a scrap of meat anywhere near it.

It will also keep well in a fridge covered for at least 3-4 days and freezes well. Do not be afraid to experiment with the heat of this dish as you gain experience cooking it, but always hydrate your soya mince for maximum flavour, or the chilli will be thin and uninteresting.

Huw’s Special Tuna Pasta

– Huw Francis

Serves 4

1 packet of pasta/spag
3 tins of canned tuna
clove of garlic
fist full of basil/oregano
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 chilli
2 fl. oz of chicken stock

Boil water in a large saucepan, add salt (1 tablespoon to every 2 pints of water) – cook pasta.

Heat oil in small saucepan. Add garlic and chilli and stir for 30 seconds – add tuna – stir and cook for 5 minutes, add chicken stock and basil – cook for a further 5 minutes – serve with pasta.

An American Chocolate Cake

- Mary Jo McMillin

1¾ oz cocoa powder
1 fl.oz milk
5 fl.oz boiling water or hot coffee
4 oz Irish butter, very soft
3½ oz soft brown sugar
3½ oz castor sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
4oz cream flour
tiny pinch salt
½ teasp bread soda

Butter edges of two 7 inch cake tins and line bottoms with Bakewell paper. 
Preheat the oven to 170C.

Put milk in measuring jug, fill to 6oz with boiling water or coffee. Add cocoa and whisk to dissolve, set aside.

In mixing bowl cream the butter with the sugars. Add eggs once at a time, beating well. Add vanilla. Sift together the flour, soda and salt. Add to the creamed mixture alternatively with the cocoa liquid in 3 additions.

Divide the batter between the tins. Bake 20-25 minutes or until tests done. Remove from the tins and cool on wire racks.

Sandwich the layers and ice with chocolate ganache:

4 fl.oz double cream
1 teaspoon honey
4oz chopped dark chocolate (semisweet or bittersweet)

Bring cream to a simmer with the honey. Remove saucepan from heat. Add chocolate and stir gently until melted. Cool until thickened enough to spread over cake.
A foolproof chocolate layer cake that is successful on both sides of the Atlantic – a favourite from Mary Jo’s cuisine.

Foolproof Food

Charlie’s Favourite Sandwiches

Fish Finger – classic!

Grill 3-4 fish fingers (crumbed not battered) till nice and crispy, season with salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Take either 2 pieces of white toast or a very soft white bap and butter both sides. On one put a small amount of Colman’s English Mustard, followed by lashings of mayo (Hellman’s of course – sorry Darina!) and on the other side put a generous amount of Colman’s followed by plenty of ketchup. Put the fish fingers on the ketchup side (v. important). Cover with iceberg lettuce then close the sandwich. Cut or eat whole.

Top Tips

Deasy’s Pub in Ring 3 miles from Clonakilty in West Cork is I’m told worth a detour – friends wax lyrical about Kathleen’s delicious food – menu chalked on the blackboard, candledlit with great atmosphere.

Dutch Masters at the Crawford Art Gallery Cork – 
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see the Dutch Masters, including The Pancake Woman by Rembrandt among the wonderful collection now showing.

Hosford’s Garden Centre, Cappa, Enniskeane, Co Cork, Tel 023-39159
Sunday 10th April 3.00pm – Fruit Growing talk with Michael Brennock (formerly of Teagasc).

Cais Cheese Tasting on Tuesday 14th April in the Cashel Palace Hotel, Main St. Cashel, Co Tipperary. 

11.00am meet the cheesemakers and taste the cheese, lunch and optional tour of Cashel Blue Cheese. This is a unique opportunity to taste a variety of the country’s finest cheeses and meet the people who make them – including some of the original members of the Irish Farmhouse Cheesemakers Association and some of the newer cheesemakers. To book a place contact Lucy Hayes, Mount Callan Farmhouse Cheese, Drinagh, Ennistymon, Co Clare – mtcallan@oceanfree.net 

Few of us who read a newspaper, listen to the radio or watch television on any kind of a regular basis, can plead ignorance about the scandalous rate of pay and dire working conditions that many people in the third world endure, to provide us with the daily luxuries that so many of us now take for granted.

Knowing what we now know it is difficult to really enjoy a cup of coffee, tea or cocoa unless one has found a Fair Trade brand. 44% of Irish people now recognise the Fair Trade label as opposed to 16% in 2002.

Not only has awareness increased, but the quality and variety of the produce has also improved enormously. Sales of some Fair Trade mark coffee and tea grew by 50% last year, its no longer just worthy, it tastes good.

Fair Trade standards also exist for sugar, lovely bananas, fresh fruit and vegetables, dried fruit, fruit juices, rice, wine, nuts and oilseeds, cut flowers, ornamental plants, cotton and sports balls.

Standards for other items, eg tropical fruit, are in development. 

Having travelled to both Guatemala and Costa Rica, and seen at first hand the conditions of the coffee and banana workers, I am acutely aware not only of the hardships they endure, but also the phenomenal amount of pesticides that are used in conventional production, so its good to see that more and more Fair Trade products are also organic.

Next time you slice a banana over your breakfast muesli, or complain about the price, spare a thought for the banana workers of Central America. 

In April 2002 I spent a couple of weeks on an eco-tourism adventure in Costa Rica. Having trudged through rainforests and whizzed passed acres of fincas, bananas will never seem quite the same again. Costa Rica is the world’s second largest banana producer. The fruit counters of the supermarkets are indeed a million miles from the banana plantations. Its so amazing to think of the journey this fruit has made to our local shop.

In recent years Costa Rica has chosen the path of eco-tourism with considerable success. This tiny country with a population similar to Ireland has about 5% of the world’s total biodiversity. This biological abundance is now safeguarded by one of the world’s most enlightened conservation programmes, consequently eco-tourism is Costa Rica’s number one earner, followed by bananas and coffee. However, pollution caused by the agro-export industry is threatening the image of the Garden of Eden.

Over this side of the world we seem to attach considerable importance to perfectly shaped, unblemished fruits. A huge cocktail of potentially dangerous chemicals are used in banana cultivation (over 50 are authorised), 20% of which serve only to improve the appearance of the fruit and are not essential for disease control.

Eco-travellers who pass through the banana plantations of Costa Rica or who take river trips, especially along the Rio Sarapiqui can’t fail to spot the ubiquitous blue plastic bags which cover the bunches of fruit on every tree. The perfect appearance of Costa Rica’s bananas is due largely to the fact that they grow inside these pesticide lined bags, some of which inevitably make their way into the rivers and lakes where they are consumed by the fish, mammals and iguanas. In fact in the Rio Tempisque basin, armadillos and crocodiles are thought to be virtually exterminated by agricultural pesticides. Fertilisers washing downstream have resulted in a proliferation of water hyacinths and reeds which have choked up channels and changed habitats, while the silt washing out to sea has destroyed much of the offshore coral reefs. Some of the blue plastic bags also float out to sea where the already endangered marine turtles mistake them for jelly fish and choke.

Unfortunately animals are not alone in being at risk from the pesticides. In 1987 a hundred Costa Rican banana plantation workers sued Dow Chemicals, Shell and Standard Fruit for producing and using a chemical which is known to cause sterility. Although they won the case in the US Courts the companies appealed. However since then several harmful pesticides have been banned, nonetheless every year 6% of all Costa Rican banana workers present claims for incidents involving exposure to pesticides, the highest such rate in the world.

On a day trip to Kekoldi Reserve, home to the indigenous Bribri Tribe, we drove on dusty mud roads through miles and miles of banana fincas. All along the way we saw people working in the plantations. Months of hard work goes into growing the crops. Today they were harvesting – chopping the still green bananas with their machetes. They carried the huge bunches to the roadside where they were piled up to be transported by mule or canoe, then by lorry to the packing station and onwards to the port at Limon where the huge big banana boats were waiting to transport them across the world.

Down by the edge of the Sarapiqui river we watched as the bananas and plantains (a larger variety) were weighed and the farmers were paid in cash on the spot. Most, then had a simple meal of beans and rice in the rustic palapa by the water’s edge before walking back to their farms.

They waved us all goodbye as we piled into wooden canoes to go body-rafting down the river. If only they knew what a bunch of bananas costs in our shops.

The good news is that the acreage of organic production is increasing in Costa Rica and more Fair Trade projects have been put in place to ensure that workers get a fair price and good work conditions.

Cork City, European Capital of Culture 2005, is hoping to be the first Irish Fair Trade City, so far Clonakilty is the only certified Fair Trade town in Ireland. The story of the commitment of the people of that town to the ethos of Fair Trade has been a remarkable example of a community working together to reach out to those who labour and harvest many of our favourite food and drinks for subsistence wages.

At present 30 towns and cities nationwide are seeking Fair Trade status. 

So we can all help by seeking out and buying Fair Trade products on a regular basis. Ask local shops and supermarkets to stock a range.

Check that your favourite cafes and restaurants are serving Fair Trade products. The Coffee Cuisine group (Kylemore Cafes) have just announced the decision to serve Fair Trade coffee, tea and hot chocolate in all of their eight branches. This in essence means 1.8 million cups a year which will make a real contribution.

Think of the difference it would make if all hospitals, canteens, offices, across the city served Fair Trade coffee and tea, biscuits, juices and chocolate. 

The price difference is very little, the feel good factor is immense.

Fairtrade Chocolate Cake

By Jane Asher

For the chocolate cake mixture:
150g/6 oz butter
150g/6 oz caster sugar, plus another 50g/2 oz for meringue
7 eggs, separated
175g/7 oz dark Fairtrade chocolate, melted
125g/5 oz self-raising flour, sifted

For the buttercream:
100g/4 oz butter, softened
175g/7 oz icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon of Fairtrade ground coffee, or 1½ teaspoons of Fairtrade instant coffee

For the chocolate cake:

Preheat oven to 190°C / 375°F/ Gas Mark 5. 
Grease and line the base of a deep 23cm/9 inch round cake tin. 
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in egg yolks one at a time, and then stir in the melted Maya Gold chocolate. 
Whisk egg whites until stiff, then fold in sugar to make meringue. 
Alternately fold in flour and meringue to the chocolate mix. 
Transfer mix to tin and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the cake is firm to touch and a skewer can be withdrawn cleanly. 
Leave to cool in the tin, then transfer to a cooling rack until cold. 
Split cake in half and fill with Fairtrade coffee buttercream. 
For the butter cream

Infuse the ground coffee in a tablespoon of boiled water, then strain; or dissolve the instant coffee in half a teaspoon of boiling water. 
Beat the butter until light and fluffy. 
Add the icing sugar to the mix a little at the time, beating well in between. 
Gradually beat in the coffee. 

Fairtrade Banana and Toffee Pancakes

By Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall.

Serves 4-6. 

The Batter:
225g plain flour
2 medium eggs
up to 500ml milk

The Filling:
250g good quality butter toffee (broken up if in a block)
3 tablespoons milk
10 ripe Fairtrade bananas, sliced

Sieve the flour and beat in the eggs. Beat in the milk a little at a time until the batter has the consistency of single cream. 
Put the toffee and 3 tablespoons of milk in a heavy pan. Stir constantly over a low heat until the toffee has melted and the sauce is smooth. It should be nice and hot. 
Fry the pancakes in a lightly oiled non-stick pan. When bubbles appear (after approx 1-1 ½) minutes turn the pancake. Stack them up and keep warm while you cook the rest. 
Place slices of banana down the middle of each pancake and pour over a generous amount of toffee sauce. Fold over each side of the pancake into the middle. Decorate with more banana slices and toffee sauce. 

Banana Choc Chip Muffins 

Makes 7-8 large muffins

100g plain flour
40g cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
90g unrefined (golden) Fairtrade sugar
40g melted butter
1 egg, beaten
2 ripe Fairtrade bananas, well mashed
80ml buttermilk
50g Fairtrade milk chocolate, chopped into small chunks

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Sieve flour, cornmeal, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together into a large bowl. Stir in sugar. In a separate bowl, mix together the butter, egg, bananas and buttermilk. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix gently (do not over-mix). Fold in the chocolate chips. Fill a muffin tin (ideally lined with muffin cases) to just under the rim. Bake for about 30 minutes until golden-brown and firm to the touch. Allow to cool in the tin.

Banana Bread

I have always loved this moist, tasty banana bread. It keeps for up to two weeks in a tin but I doubt you will find this out as it will be gobbled up quickly. Serve it thickly sliced spread with soft butter.

Makes 1 large loaf

225g 8oz self raising flour
½ level teaspoon salt
110g 4oz butter
170g 6oz castor sugar
110g 4oz sultanas or seedless raisins
30g 1oz chopped walnuts, 
110g 4oz cherries, washed and halved
2 eggs, preferably free range
450g 1lb very ripe Fairtrade bananas (weighed out of skins) 

Loaf tin 24cm 9½ inches x 13.5cm 5½ inches x 5cm 2inches, lined with greaseproof or silicone paper.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/regulo 4. 

In a large wide mixing bowl sieve the flour and salt. Rub in the butter, add the sugar. Stir in sultanas or seedless raisins, the walnuts and the glace cherries. Mash the bananas with a fork, add the eggs and mix this well into the other ingredients. 

The dough should be a nice soft consistency. 

Pour the mixture into the lined tin and spread evenly. Place in the centre of a moderate oven and bake for 1½ hours. It is vital that the oven door is not opened during cooking or the banana bread will collapse. 
Cool before removing from the tin.
It is even nicer served after a day or two.

Tira Misu

Serves 8

38-40 Boudoir biscuits
8 fl oz (250 ml) strong espresso coffee (if your freshly) made coffee is not strong enough, add 1 teaspoon of instant coffee) 
2 tablespoons brandy
2 tablespoons Jamaica rum
3 ozs (85g) dark chocolate
3 eggs, separated, preferably free range
4 tablespoons castor sugar
9 ozs (255g) Mascarpone cheese *

Unsweetened Cocoa -Fairtrade

Dish 10 x 8 inches (25.5 x 20.5cm) with low sides or 1lb loaf tin (8 x 4 inches (20.5 x 10cm) lined with cling film

Mix the coffee with the brandy and rum. Roughly grate the chocolate (we do it in the food processor with the pulse button). Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until it reaches the 'ribbon' stage and is light and fluffy, then fold in the Mascarpone a tablespoon at a time.

Whisk the egg whites stiffly and fold gently into the cheese mixture. Now you are ready to assemble the Tira Misu.

Dip each side of the boudoir biscuits one at a time into the coffee mixture and arrange side by side in the dish or tin. Spread half the Mascarpone mixture gently over the biscuits, sprinkle half the grated chocolate over the top, then another layer of soaked biscuits and finally the rest of the Mascarpone. Cover the whole bowl or loaf tin carefully with cling film or better still slide it into a plastic bag and twist the end. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours - I usually make it the day before I use it. 

Just before serving scatter the remainder of the chocolate over the top and dredge with unsweetened cocoa.

Note: Tiramisu will keep for several days in a fridge, but make sure it is covered so that it doesn't pick up 'fridgie' tastes.

Foolproof Food

Banana Smoothie

By Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall. Serves one.

"I have one of these for breakfast almost every day - and I never get bored of it."

1 large or two small Fairtrade bananas 
200ml ice cold milk (skimmed if you prefer)
1 tablespoon rolled oats (porridge oats)
2 ice cubes

Place all the ingredients in a blender and whizz for approximately one minute until smooth. Pour into a tall glass and enjoy.

Hot Tips 

What you can do to help Fairtrade

· By yourself
Choose Fairtrade Mark coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, bananas and fruit juice when doing your weekly shopping.

· At Work
Get your workplace to change over to Fairtrade Mark tea or coffee. Fairtrade Ireland can support you with samples, leaflets etc. 

· At School
Show the Fair Comment video (available from Fairtrade Ireland), have a coffee morning, start a Fairtrade tuck shop. Contact Fairtrade Ireland if you want to organise a workshop.

· Where you live
Ask your local shop or supermarket to stock Fairtrade Mark products. Convert your favourite coffee shop to Fairtrade Mark coffee or tea. See how you can help make your city or town a Fairtrade one. 

For further information:
Fairtrade Mark Ireland, Carmichael House, North Brunswick St. Dublin 7
Tel 01-4753515 info@fairtrade.ie www.fairtrade.ie
Fairtrade Cork Project, c/o Comhlamh, 55 Grand Parade, Cork. Tel. 021-4275881 info@fairtradecork.com  www.fairtradecork.com  


Thai ingredients –

New source of ingredients direct from Thailand for wholesalers – Sukunya Foods, PO Box 714, Togher, Cork, Tel 022 – 25941 sukunyafood@fastmail.fm  Also available for retail purchase from Superfruit, Douglas Shopping Centre, Douglas, Cork. Tel 021-489 4179

For the past three or four weeks I’ve been taking regular phone calls from American food writers who are ‘filing their copy’ for their St Patrick’s Day columns – from Nebraska to Chicago, New York to Ohio, everyone seems to be convinced that we still live on corned beef and cabbage over here – quite disappointed to discover that many Irish people have never eaten corned beef and cabbage in their entire lives not to mention on a regular basis.

My traditional food book has just been republished in the US, it was well received the first time around in 1995, but this time is causing a real stir. There appears to be a much greater interest in Irish traditional food culture and history. They are fascinated by the stories of the food of the country houses, the simple farmhouse fare and the food of the wild – foraged in the woods and along the seashore. When I wrote that book I contacted regional newspapers, local radio stations, I explained that I felt there was an urgency to record many of the old foods, both simple and elaborate dishes that nourished our ancestors, before they were lost – many have never been written down and the older people who had memories of the food of their childhood were slipping off to Paradise.

Recipes and old cookbooks, some handwritten, came from all over the country. Many wrote nostalgic letters and reminiscences. It took me several years to collate and organise the material into a book, so many wonderful treasures and a finite number of pages. I spent many pleasurable days travelling around the country watching people cook almost forgotten foods. I stood between the cook and the bowl or saucepan with the scales to measure, weigh and record.

Traditionally geese were killed around Michaelmas, Christmas and the New Year. Every drop of blood was saved to make goose pudding. Jack O’Keeffe, whose mother originally came from the Sliabh Luachra area on the borders of Cork and Kerry, showed me how to make a goose blood pudding which had been passed down in his family for many generations. We filled the spicy mixture into the goose neck, tied the ends, pricked it with a darning needle and poached it gently for 1½ hours in a covered saucepan – I still remember the delicious flavour.

I stirred the fresh blood for puddings, chopped the soft pigs head and crubeens for brawn. The texture of those puddings was deliciously soft and crumbly, so different from the modern puddings made with imported dried pigs blood. It’s a great tragedy for Ireland that we have lost so much of our traditional food culture in recent years. There’s only a mere handful of butchers making black pudding with fresh blood nowadays. The cost of compliance with the tidal wave of regulations is putting them out of business. Who, if anyone, is batting for us in Europe – do any of our MEP’s realise that the demand for these kinds of artisan food products is growing and a growing number of discerning customers are prepared to pay more for quality. 

In the US and UK, chefs, particularly the new breed of young chefs are fascinated by the art of curing meat, pickling pork, brining bacon and hams, making sausages, salami and chorizo. The highly acclaimed chef Richard Corrigan of Lindsay House in London is famous for his black puddings, Mario Battali of Lupa and Babbo in New York has been curing meats in the time honoured way in his restaurant for several years and New Yorkers are flocking to see the results.

My own students here at the school were also anxious to learn, so Fingal Ferguson from Gubbeen Smokehouse near Schull, came and showed them how to butcher one of our own free range organic pigs. They spent a wonderful afternoon learning how to cure bacon, make sausages and salami and chorizo. We made brawn from the head and packed it into bowls like my Aunt Lil used to do when they killed a pig on the farm in Tipperary.

It’s a tremendous joy for me to find young people who are anxious to learn these almost forgotten skills and who are truly proud of our traditional food culture – a healthy and encouraging sign of a nation growing up. How about some bacon and cabbage, champ and parsley sauce for St Patrick’s Day.

Traditional Irish Bacon, Cabbage and Parsley Sauce

Our national dish of bacon and cabbage is often a sorry disappointment nowadays, partly because it is so difficult to get good quality bacon with a decent bit of fat on it.

Serves 12-15

4-5 lbs (1.8-2.25kg) loin of bacon, either smoked or unsmoked with the rind on and a nice covering of fat
Buttered or boiled cabbage
Parsley Sauce, see below

Cover the bacon in cold water and bring slowly to the boil. If the bacon is very salty there will be a white froth on top of the water, in which case it is preferable to discard the water and start again. It may be necessary to change the water several times depending on how salty the bacon is. Finally cover with hot water and simmer until almost cooked, allow 20 minutes to the pound. Remove the rind and serve with Buttered or Boiled cabbage and Parsley Sauce.

Parsley Sauce

1 pint (600ml/22 cups) milk

2 ozs (55g) roux
salt and freshly ground pepper
a few slices of carrot, optional
a few slices of onion, optional
bouquet garni
chopped parsley

If using herbs and vegetables, put them in the cold milk and bring to simmering point, season and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Strain out the herbs and vegetables, bring the milk back to the boil, whisk in the roux until the sauce is a light coating consistency. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add chopped parsley and simmer on a very low heat for 4-5 minutes.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Corned beef has a distinctive regional association with Cork City. Between the late 1680's and 1825, the beef-corning industry was the most important asset to the city and the country. In this period, Cork exported corned beef to England and much of Europe and as far away as Newfoundland and the West Indies. During the Napoleonic wars, corned beef exportation from Cork was at all time high and the British army was principally supplied with corned beef from Cork.

Although this dish is eaten less frequently nowadays in Ireland, for Irish-emigrants it conjures up powerful nostalgic images of a rural Irish past. Originally it was a traditional Easter Sunday dinner. The beef killed before the winter would have been salted and could now be eaten after the long Lenten fast with fresh green cabbage and floury potatoes. Our local butcher corns beef in the slow, old-fashioned way which, alas, is more the exception than the norm nowadays.

Serves 6-8

4 lbs (1.8kg) corned silverside of beef
3 large carrots, cut into large chunks
6-8 small onions
1 teaspoon dry English mustard
large sprig fresh thyme and some parsley stalks, tied together
1 cabbage
salt and freshly ground pepper

Put the corned beef into a saucepan with the carrot, onions mustard and the herbs. Cover gently in cold water, bring to the boil, covered and simmer for 2 hours. Discard the outer leaves of the cabbage, cut in quarters and add to the pot. Cook for a further 1-2 hours or until the meat and vegetables are soft and tender.

Serve the corned beef cut into slices surrounded by the vegetables. Serve lots of floury potatoes and freshly made mustard as an accompaniment.

Scallion Champ

A bowl of mashed potatoes flecked with green scallions and a blob of butter melting in the centre is ‘comfort’ food at its best.

Serves 4-6

1.5kg (3lb) 6-8 unpeeled 'old' potatoes e.g. Golden Wonders or Kerrs Pinks
110g (4oz) chopped scallions or spring onions (use the bulb and green stem) or 45g
chopped chives
350ml (10-12fl oz) milk
55-110g (2-4oz) butter
salt and freshly ground pepper
Scrub the potatoes and boil them in their jackets.

Chop finely the scallions or spring onions or chopped chives. Cover with cold milk and bring slowly to the boil. Simmer for about 3-4 minutes, turn off the heat and leave to infuse. Peel and mash the freshly boiled potatoes and while hot, mix with the boiling milk and onions, beat in the butter. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Serve in 1 large or 6 individual bowls with a knob of butte melting in the centre. Scallion mash may be put aside and reheated later in a moderate oven, 180C/350F/regulo 4. Cover with tin foil while it reheats so that it doesn’t get a skin.

Roscommon Rhubarb Tart

This delectable tart is an adaptation of a traditional recipe which was originally cooked in a bastable over the open fire – everyone adores it.

One could also add a couple of teaspoons of freshly grated ginger to the rhubarb, but try it unadorned at first, its seriously good.

Serves 8-10

900g (2lb) red rhubarb
255-285g (9-10oz) granulated sugar

Topping
310g (11oz) flour
20g (¾oz) castor sugar
1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
55g (2oz) butter
1 egg
175ml (6floz) full cream milk, approx
egg wash
granulated sugar

23x5cm (9x2inch) round tin. We use a heavy stainless steel sauté pan which works very well, if you don’t have a suitable pan, par cook the rhubarb slightly first.
Preheat the oven to 230C/450F/regulo 8

Trim the rhubarb, wipe with a damp cloth and cut into pieces about 2.5cm (1inch) in length. Put into the base of a tin or sauté pan, sprinkle with the sugar. We put the stainless steel sauté pan on a low heat at this point while we make the dough.

Sieve all the dry ingredients into a bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and rub into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Whisk the egg with the milk. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in the liquid all at once and mix to a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured board and roll into a 23cm (9inch) round about 2.5cm (1inch) thick. Place this round on top of the rhubarb and tuck in the edges neatly. Brush with a little egg wash and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Bake in the fully preheated oven for 15 minutes then, reduce the temperature to 180C/350F/regulo 4 for a further 30 minutes approx. or until the top is crusty and golden and the rhubarb soft and juicy.

Remove from the oven and allow to sit for a few minutes. Put a warm plate over the top of the sauté pan, turn upside down onto the plate but be careful of the hot juices. 

Serve warm with soft brown sugar and cream.

Spotted Dog

Makes one loaf

450g (1lb) plain white flour, preferably unbleached
1 level teaspoon salt
1 level teaspoon bread soda (finely sieved)
1 dessertspoon sugar
85-110g (3-4oz) sultanas
350ml - 425 ml (12-14fl oz) approximately butter milk
1 free-range egg (your egg is part of your liquid measurement)

First fully preheat your oven to 220°C/425°F/regulo 7.

In a large mixing bowl sieve in the flour and breadsoda, add the salt, sugar and fruit. Mix well by lifting the flour and fruit up in to your hands and then letting them fall back into the bowl through your fingers. This adds more air and therefore hopefully more lightness to your finished bread. Now make a well in the centre of the flour.

Break the egg into the bottom of your measuring jug add the buttermilk to the 425ml 14floz line (your egg is part of your liquid measurement). Pour most of this milk and egg into the flour. Using one hand with the fingers open and stiff, mix in a full circle drawing in the flour from the sides of the bowl, adding more milk if necessary. The dough should be softish, not too wet and sticky. 

The trick with spotted dog like all soda breads is not to over mix the dough. Mix it as quickly and as gently as possible thus keeping it light and airy. When the dough all comes together, turn it out onto a well floured work surface. Wash and dry your hands. 

With floured fingers roll lightly for a few seconds just enough to tidy it up. Pat the dough into a round, pressing to about 6cm 2inches in height.

Place the dough on to a baking tray dusted lightly with flour. With a sharp knife cut a deep cross on it, let the cuts go over the sides of the bread. Prick with knife at the four triangles as according to Irish Folklore this is to let the fairies out! 

Put in to the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then turn down the oven to 200°C/400°F/regulo 6, for 35 minutes or until cooked. If you are in doubt about the bread being cooked, tap the bottom: if it is cooked it will sound hollow.

Serve freshly baked, cut into thick slices and smeared with butter and jam. Spotted Dog is also really good eaten with cheese.

Caraway Seed Cake

I hated Seed cake as a child and now its one of my great favourites, my father had a passion for it so it was always an option when we went to visit our Tipperary relations on Sunday afternoons.

6 ozs (170g) butter
6 ozs (170g) castor sugar
3 eggs, free-range if possible
8 ozs (225g) plain white flour
1 tablespoon ground almonds, optional
2 dessertspoons caraway seeds
3 teaspoon baking powder
some caraway seeds to sprinkle on top

Round cake tin 7 inches wide x 3 inches deep (18cm x 7.5cm)

Line the cake tin with greaseproof paper.

Cream the butter, add the sugar and beat until very soft and light. Whisk the eggs and gradually beat into the creamed mixture. Stir in the flour and ground almonds. Add the baking powder and 2 dessertspoons of caraway seeds with the last of the flour. Turn the mixture into the prepared cake tin, scatter a few caraway seeds on top and bake in a moderate oven, 180C/350F/regulo 4 for 50-60 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Keeps well in an airtight tin.

Foolproof Food

Buttered Cabbage

This method takes only a few minutes to cook but first the cabbage must be carefully sliced into fine shreds. It should be served the moment it is cooked.

1 lb (450 g) fresh Savoy cabbage
1-2 oz (30-55 g) butter
salt and freshly ground pepper
a knob of butter

Remove the tough outer leaves from the cabbage. Divide into four, cut out the stalks and then cut into fine shreds across the grain. Put 2-3 tablespoons of water into a wide saucepan with the butter and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, add the cabbage and toss constantly over a high heat, then cover for a few minutes. Toss again and add some more salt, freshly ground pepper and a knob of butter. Serve immediately.

Buttered Cabbage with Caraway Seeds

Add 2-1 tablesp. of caraway seeds to the cabbage, toss constantly as above.

Hot Tips

Cork St Patrick’s Festival Food Market 11am -5pm March 17th

On St Patrick’s Day from before the Parade starts until well after its finished, Oliver Plunkett St will be teeming with fresh foods gathered from all over the county (and in some cases the country). 

Fuchsia Brands from West Cork will have a strong presence with their various and varied foodstuffs,157 enterprises are accredited to the Fuchsia Brand. The principal food producers will be represented in the food market in Oliver Plunkett Street, including: O’Connell’s Chocolates, Staunton’s Black and White Pudding, Shellfish de la Mer, Mellas Fudge, Durrus Cheese and the Gubeen Smoke house.

Cork City’s own world famous English Market will also be participating along with traders from the weekly Coal Quay Market and numerous stall holders from both Farmers and Country markets will be keeping our energy levels up by providing us with the best of Irish foodstuffs. www.corkstpatricksfestival.ie

On a whistlestop tour of New Zealand we travelled over three and a half thousand kilometres in less than three weeks, searching out artisan food producers, funky restaurants and wine, on both the North and South Islands.
From the tourist’s viewpoint, New Zealand is a stunningly beautiful country with a fascinating indigenous culture, diverse environments and ecological integrity.
The South Island possibly has the edge on the North as far as breathtaking scenery is concerned. The wine industry is exploding, with large acreage of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Rheisling, Pinot Noir and the Bordeaux blends being grown. Many of the top wines have screw tops and apart from Europe, Australia and the US, there is a fast growing market in China for New Zealand’s burgeoning wine production.
New Zealand is about twice the land mass of Ireland with the same population. There are no agricultural subsidies, when they were withdrawn there was a painful period of adjustment, which has since resulted in a highly efficient dairy, meat and fruit industry.

All over the countryside there are farm shops and farm stands where farmers and food producers sell directly to the public. Farmers Markets are gathering momentum.
The specialist artisan food production section is also gathering momentum – there are an estimated 2000 in New Zealand as opposed to 280 over here. It was difficult to get exact figures and to ascertain what the definition of a small producer was. 

We flew into Christchurch on the South Island and our first stop was at Dunsandal Store, 45 minutes south of Christchurch. Annabel Graham and her husband decided to transform their excess dessert apples into small varietal juices after a downturn in the apple export market. The apples are handpicked and crushed within 24 hours. They are pressed in the traditional way using acacia wood boards and cloths to form ‘cheese’. The juice is pasteurised to prolong shelf life – presently there are seven varieties in the Camla Farm range. Annabel converted a local dairy into a must-stop café, it is on the road between Christchurch and Dunedin a charming conglomerate – a shop which serves as a local store and post office, a great deli counter with delicious local produce and home baking and a well-chosen selection of top quality dry goods. The café was packed with locals when we called, and to our delight we discovered Sinead Doran cooking up a storm in the kitchen, Sinead had cooked in the kitchen at Ballymaloe House a few years ago. Below are recipes for some of the good things she and Annabel cooked.

We travelled with Margaret Brooker’s Good Food Guide to New Zealand tucked into the glove compartment in the same way as we do with John and Sally McKenna’s terrific Bridgestone Guides over here.

This meant that as we travelled down the coast towards Dunedin, we could find all the best eateries and artisan producers. We were shown around the cheese making plant in Omaru. The owner went into cheese making in 1987 when farming became difficult, and now after much trial and error, he and his 5 cheese makers make 16 different cheeses, including Brie and Camembert types, a feta and a stunningly good Winter Blue (remember Winter is Summer in New Zealand!). There was a terrific little café beside the ‘cheesery’ where people could taste their cheeses and dishes incorporating the cheese.

We continued our drive down past the Boulders, through stunning scenery, lots of memorial halls and monuments to World War 1 & 2 veterans.

Fantastic drive inland – huge landscapes, wonderful ancient trees, New Zealand beech, willow, pines, tree ferns, rolling hills, fantastic cacti, bleached fences, foxgloves, genista and wild lupins all along roadside. Lots of beehives, snow on the mountain tops, sparsely populated and virtually no traffic. Lots and lots of elderflower in bloom – so strange at Christmas. On and on through the chatto creek, past cherry and apricot orchards in the valley, acres of wild roses on the hillside. Eventually we came to the wine area. 

We stayed in Arrowtown, we watched an old chap panning for gold down by the river in the middle of blue and purple lupins, below what must be one of the most charming towns in the south island. We ate a memorable meal in a chic galvanised restaurant called Saffron – the Cappucino Crème Brulee comes from there.
In Nelson we visited the Farmers Market and picked up some great bread, fantastically good local bratwurst, Westphalian ham and beer sticks, boysenberries and rhubarb.
The Museum of Wearable Art and the vintage car museum beside it are not to be missed.

We gathered mussels, oysters and pipi on the little beaches along Queen Charlotte Sound, scarcely another soul in sight, even though it was over the holiday period.

Fortunately we had booked the ferry to the North Island, its certainly risky to leave that to chance. In lovely weather this is a spectacular trip up through the sound, on the grey and misty day we crossed over we opted to watch Bridget Jones instead and then raced into windy Wellington to The Tasting Place to get a table before closing time – a really happening spot but not terrific food. The L’Affarre coffee shop on College Street and the Moore Wilson Market opposite are definitely worth checking out.

The red Pohu Tuk Wa Christmas trees were just bursting into a mass of bloom. We made a detour to visit Graham Harris of Wellington University who has amassed an impressive collection of Maori potatoes about which I will write more in another piece. Meanwhile, here are recipes for some of the delicious things we ate at Dunsandel Store, with special thanks to Sinead Doran for sending along the recipes to us.

Dunsandel Spiced Pumpkin Salad

Sinead says this is the most popular salad at the store, she can’t keep up with demand when the pumpkins are in season.

Large pumpkin, peeled and cubed
2 cups red pepper, finely sliced
3 spring onions, chopped
1 cup sweetcorn
lots of chopped parsley
salt, pepper
1 red chilli, chopped
olive oil

Roast pumpkin in lots of olive oil, don’t let it get mushy. 
While still warm add rest of ingredients. Taste and correct seasoning.

Dunsandel Pasties

Makes 8 pasties

500g (18oz) pork mince
125g (4½ oz) bacon, diced
1 cup (2oz/50g) breadcrumbs
1 large apple, diced
1 medium onion, diced
200g (7oz) boiled potatoes, diced (if the potatoes are new, leave the skins on)
1 egg
2 spring onions
salt and pepper
quatre epices (pinch)

Shortcrust pastry made with 1lb (450g) flour (you may have a little spare).

Sweat the onions in a little butter until soft but not coloured. Cool.
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Fry a little piece of mixture to taste.
Correct seasoning if needed.
Roll pastry into circles 20cm (7½ inch) diameter, 5mm(¼ inch) thick.
Put 150g (5oz) of mixture in the centre of circle.
Egg wash the edges, bring together on top of mix. Seal, crimp edges, put 4 holes in pastry, egg wash. Repeat with rest of mix. Cook for 20-30 minutes at 180C/350F/gas 4.

Ginger Crunch

210g (7½ oz) butter, melted

210g (7½ oz) brown sugar
½ teasp. ground ginger
pinch salt
410g (14½ oz) flour
½ teasp. baking powder

Topping:

120g (4½oz) butter
1 cup (120g/4½ oz) icing sugar
4 tablesp.golden syrup
2 teasp. ground ginger

Mix dry ingredients. Add in melted butter. Press firmly into baking tray. 
Bake for 15 minutes at 160C/325F/gas 3.
For topping – melt butter and sugar together. Add icing sugar and ginger and stir well.
Pour over base while biscuit is still warm, and spread evenly.
Portion while still warm.

Passion Fruit Slice

180g (6½ oz) butter

¾ cup (175g/6oz) sugar
2 eggs
1 teasp. vanilla essence
½ cup (2½ oz/75g) plain flour
1 cup (5oz/150g) self raising flour
½ cup (4fl.oz/125ml) passion fruit pulp

Icing:

80g (3oz/75g) butter
1 cup (4½ oz/125g) icing sugar
¼ cup (2 fl.oz/50ml) passion fruit pulp

Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs gradually with essence.
Fold in sifted flours and passion fruit pulp. Put into greaseproof lined trays, spread evenly.
Bake for 20 minutes at 180C/350F.gas 4 or until cooked. Cool before icing.
To make the icing – soften butter, beat in sugar and passion fruit.

Saffron Crème Brulee

350ml (12 fl.oz) cream

125ml (4 fl. oz) milk
75ml (3 fl.oz) coffee
75g (3oz) sugar
6 eggs
2 tablesp. Kalua

Whisk the eggs and sugar together. Bring cream, milk and sugar to the boil, allow to cool to10 degrees.
Add coffee and pour onto sugar and eggs and whisk.
Pour through a sieve into ramekins and cook in a bain-marie for 45-60 minutes at 160C/325F/gas 3.
Sprinkle a layer of castor sugar on top and caramelise with a blow torch.

Caramel Walnut Slice
200g (7oz) butter

225g (8oz) sugar
1 teasp. vanilla essence
350g (12oz) flour
1 teasp. baking powder

Topping:

100g (3½ oz) butter
2 tablesp. golden syrup
1 can condensed milk
walnuts for sprinkling on top

Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy
Add vanilla essence
Fold in flour (sieved) and baking powder. Put in tray, keeping back 2 tablesp. of mix.

Topping:

Melt butter and sugar, mix in the condensed milk. Pour over base. Sprinkle with walnuts and rest of base mix.
Bake for 35 minutes at 170C/325F/gas 3

Chocolate Crunch

210g (7½ oz) butter, melted

175g (6oz) sugar
2 tablesp. cocoa
260g (9½ oz) flour
1 teasp. baking powder
6 Weetabix, crushed

Mix dry ingredients in bowl. Add melted butter and mix well. Press firmly into baking tray.
Bake for 15 minutes at 160C.

Chocolate Icing:

1½ cups (6¾ oz/195g) icing sugar 
1 tablesp. cocoa
enough butter melted to bring icing together.
Desiccated coconut for sprinkling

To make icing – sieve icing sugar and cocoa together, add enough melted butter to bring together.
Ice tray bake while it is still warm and sprinkle with coconut. 
Portion while still warm.

Foolproof Food

Country Rhubarb Cake

The first lovely pink spears of new season’s rhubarb are in the shops now.

This delicious juicy Rhubarb Cake based on an enriched bread dough was made all over the country. Originally it would have been baked in the bastible or baker beside an open fire. My mother, who taught me this recipe varied the filling with the seasons – gooseberries, apples, plums …
Serves 8

12 ozs (340g) flour
2 ozs (55g) castor sugar
a pinch of salt
½ teaspoon breadsoda
3 ozs (85g) butter
1 egg (preferably-free range) 
egg wash
5½ fl ozs (165ml) milk, buttermilk or sour milk
1½ lbs (675g) rhubarb, finely chopped
6-8 ozs (170-225g) granulated sugar
castor sugar for sprinkling

1 x 10 inch (25.5cm) enamel or Pyrex plate
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/regulo 4

Sieve the flour, salt, breadsoda and castor sugar into a bowl, rub in the butter. Whisk the egg and mix with the buttermilk. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour in most of the liquid and mix to soft dough; add the remainder of the liquid if necessary.

Sprinkle a little flour on the work surface, turn out the dough and pat gently into a round. Divide into two pieces: one should be slightly larger than the other; keep the larger one for the lid. Meanwhile dip your fingers in flour. Spread the smaller piece onto the plate. Scatter the finely chopped rhubarb all over the base, egg-wash the edges and sprinkle the rhubarb with sugar. Roll out the other piece of dough until it is exactly the size to cover the plate, lift it on and press gently to seal the edges. Make a hole in the centre for the steam to escape, egg-wash and sprinkle with a very small amount of sugar.

Bake in a moderate oven, 180C/350F/regulo 4, for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the rhubarb is soft and the crust is golden. Leave it to sit for 15-20 minutes so that the juice can soak into the crust. Sprinkle with castor sugar. Serve still warm with a bowl of softly whipped cream and some moist, brown sugar.

Hot Tips 

Congratulations to Sean and Dorothy Walsh and all the team at the Village Greengrocer in Castlemartyr on winning the Bord Bia Best National Green Grocer Award in Dublin - all their customers who enjoy and appreciate the excellent service and produce from the shop are delighted they have received this well deserved recognition, and wish them continued success in the future.

Pink Lady apples with their crunchy flesh and sweet taste make the ideal dessert ingredient during the romantic month of February – but of course may be enjoyed all year round – look out for their heart-shaped logo and enjoy – for recipe ideas visit www.pinklady-europe.com 

ICA/SLOW FOOD EVENT WITH DARINA ALLEN
Friday 4th March – 7-10pm at Schull Community College, Colla Rd. Schull.
Meet the local producers – have tastings – bring your shopping bag as you will be able to buy from the stalls. Meet local well known chefs. Darina will talk about the opportunities available in producing local food – this may be your opportunity to hear how you, or a family member or a neighbour, could turn a hobby into a lucrative small business.
Admission €12 by ticket only – contact 028-28433, 028-28227, 028-28231