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I had such high hopes for this blog. Food and drink are great joys in life. I love being around great food and talking to the people who produce it. I’m not an expert, but I wanted to learn more. (Still do).

That’s why I started this blog.

For a while, it gave me the scope to engage with interesting food people, both near and far. We talked, we laughed and I learned an awful lot.

Then life got in the way and, unfortunately, I gave less priority to Cork Foodie. In fact, it pretty much died before it really got going. Such a shame. Now it sits here—patiently waiting for me to return to it. I hope I shall, one day. Cork has such a wonderful food community. I’d like to dip back into it.

For now, I have to content myself with the occasional photographic or video assignment. (That work ends up here: www.rogeroverall.net).

The Cork Foodie Podcast – Episode 1: Launch

 

Finally, it’s here. The Cork Foodie podcast.

The arrival of the podcast today is something of a wonder to me. I’ve been dragging my heels on it for so long, it looked as if it was going to remain forever just beyond the horizon. But it launches thanks to the prodding received from Samantha Rathling and John Carmody. Both are in my SmarterEgg group and both were tasked with holding me accountable for actually getting the first episode online today. (Thanks guys).

My ambitions for the podcast are quite big. But it starts modestly today with a brief outline of what I’ll be doing and where I’m coming from. There are a couple of interviews, so it’s not all me. In fact, the less of me and the more of others the better the podcast will be.

The launch of the podcast also heralds more activity here on the blog. It’s been quiet while I worked on other projects behind the scenes. Now that the broadcast is here, this blog will have to start performing its complimentary role. More stories, more photographs, more audio and, in a short while, video too.

My gratitude if you take the time to listen to the launch episode. Your feedback is welcome, as are your suggestions for topics and personalities on the show. You can email me at roger [at] corkfood.ie or leave a comment.

To play the episode, hit the play button at the top of this post.

Martin Conroy of Woodside Farm Talks about Blood Pudding

This one belongs in the category Better Late Than Never.

A few weeks ago, Martin and Noreen Conroy of Woodside Farm in Co. Cork won a prize for their blood pudding.

Not just any prize. A silver.

Not just any silver.

Tense Times As Fruit Growers Wait On Bees

Worries about how much fruit will be on these trees come autumn © 2012 Roger Overall

“Thank you for saving my daughter,” I say to James Scannell, as he stands behind his Mealagulla Orchard stall at the Douglas Farmers’ Market.

He smiles and tells me I am welcome.

Emily is adventurous. That can be good. Life is about experience, after all. Sometimes, though, the experiences aren’t good. This was one of them. She had walked up to a stand selling chilli relish and grabbed a substantial mouthful from one of the taster jars. It was hot. Shockingly so. She went red, started to scream. Pandemonium.

James, who sells apple juice, donated a bottle to help cool her burning mouth.

Emily’s Food Journey – 17th March 2012 – Douglas Farmers’ Market

Fish at Douglas Farmers’ Market © Roger Overall 2012

“Look at the fish, Em,” I say.

“Eeeeeeeeow!!!” my daughter replies.

She is far more interested in the stand where she can buy gingerbread men. She wants to know how much the smallest ones cost. The lady on the stand tells her 50 cents. Emily is very disappointed. She only has five euros, not 50. I bend down on a knee and explain that each euro is worth 100 cents. She’s learning about money in primary school right now, but she can’t quite make the leap from classroom into the practical world on her own yet. The news about the euro perks her up. She buys two small gingerbread men.

Next she goes to a cake stand. She asks about buying a box of six fairy cakes, but they cost five euros. She understands that she doesn’t have that left, so she buys a single cake instead and races off to sit down opposite the fish stand to eat it.

Is Your Coffee Served Too Hot?

Brock Lewin – Badger & Dodo Boutique Coffee Roasters, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland © Roger Overall 2012

Coffee roaster Brock Lewin quickly plucks a small pebble out of cooling coffee beans.

“Some of my clients have €2,000 coffee grinders,” he smiles. A rogue pebble would make short work of one. It wouldn’t do relationships with the client much good either, and Brock is big on relationships.

Maybe it’s because he first started selling his Badger & Dodo coffee straight to the end user at the local market in Fermoy, Co. Cork. Maybe it’s because he’s been serving coffee directly to people for almost two decades. Maybe it’s simply because he’s Australian.

The conversation pauses while he plucks out a kernel of corn from the cooling beans. He explains that this particular coffee is picked and then left to dry on patios, a technique known as dry processing, which helps give more body to the coffee. Because the growers also produce other crops, sometimes a loose grain gets mixed in.

Brock doesn’t merely rely on his eyes to spot offending material among the beans. Anything that shouldn’t be there is removed by a vacuum process at a later stage. Your grinders are safe.

Food Sounds – Woodside Farm 90% Pork Sausages

Woodside Farm 90% Pork Sausages © Roger Overall 2012

Just the sound:

With some chat:

 

Shandon Sweets – Ireland’s Last Producer Of Handmade Sweets?

Tony and Dan Linehan © Roger Overall 2012

Do you know what children want from their boiled sweets today?

Standing in his small workshop, just yards from Cork’s iconic Church of St Anne in Shandon, sweet maker Dan Linehan doesn’t hesitate when asked the question. “Sour,” he says.

These days, children are looking for a big sour hit. And it seems it can’t be sour enough.

Dan’s son Tony, who works with him to produce a range of hard and soft sweets by hand, tells of modern sweets so sour they would make your jaw lock up and your tongue bleed. “It’s the truth,” he emphasizes when my eyebrows raise.

That’s not the kind of experience Dan and Tony want to sell. They are all about subtlety and flavour.

Mushrooms Rock

Did you know that mushrooms have big health benefits?

Listen to the audio below in which Lucy Deegan, who is co-founder of Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms, talks about how good they are for you.

The interview was recorded at the Mahon Point farmers’ market, where you’ll find lots of cork food stalls every Thursday from 10am to 3pm.

Click on the link below to listen:

http://abfiles.s3.amazonaws.com/swf/fullsize_player.swf

Cork Food Producers Lead In Ireland

Ummera Salmon © Roger Overall 2010

CORK FOOD producers are among the best in Ireland. Their artisan products consistently win national and international awards, and there is hardly a type of food that isn’t produced in Co. Cork. Smoked salmon, beef, boiled sweets, pork, seafood, cheese, bread, black and white puddings, cakes, preserves, poultry, yoghurt, chocolate, coffee, cider, beer, vegetables – the list goes on and all are of the highest quality.

Cork food producers typically perform well at the Great Taste Awards, which are organized annually by the Guild of Fine Food in the UK.

Around the world

With such a stellar reputation, it isn’t surprising that Cork food is known beyond the county borders. In fact, it is known beyond the national borders of Ireland.

For instance, Glenilen diary products can be found in London, where the company’s old-fashioned tasting yoghurts are popular.  In 2011, Glenilen was crowned Good Food Ireland’s Food Producer of the Year.

Timoleague-based smokehouse Ummera’s smoked salmon has been served at the House of Lords in London. In fact, its smoked eel has made its way all the way to Hawaii.

Local markets

Cork’s food producers sell through local supermarkets, as well as a range of markets, including Ireland’s best known – the English Market in the centre of Cork City.

Established in 1788, it is one of the gastronomic highlights of any visit to Cork. Indeed, such is its significance that it was included in the itinerary of Queen Elizabeth II when she visited Ireland in 2011.

At the market, you’ll find butchers, poultry specialists, fishmongers, bakers, gourmet sausage producers, green grocers, olive sellers… you name it.

In addition at the permanent English Market, cork food is available at a series of over 20 weekly farmers’ markets throughout the city and county.

Want to know more?

If you’re interested in Cork food and Cork food producers, why not visit Cork Foodie, where you’ll find lots of interviews, articles, and photography.