Paying the price
Food prices, restaurant prices and the price of the pint are compared across Europe, Ireland rarely comes out best. However, the ‘bargain police’ rarely register the fact that Ireland has one of the highest basic wages in Europe.
We also have some of the highest indirect taxes on food and wine in the EU. Ireland applies a VAT rate of 21%, and excise duty, to sparkling and still wines. The figures for VAT in Spain, Italy and Portugal are 16%, 12% and 12% respectively on sparkling wine and 16%, 20% and 12% on still wine. The excise duty on a standard bottle of still wine in Ireland is €2.05, €1.80 in Britain, €0.03 in France and nil in Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal. The excise duty on sparkling wine in Ireland is €4.10, €2.57 in Britain, €0.06 in France and, again, nil in Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal.
Ireland also has the eighth highest rate of VAT on food in restaurants in the EU.
Insurance costs have increased significantly, and cost increases in public and employers’ liability, and other types of insurance cover, have led to increased costs for restaurants. Waste disposal charges have also increased and the additional costs incurred by restaurateurs have also had to be passed on to customers.
Which is why we need to be careful to actually compare like with like, before we jump to conclusions.
I got to thinking about all this afresh recently when I had lunch at a new café in Midleton, Co Cork, called Fire and Ice.
Chef-owner Gary Masterson is from Coventry. He trained in Britain with De Vere Hotels and has worked in the Cayman Islands, Spain, on the QE2, the Queen Mary 2, and in Anguilla in the CuisinArt Resort. He also spent some time in Dublin working at the Mermaid where he met Winnie, who is now his wife and business partner.
Winnie trained with Michael Clifford in his restaurant Cliffords on the Mardyke in Cork and Finíns in Midleton, and ran the restaurant at the Distillery. She spent some time in San Francisco working with Wolfgang Puck and Stars before returning to Dublin where she helped set up Eden with Eleanor Walsh, and then moved on to the Mermaid.
At Fire and Ice in Midleton, Gary devises the daily menu and sources as much local food as possible from artisan producers. Winnie is responsible for the delicious cakes and desserts as well as running the floor.
The menu changes every day depending on the produce available in season. My friends chose a goat’s cheese and tomato tartlet, and a spiced, grilled flank steak with green mango and herb salad. I was tempted by the char-grilled pizza with smoked salmon, avocado and cucumber pickle, mint, capers and crème fraîche.
The thin pizza was covered with slivers of smoked salmon, chunky slices of avocado, pickled cucumber, crispy lettuce and tiny capers. The secret ingredients were thin slivers of pickled ginger and some crème fraîche zig-zagged over the top. It was really good.
Flank steak is a very undervalued piece of beef. Gary cut it into slivers across the grain and seared it quickly on the pan and piled it atop a green mango, chilli and fresh herb salad.
The goat’s cheese and tomato tartlet sat on a bed of onion marmalade and this was served with a rocket salad with roasted pepper dressing.
Gary says he seeks out really good quality ingredients and buys as much local produce as he can get his hands on, including vegetables grown in his garden by Winnie’s father.
They hope to soon sell their own pickles, chutneys, relishes, jams and marmalades as well as rubs, seasonings and fresh tea blends.
All chefs know that good produce is what creates the wow factor on the plate but really good produce simply costs more money - hence the eternal dilemma between the chef and the accountant.
Gary and Winne say the eclectic menu reflects their travels and moods and what they like to cook and eat themselves. After some delicious puddings, the couple kindly shared some of their recipes with us.
* Fire and Ice is at The Courtyard, Main St, Midleton, Co Cork. Tel 021-4639682. Open 9am-5pm, Monday to Saturday.
