Rebel food haven
The warm welcome, the banter with the stallholders, the wonderful market aromas, the stalls piled high with a myriad of tempting foods, the smell of Mary Rose's coffee, the gleaming fresh fish, piles of vegetables, fruit and organic produce, the variety of offal from pigs heads to tripe and drisheen.
About a half dozen skilled butchers each with their own loyal following will cut your meat to order and throw in some cooking tips for free.
Seems no length ago since Toby Simmonds tentatively set up his tiny stall selling a variety of olives in timber pails.
Now Toby's Real Olive Co is thriving and has stalls in markets around the country as well as a flourishing wholesale business. Look out for Rachel McCormacks sandwich bar around the back of the Olive Stall in Cork Market for the yummiest juiciest salads, sambos and wraps you can imagine.
1993 was in fact a landmark year on the Cork food scene, that was the year that Denis Cotter and his New Zealand wife Bridget opened Café Paradiso on the Western Road, now arguably the best vegetarian restaurant in these islands.
A few streets away on Oliver Plunkett Street, Seamus O'Connell bounced onto Cork's gastro scene when he opened his eclectic restaurant Ivory Tower, still a magnet for the adventurous gourmet.
Back to the Cork Market in 1993 a renaissance was taking place there also. Isabelle Sheridan, originally from the Loire Valley in France, started to make gorgeous coarse textured pâté de campagne and rillettes.
Just around the corner, close to the fish market, Sean Calder-Potts and Josephine Kennedy started to ply their excellent cheeses and pastas at Iago.
Head chef Annette Fitzgerald oversees the production of all Iago's cooked and prepared food which is sold in the tiny Blackrock shop as well as in the stall in the English Market.
All these businesses have made a valuable contribution to the Cork food scene and to the lives of those of us who really care about the quality of our food I for one am truly grateful.
The Cork Market is situated just off Patrick Street, open every day except Sunday from 9am to 5.30pm. Visitors to Cork shouldn't miss this unique market, the only one of its type in the country. Well worth the effort, even when one has to negotiate the current road works on Patrick Street.
Contact details: Iago, Cork Market (021- 4277047) and The Pier Head, Blackrock, Cork (021-4358870) Café Paradiso, 16 Lancaster Quay, Western Road, Cork (021-4277939) Ivory Tower, Exchange Buildings, corner Princes / St Oliver Plunkett St (021-4274665) On the Pig's Back, Cork Market, (021-4270232) Real Olive Co Cork Market (021-4270842)
Annette Fitzgerald from IAGO shared her delicious lasagne recipe with us.
Serves 6
Ragu:
50g Smoked Pancetta finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
1/3 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 kilo minced beefsteak
3 tablespoons tomato puree
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 cup full bodied red wine
2 cups tinned tomato
2 red peppers, roasted, peeled & cut in quarters
2 courgettes roasted in 1/4 inch slices
2 aubergines roasted in 1/4 inch slices
300ml milk
A slice of carrot,
a slice of onion,
a sprig of rosemary, sage
salt & pepper to taste.
Roux to thicken.
Brown pancetta in saucepan with butter & olive oil. Add chopped onion, carrot & celery and sauté over medium heat.
When vegetables have browned, add the minced steak and brown. Add red wine and cook until it evaporates. Add tomato purée, seasoning, mustard & garlic and finally add the tomatoes.
Simmer until the beef is cooked, then adjust the seasoning.
Assembly: Mix ragu with one cup of bechamel sauce. Put a layer of the mixture on the base of the lasagne dish and cover with a layer of pasta. (If you use fresh pasta there is no need to pre-cook it.) Spread another layer of ragu then another layer of pasta sheets and so on until you have three layers of ragu and three layers of pasta sheets.
Add a layer of roasted vegetables, another layer of pasta, another layer of ragu covered with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 170C for about 30 minutes, or until a nice golden brown on top.
