Menu: Here's a tip — check out Tipp for great food offerings
Chef Jordan Bailey, of Michelin two-starred Aimsir restaurant, one of the star chefs on show at Taste of Dublin which returns in September
The Menu can’t help feeling that Tipperary is on the cusp of becoming a truly national player in the Irish food world. The local hospitality sector will receive a shot in the arm early next year with the opening of what promises to be a truly fabulous renovation of the Cashel Palace Hotel — but the groundwork has been around for much longer.
There has of course been a wealth of fine producers operating in the Premier County, some of them for decades — a resource utterly necessary to backbone a burgeoning food reputation and they include some real favourites of The Menu’s.
Anyone taking to the road in the coming months for an Irish vacation would be well advised to check out the Tipperary Food Producers’ Summer Food Tour series, as they open their doors to the public for a behind-the-scenes look at operations and no doubt ample opportunity for sampling — all will be conducted in line with Covid-19 regulations. Producers involved are: Cashel Farmhouse Cheesemakers, Magners Farm, Galtee Honey, The Apple Farm, Brookfield Farm, Crossogue Preserves, and Blackcastle Farm.
As we spread our wings further with the easing of restrictions a trip to the Big Smoke is no doubt high on many agendas, especially for the always popular Taste of Dublin festival (Sept 1-5), in Dublin’s beautiful Iveagh Gardens, this year extended to five days to account for the reduced numbers because of Covid restrictions.
The festival will feature more than 25 of Ireland’s top chefs, including Jordan Bailey of Michelin two-starred Aimsir, Jess Murphy (Kai, Galway) Rachel Allen, Kevin Dundon, Aoife Noonan, Eric Matthews and Trisha Lewis. In addition, there will be some upmarket street food offerings (Pickle, Hang Dai, The Salty Buoy by Niall Sabongi, The Chop House, Bites by Kwanghi, The Port House, Jackrabbit, King Sitric and Three Twenty Ice Cream) to fill the belly and a cultural repast in the form of performances, comedy, and theatre shows.
The Menu will most definitely revisit this particular topic in greater depth closer to the time but consider this a public service announcement as the box office is now open and tickets are selling fast.
The more time passes, the more The Menu has come to realise his passionate relationship with the caffeinated Cuppa Joe has to be now conducted at a more moderate pace for the sake of his wellbeing and that the era of five or six double espressos a day is now firmly consigned to the past. It means that he treats the two or three opportunities a day he now limits himself to with an increasing reverence that is fast approaching the ritual of a Japanese tea ceremony and that includes the receptacles from which he drinks his daily allowance, and has to date built up quite a collection of same.
One of his most preferred Irish coffee roasters, Cloud Picker, in Dublin, will undoubtedly be responsible for growing that collection as they unveil not one but two new offerings.
In summer, The Menu is especially fond of drinking his midday Cortado or even a flat white from a glass rather than a cup and the coloured glass NotNeutral range, specifically designed with baristas to ensure perfect espressos (3oz), Cortados (4oz) and flat whites or cappucinos (6oz), are as gorgeous to contemplate in the hand as they are to drink from. But it is the exclusive Cloud Picker collaboration with Fermoyle Pottery, in Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry, that has really won The Menu’s heart: handmade and hand-glazed so each 6oz cup is entirely unique — just perfect for The Menu’s first filter brew of the day.
And if that weren’t enough, The Menu is delighted to unveil a seven-day only bonus discount with purchase of either offering, 15% discount on box or bag of coffee purchased in tandem.
(For NonNeutral glasses, input code: SUMMER2021 at checkout. For Fermoyle ceramic cup, input code: LOOKFORLOCAL. Offer valid until midnight July 31.)
Nothing ever happens in isolation in the edible ecosystem as illustrated by how Irish Farmhouse Cheese revolution not only inspired others to experiment with other produce and ingredients but also how it has directly led to a whole new sideline in the manufacturing of Irish specialty crackers.
Sheridan’s were early front runners with their Cheese Cracker range, which launched in 2011, custom baked in West Cork by the very wonderful Richard Graham Leigh (of West Cork Biscuit Co) and the market has been steadily expanding ever since.
Now, The Menu remains curiously ambivalent when it comes to pairing cheese with crackers — or with anything at all, for that matter, believing a good cheese should best be enjoyed on its own. But there are times when a tasty cracker comes in handy for tackling a particularly runny soft cheese and of the more recent arrivals, he finds it hard to look past Isle of Crackers and their excellent handmade and heart-shaped flaxseed crackers, all entirely mixed, rolled, cut and baked by hand in their little North Wexford bakery.
There are four crackers in the range, including Flaxseed, Sesame and Black Olive, with an Irish Sea Salt flavour soon to be added. But The Menu’s sampling featured the Cranberry cracker, dried fruit adding a pleasing tart sweetness to rich nutty cracker, absolutely as splendid with whipped Ardsallagh Goat’s Cheese drizzled with Galtee Honey as it was dipped into a variety of homemade dips and pates.
