Lit Fest - Dublin Launch

I've just got back from the Dublin launch of the Kerrygold Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine. What fun we had. 

The event was held in The Fumbally with a fabulous menu put together by Kate Sanderson of canapés and drinks showcasing the best of Irish produce: all of it seasonal and much of it foraged and locally sourced. We had:

• Cured sea trout with baby beets and celeriac
• Gubbeen back fat lardo, served Hungarian style with onions and paprika on Fumbally sour dough 
• Irish cheeses with homemade Dillisk crackers
• Fumbally blood sausage with burnt onion aïoli
• Avocado with fermented red cabbage on toast with artichoke oil & amaranth popcorn
• ...and little shots of Carragheen pudding with Dublin rooftop honey, chocolate soil and sorrel juice.   

Broadcaster and historian and good friend of the festival, John Bowman, launched the event. Our guests included many well-known chefs, writers, journalists and columnists, ex-Ballymaloe Cookery School pupils, as well as number of our speakers from this year's LitFest. We had Sunil Chai, Executive Chef of Ananda; Aileesh Carew, Irish Year of Design; Paul O’Brien, the International Marketing Director of Kerrygold; Margaret Jeffares from Good Food Ireland; Sophie Morris, Kooky Dough...

It's less than a month to go to LitFest 2015 - May 15-17th. Do come along and join world-famous chefs and authors, boutique coffee roasters and guerrilla gardeners, cocktail specialists to renowned wine makers, movers and shakers, icons and the next big thing at the Kerrygold Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine 2015 www.litfest.ie. 

Culinary Superstars at LitFest 2015

Here at the Ballymaloe Cookery School LitFest HQ is hopping. There's just one month until the third Kerrygold Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine kicks off. Becks, Rory and Evelyn are working away behind the scenes like whirling dervishes. We've had lots of great publicity - including a five page spread in the Wall Street Journal magazine which has had a terrific reaction.

I just want to take a moment to flag up the culinary superstars giving cookery demonstrations during the LitFest this year. How about this for a line-up? April Bloomfield, Sam and Sam Clark of Moro, Allegra McEvedy, Fuchsia Dunlop, A Girl Called Jack, Hugo Arnold & Leylie Hayes of Avoca Cafe and Christian Puglisi. A once in a life-time opportunity perhaps to learn from some more of my favourite chefs and cooks... and taste their food.

What to do? I've just had someone on the phone who wanted to book onto all seven, but could only choose two. An unbearable choice! So here's a little background on each one - and there's lots more information on the LitFest.ie website. Tickets are selling out fast, with a bare handful of places left on some... so don't say I didn't warn you!

April Bloomfield is considered by many to be the best woman chef in America and this is a rare opportunity to see her cook.

April burst on to the New York culinary scene with her cooking at The Spotted Pig gastro-pub in the West Village. Her food is a fusion of the comforting food she remembers from her childhood in Birmingham in England and the Italian influences she picked up cooking at the River Café in London and further influences gleaned at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California.

You can expect fabulous, seasonal, stylish, cool and above all, delicious food from the “queen” of New York cooking.

Sam & Sam Clark of 'Moro' 

Moro and Morito have a cult following: cool, convivial, trendy surroundings with an atmosphere “that hits you like a wall of joy”. Then of course there is the food with a deliciousness that can only have been created by cooks who love the straight between the two eyes approach to flavour. Lucky for us that the two Sams took off in a camper van before opening Moro, to explore and learn the secrets to the true flavour of the great foods of Spain, Morocco and the Sahara. 

Allegra McEvedy, described by The Independent as "a caterer with conscience" is a chef and author of six books and number of television programs. Allegra has won a whole host of loyal fans for her fresh, quirky dishes made with the freshest, ethically sourced produce - all with a twist. The co-founder of the Leon restaurant group, she has worked in many of London’s best restaurants: Green’s Restaurant & Oyster Bar, The Belvedere in Holland Park, The Groucho Club and The River Café. She got her first Head Chef position at Tom Conran’s The Cow in Notting Hill, at the age of 24. 

Expect a hugely entertaining as well as informative class, with delicious tastings at the end.

Fuchsia Dunlop has been described by the Sunday Telegraph as “the best writer in the west on Chinese food” and by Observer Food Monthly as “a world authority on Chinese cooking”.
The London Independent ranked her alongside the great literary food writers Elizabeth David and Claudia Roden and Heston Blumenthal.

This is a unique opportunity to watch, listen, learn and taste some of the foods of China from one of the world’s greatest experts on the subject.

Leylie Hayes & Hugo Arnold 

Devotees of the Avoca Cafés will know that apart from the wonderful interiors that await, the next and immediate visual experience is the generous array of colourful food – bejewelled salads of all descriptions, savoury tarts, luscious soups packed with exotic ingredients, relishes, great baskets overflowing with breads, cakes, buns, bracks, ices, sweet tarts, meringues and so much more.

Leylie and Hugo will recreate some of that magic during this demonstration. Expect the sort of generous, modern, stylish, health giving food that has kept the Avoca Cafés rocking with very happy and well fed customers for the last three decades.

Jack Monroe 

Jack is “a breath of fresh air in the cooking world” – so said Nigel Slater and I quite agree.

Jack started writing her blog, A Girl Called Jack, in February 2012, in response to a local councillor who claimed that ‘druggies, drunks and single mums are ruining the High Street.’ What started as a local politics blog developed into budget food and recipes, which were picked up with interest by the national press as she detailed living with her son on a food budget of just £10 a week.

She will demonstrate recipes that were recorded on her blog and subsequently in her book also called A Girl Called Jack.

This will be an interactive event, so parents are invited to bring along one of the younger members of the household (8-12 years of age) to attend the demonstration for free and Jack will call on some of the enthusiastic juniors to join her at the demonstration counter for practical cooking fun (if they would like!)

Christian Puglisi 

Copenhagen has been the "go to" city in the world for the last few years for those in search of the most interesting, cutting edge and forward thinking food. The Nordic Food Revolution is now well documented and Christian Puglisi has been part of that movement of chefs who have made the whole world sit up and listen and look on in awe as they created a new style of cooking that can leave the diner breathless by the sheer wizardry of their creations.

From this cookery demonstration you can expect sensational dishes created by one of the new masters of world cuisine – dishes that will make you look again at food in a way that you may not have done for a long time. Don't miss this!

Urgent Action Required By All Food Lovers

Have you heard of the TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership)? I know I hadn't until a couple of days ago, when I found out about it via the Slow Food Movement. It's MAJOR, and it matters to you and me right now. 

It is a proposal which seeks to standardise systems and standards of food production between the EU and US. 

On the surface it sounds a little dull. But look a little closer, and you'll see why it matters to us all. I am deeply uneasy about the proposals and their implications.

The TTIP has massive, potentially cataclysmic repercussions for food producers and consumers not only in Ireland but throughout Europe. 

Here are some of the impacts it will have:

• Currently chemicals and pesticides in the EU must be proven safe for animals and humans prior to use. In the USA the opposite is the case, and many cancer-causing and hormone- disrupting chemicals are used there, which are banned in Europe. We would no longer be able to ban these chemicals.
• Higher European safety measures throughout the chain of food production, including meat production, would be down-graded to US levels which are less stringent.
• The US factory food system produces food at a lower cost, with more chemical inputs and higher capital costs of production than in Europe. 
• In the US, growth-hormone-injected beef is cheaper to produce - but is lower quality with associated human and animal health implications. Current restrictions on the sale of unlabelled hormone-injected beef and GMO products would be lifted. Consumers will no longer know exactly what they are buying... or eating.
• And perhaps most worrying is a new legal system will be established for foreign investors, so that they can bypass the Irish, European and American judicial systems if they feel their current - or future - profits are threatened by "unnecessarily restrictive barriers to trade". This would include everything from what constitutes organic food standards, to correct food allergy labelling.

All these changes put profit before food quality. And the interests of mass-production and corporations above those of the people eating it. It will see food information for consumers weakened, and smaller, local producers further marginalised. According to Slow Food: "the controversial trade deal could give unprecedented power to international corporations and thus threatens to overrule democracy and the rule of law, as well as environmental and consumer protection."

Did you know that this was proposed? I certainly didn't. If this worries you too, do take time to raise your voice against it. Take a moment to sign the online petitions to stop TTIP. This one has already cleared the necessary million signatures to enable it to be formally presented for consideration by the EU but a million or two more signatures couldn’t hurt, so that our legislators know just how important an issue this is!

There is a global day of action this Saturday, 18th April, with workshops, protests and networking events.

GLOBAL DETAILS: https://www.globaltradeday.org/   
IRELAND DETAILS:http://ttip.ie/act-now/

On Twitter: @TTIPInfoNetwork     

Want to know more? https://stop-ttip.org/

New York Launch

Just back from New York having successfully launched the Kerrygold Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine - on our second attempt!

Believe it or not the sun shone on us this time. There was a change of venue - at Studio 1 on Broadway - and we had even more people than were expected at the original launch. This time some of the guests who were invited first time round sadly couldn't make it, including Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Paschal Donohoe. But many many friends from Kerrygold, Tourism Ireland Board Bia and the Irish Dairy Board were there to cheer us on and celebrate the launch of our third LitFest which promises to be even bigger and better than previous years.

David Lebovitz (who will be speaking at this year's Litfest) was there, as were journalists from Monocle, Saveur, Martha Stewart Living, Food and Wine, Good Housekeeping, The Village Voice, and representatives from Dean & Deluca and the James Beard Foundation.

Before we left we packed up our cases with Ballymaloe brown yeast bread, homemade cheese biscuits and lots of lovely smoked salmon. Sean Hyde of Ballymaloe Country Relish USA was there to meet us with copious amounts of  Ballymaloe Relish and of course we had Kerrygold butter and cheese in abundance.

Here's what we ate...

• Shanagarry Organic Smoked Salmon on Ballymaloe Brown Bread with Kerrygold butter and Pickled Cucumbers
• Kerrygold Cashel Blue Cheese on a Brown Soda Cracker with Spiced Cranberries
• Roast Fillet of Irish Beef on Brown Bread and Kerrygold butter with Horseradish Mayonnaise
• Crudités with Aïoli
• A selection of Kerrygold Cheese (Kerrygold Dubliner, Skellig and Vintage Cheddar) with Pickles and Brown Soda Crackers
• Belvelly Smokehouse Smoked Mackerel and Chive Rillettes on Grilled Sourdough Bread
• Ballymaloe Vanilla Fudge as a goodbye treat.

David Tanis of the NY times (another speaker at this year's Litfest) rolled up his sleeves along with Betsy Klein and helped Rory in the open kitchen - piling cucumber pickle on top of the smoked salmon.

It was just a few days before St Patrick's Day so lots of Irish were over in New York spreading the word about Irish food - including Clodagh McKenna launching her new book Clodagh's Irish Kitchen.

The Irish craft cider producers were in town too: Dan Kelly's, Craigies Cider and Longueville House Cider were introducing their ciders to America, sharing them with our guests and getting a terrific response. Some of the Litfest speakers including Alice Feiring (natural wine) and past Ballymaloe Cookery School students including Malcom Jackson (part-time chef at Fitzcarraldo in Brooklyn) and our very first American and international student Tambra Dillon were all there - which was a lovely surprise. 

We had a very jolly time - we are very grateful for the support of our title sponsor Kerrygold and also to Tourism Ireland for supporting the US press launch.

For the Love of Old Cookbooks

On a chilly winters night a few weeks ago we had our first East Cork Slow Food event of the year: "How a Love Of Food And Literature Can Bring Your Life In A Different Direction" where eminent food historian Dorothy Cashman kept us riveted and whetted many peoples appetite for food history, old cookbooks and lore that they hadn’t a jot of interest in before.

Dorothy Cashman

Dorothy, herself had almost stumbled into what has now becoming an all absorbing hobby. Good wholesome food and convivial family meals were an important part of her childhood and stirred up as they do for many of us, nostalgic and happy memories.

In 1991 Dorothy decided to take a career break from her air hostess job in Aer Lingus to learn how to cook. After three months here at the Ballymaloe Cookery School, her interest in all things gastronomic grew. She found herself intrigued by food history and old cookbooks and became particularly fascinated by the manuscript cookbooks of the great Irish houses. 

Interestingly, relatively little work had been done on this area, it was almost as through it was ‘air brushed’ out of our history. Most cookbooks, including my own Traditional Irish Cooking had concentrated on the food of the poor and middle classes, simple, nourishing and often delicious, but hardly sophisticated food.

However, Dorothy quickly discovered that the clichéd image of traditional Irish food was only part of the story. As in every country, the food depended on the social status and economic situation of the family. The food eaten in many of the great houses was fascinating and reflected the fresh produce of the estate. Fresh vegetables, herbs and fruit from the walled garden, orchards and greenhouses. Game during the season and fish from the local rivers and lakes or a fish pond on the estate. Several houses had a ready supply of squabs from their columbarium and there were many ice houses, some of which are still in existence. The cook, with a few notable exceptions ,was local but often incorporated recipes into their repertoire that the lady of the house had got from friends or had collected on the Grand Tour of Europe.

Fortunately, the lady of the house sometimes recorded the 'receipts' as they were then known into a beautiful bound book in exquisite copper plate handwriting. These manuscript cookbooks are an important social record as well as a deeply personal account of what the family was eating at that point in time. They were never meant to be published or read outside of the family circle so they are invariably written in a casual unguarded style, with the occasional aside or alteration. 

Image from http://www.heritagerecipes.com/

From some of the entries one might deduce that the lady of the house, not herself a cook, was transcribing the cooks receipt as it was relayed to her. The cook, particularly in earlier years, may well have been illiterate and her mistress often had little understanding of quantities or cooking techniques so not all recipes are accurate or can be relied on to work. There’s also the possibility that some cooks didn’t necessarily want to share their secrets!

Dorothy discovered an extensive archive of manuscript cookbooks dating from 1700 to mid/late 1800 in the National Library and has since embarked on a fascinating research project, a journey of discovery where each little clue opens new doors and gives new insights into our traditions and food culture. And the fascinating families who lived in these houses, brought recipes with them from their childhood homes and collected and shared with their friends and neighbouring estates.

Dorothy, stressed that there are still handwritten recipe collections often written in simple copy books in the back of drawers or in a box in the attic in many homes, these are really worth rescuing. They may not be of sufficient interest to be part of the national collection but each is worth saving as a family heirloom.

If you think you have a manuscript cookbook that may be of interest, contact Dorothy Cashman at dorothycashman1@eircom.net.

Turkish Delights... My Travels to Istanbul

I've been longing to go to Turkey for ages, and have just got back from my very first visit. I was totally taken in by those touristy shots of azure skies... but of course that was summer... and I had decided to go - in February! You're not going to believe this, but just after we arrived it started to snow and continued for ten days until the day before we left. One morning it was -14C, and was I glad to have my Uggs and woolly hat with the big bobble that my youngest daughter had given me for Christmas. We seem to be followed by snow on all our travels at the moment.

It certainly won't be our last visit to Turkey, we loved it ... but next time we look forward to seeing it in the sunshine as well.

Istanbul is just as spectacular as you've heard with domes and minarets gracing the skyline. On the first day, before the snow really got a grip,  Claudia Turgut from Unison Turkey took us on a culinary skite around Istanbul. We ambled through the narrow cobbled streets, peeping into ancient Karavanseri where the nomad merchants and their camels rested when they came to trade in Constantinople during the Ottoman era.

We wandered through the Kadikoy fish market on the edge of Bosphurus, watched and licked our lips at the stalls making fish sandwiches balik ekmek with grilled mackerel and Black Sea salmon.

We crossed the Galata bridge where over a hundred earnest men in anoraks and woolly caps were fishing over the  ornate railings - a wonderful spectacle.

Close to the Spice Market we bought simit, a Turkish bagel glazed with pekmez (grape molasses) and sprinkled with sesame seeds from one of the thousands of carts that are scattered around the city. Red and gold carts sell roasted chestnuts and grilled sweetcorn.

Shop after shop around the edge sell a huge selection of fruit, nuts, roasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds, lady fingers (okra), garlands of dried aubergines...

I tasted dried persimmon here for the first time - and brought home a bag to try them in recipes here at home.

Inside the Spice Market there seem to be more jewellery than spice shops, but many sell a huge range of lokum (turkish delight), fruit and nut roll ups, candies...

And huge mounds of nougat and baklava in every shape and form.

Interestingly, Turkish cooks don't use many spices but lots of dried herbs: mint, thyme, marjoram and of course dried chilli flakes are all essential condiments.

In the midst of the Spice Market we find Can Kurtaran Gida, a particularly good shop selling many types of wild honey. There was sucur, their breakfast beef sausage, beloved of the Turks. Turkish pastrami, beautiful yellow butter from Urfa in the Black Sea area, a variety of interesting Turkish cheeses including Tulum, a delicious sheep's cheese from Erzincan that matures in a goats skin and Kaymak, a buffalo cream that's divine with honey. I shudder to think what will happen to some of these beautiful foods if Turkey joins the EU.

Over six hours later, I had walked about five miles and tasted over twenty unique street foods: borek (savoury pastries) kokorec (chargrilled lamb's intestines), kofte (plump little spicy meat croquettes with pointy ends)...

Lahmajun (Turkish pizza, eaten with a wedge of lemon and lots of fresh parsley), pide (slightly leavened bread, sometimes round and sometimes boat shaped with meat or vegetable fillings - baked in a wood-fired oven).

Some of the drinks we tried included: ayran - a diluted frothy yogurt drink, freshly squeezed pomegranate juice, boza - a fermented millet drink that is believed to cure plague and many other ills. It tastes like a slightly fizzy apple puree, and is served with roasted chickpeas sprinkled on the top.
We learned a ton about Turkish culture, food and traditions.

Another memorable part of our trip was Cappadocia in central Anatolia with its underground cities, cave dwellings and fairy chimneys.  It really is a "must add" to your travel wish list.

St Patrick's Day Pop Up Dinner

For the last six years Tourism Ireland has created a tradition of "greening" the world to celebrate St Patrick's Day - illuminating some of the world's most iconic landmarks in green light. This year the Coliseum in Rome and the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville will join the Sydney Opera House, the Great Wall of China, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Niagara Falls...

It is an inspired way to celebrate St Patrick's Day, which focuses global attention on Ireland, and as you can imagine is a source of great pride to the Irish diaspora scattered all over the world.

So here at the Ballymaloe Cookery School, where we have 14 nationalities at present on the 12 Week Course - the students are expecting some real excitement on the big day. So we've decided to do a Pop-Up dinner in the Garden Cafe at the Cookery School, on March 17th at 7pm. 

Everyone's getting out their green bling - Pam has got free rein to decorate. We have a competition for the students to see who can come up with the best green dessert, cake or cookie - green colouring, wood sorrell, angelica, green cherries are all set to feature, I'm sure - and there's a very covetable prize for the winner.

You'll be greeted with an aperitif and lots of nibbles, followed by three delicious courses plus the St Patrick's Day dessert creations. We're also hoping to have some great traditional music.

It's a Slow Food event, so the proceeds will go to the East Cork Slow Food Education Project.

Slow Food members €40, and non-Slow Food members €45.

Places are limited, booking essential. 021 4646785