Ardsallagh Cheese Wrapped in Roasted Red Peppers
Desmond Cheese Roasted Potatoes
Farmers’ Market Summer Chutney
Home-made Lemonade with Lemon Balm
Baked Cashel Blue Cheesecake with Apricots
Mairead’s Sticky Toffee Pudding with Hazelnut Toffee Sauce
Regina Sexton’s Curd Tart with Rosewater and Prunes
Richard GL’s Pecan and Maple Syrup Shortbread Fingers
Mini Pavlovas with Sweet Geranium-Infused Rhubarb
Hot Chocolate Puddings with Blackberries
Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding
Murphy’s White Chocolate and Rosewater Ice Cream
Great places to Eat and Stay in Ireland
List of Farmers’ Markets in Ireland
I first heard about farmers’ markets when I was working as a chef at Ballymaloe House. There was a lot of talk in the kitchens about Midleton Market, and the creative, passionate producers who were selling fantastic cheeses and artisan foods. I was, to say the least, curious. My big chance to get involved with the market came when Myrtle Allen, proprietor of Ballymaloe House (an incredible guest house with an award-winning restaurant), asked me to look after her stall selling freshly baked breads one very cold Saturday before Christmas. The atmosphere was buzzing; the stall holders were so enthusiastic, so keen to tell you about their produce, how it was made, the best way to cook and eat it, how to store it and where they sourced ingredients. These people were connected to the food they were sourcing, making and selling. They knew every detail, down to the name of the person who grew the herbs they used to cure the bacon in the smokehouse, and the type of wood they used and exactly where they got it. Try asking those questions in your local supermarket! There was a feeling of the stall holders being part of an underground food revolution and by the end of that freezing day I was completely hooked.
So, I got myself a stall. I would finish service at Ballymaloe on a Friday night and go right to work making fresh pasta for the market. I’d be at the market by 8am, sell it all by midday, pack up, and be back at Ballymaloe in time for service at 2pm. People thought I was completely mad but I was on a high! I left Ballymaloe about six months later to do the markets full time. For the following three years my life consisted of making produce to sell at my stall and kick-starting other markets around the country.
I feel passionately that good food should be available to everyone. Our Irish food culture is very much alive but needs to grow. For that to happen we need to buy and consume Irish produce from farmers’ markets so that we can be sure the money goes back into the industry and not into the pockets of multinational supermarket chains. The farmers’ markets are not just for ‘foodies’ – they are for all of us. Further benefits of the farmers’ markets include:
The food hasn’t travelled several thousand miles so it is fresher and you are helping the planet by saving food miles.
The food is seasonal, picked for optimum flavour and nutritional value.
It puts you, the consumer, back in touch with the producer, so you know where your food is coming from and how it was produced.
There is a fantastic range of produce available: meats; smoked and fresh fish; a staggering