This holiday season, the Dunnes Stores Simply Better team has you covered for everything needed for festive family feasts thanks to a product line brimming with childhood nostalgia and traditional Irish country Christmas flavours.

Picture this: It’s Christmas Eve. The lights are low, the fire is blazing and the tree is sparkling. Some close family members have stopped by to exchange gifts. You bring out a platter of smoked salmon, brown bread, cream cheese and a perfectly chilled bottle of wine.

On the table, in pride of place, is the coveted Christmas cake. Not far away, grandad is anxiously awaiting a slice to accompany his cup of tea.

Christmas 2020 may not feature big parties, but we can, thankfully, still enjoy time with family and great food. Producers O’Hara’s of Foxford and the Burren Smokehouse add to the well-curated line of quality holiday treats and eats featured within the Simply Better range.

The bakery where the O’Hara family creates their perfectly-matured Christmas cake is a hive of activity at the best of times. However, during the holidays it’s magical mayhem. Cakes are produced with a flurry of excitement and it is easily the family’s favourite time of year.

The O’Hara’s of Foxford team, who produce the Dunnes Stores Simply Better line of Christmas cakes, start their preparations much earlier than most – and for good reason.

“Christmas cake is like a fine cheese; it ages well,” laughs Nadine O’Hara, who oversees Christmas cake production each year. “We start our cakes early in September to give them time to mature. We enhance the cakes by injecting them with alcohol, which makes the fruit nice and plump and adds to the overall flavour.”

O’Hara’s Christmas cakes are injected with West Cork Irish Whiskey twice during the ageing process – once immediately after being baked and again when they’re halfway through the ageing process. The time, effort and care that goes into making each cake is a testament to this family business, and to the many members of the Foxford community they employ.

“We could not achieve any of this without the team we have here at the bakery,” says Julie O’Hara. “They put so much care into making sure every cake meets the high standard of the Simply Better range.

“We have between 160 and 170 people [working here], between the bread and cake department,” she continues. “It seems big but it’s really not – Foxford is a small town. We know everyone by their first name and [the bakery] has a really vibrant community spirit.”

The Simply Better All-Butter Christmas Cake line includes an iced “bar” cake, a classic iced round Christmas cake, an un-iced Christmas cake and a segmented cake option. They’re made with the highest quality dried fruits (think Californian raisins and Turkish sultanas) and Irish creamery butter.

2021 will mark 70 years in business for O’Hara’s of Foxford, who have now been operating within their rural Co Mayo community for three generations.

“[Michael and Maureen O’Hara] first started making bread for the local community in 1951. The bakery just grew from there,” Julie says. “We are delighted to collaborate with the Simply Better team to produce cakes we’re both really proud of. We’ve always taken care to use the finest ingredients, so we really feel privileged to be part of their brand.”

“Christmas cake has always been a big part of the O’Hara households’ holidays,” adds Nadine. “Among all of our relations, the Christmas cake has always been the centrepiece of the Christmas table. It’s wonderful to be involved in other peoples’ Christmases, in this way.

“The recipe has been around for a long time in the O’Hara family,” she continues. “It’s always going to have that tradition of flavour. Christmas can be an emotional time – especially this year. If our cakes can help evoke a happy childhood memory then we’ve done our job.”

Birgitta Hedin-Curtin owns and operates the Burren Smokehouse in Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare. She and her team have been supplying the Dunnes Stores Simply Better range with their top-of-the-range smoked salmon products since 2013. She says the brand aligns with her own ideas surrounding quality and local support.

“We’ve been there from the beginning,” she smiles. “For us to give our salmon to another brand – for me – the quality, as well as how it’s portrayed and marketed, is really important. I feel content knowing we’re in the right place with the Simply Better range. Brand integrity is important and Simply Better is synonymous with our own business ethos.”

Birgitta uses only Irish organic farmed salmon for her smoked salmon products. This, combined with the care and effort that goes into the preparation of her Simply Better smoked salmon line, means the customer always receives a premium product.

“I think it’s to do with the raw materials – where it comes from,” she says. “[Our salmon] is really well produced. We feel smoking is an art and a craft. We take care with every part of the process – by hand.”

Burren Smokehouse provides two flavours of cold-smoked salmon for the Simply Better range: honey and dill and Irish whiskey-infused. Both flavours work beautifully on their own (think Christmas morning scrambled eggs or smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels) or on a platter with some sour cream and fresh herbs.

“Working with Dunnes Stores Simply Better means we can bring our salmon, on a daily basis, to people all over Ireland. Then, we’re so happy when those customers can come to Co Clare and visit us,” she says. “We launched our Taste the Atlantic Salmon Experience in 2019 and it’s been a great source of education for our Irish visitors.”

Although Birgitta has been living and operating her business in Ireland for many years, she is originally from Sweden (where smoked fish is an important part of the food culture). Now, with her husband and four children, her holidays are a blend of Irish Christmas infused with her own Swedish traditions. She loves spending this time of year with friends and family.

“For every Swedish celebration, particularly Christmas, we would have a smorgasbord (like a buffet) where you can pick and choose what you like to eat,” she reminisces. “We still have that for our Christmas dinner. As a starter, you have a range of things for the family, then the main and dessert. It’s a great way to celebrate.”

Smoked salmon is considered the perfect addition to any smorgasbord, but it can equally feature in any Irish holiday gathering, big or small.

“Everybody wants to have salmon for the Christmas table,” Birgitta says. “It’s so convenient. It’s just one of those foods you have in the fridge and it’s great for unexpected guests and, as an ingredient, so versatile.”