Ciara's Country Flavours: cream of the crop

There are certain awards that gave a good indication of tastes to come, highlighting brands that we expect to see and taste more of, or that are well established and deserve some renewed recognition. The Euro-Toques Food Awards does just that every year.

Having taken place last week at Gooseberry Gardens at Virginia Park Lodge in Cavan, the awards celebrate the best in water, land, farm, dairy and artisan produce. A few winners were also celebrated in a separate craft category which recognises small producers.

In keeping with the seaweed trend of late, it was very apt that Connemara Seaweed Company was celebrated when it comes to water. For generations, the Lee family on Lettermullen, an island off the west coast, have been hand-harvesting kelp and seaweed.

Since 2012, Noel Lee has taken things to another level, setting up Connemara Organic Seaweed Company hand harvesting kelp and seaweed for products such as dillisk, seaweed salt, seaweed seasoning and sweet kelp.

Save the bees

Bees are also the buzz word of the moment and Bumblebee Flower Farm in Drimoleague in West Cork was celebrated for its sustainably produced edible flowers.

Edible flowers have been gracing dishes for years but since florist Mags Riordan started the business in 2015, they have become far more plentiful.

They have the country’s largest selection of unique flavours and varieties and Mags continues to research and develop new ways to add the ingredients to savoury dishes, desserts and cocktails. Being ethically grown and sustainably produced, with a focus on biodiversity and supporting pollinators are all core values of the business.

The farm award is always of interest to us here in Irish Country Living and this year the Euro-Toques Food Awards celebrated Castlemine Farm in Roscommon.

In Castlemine Farm the focus is on hand-reared, pasture-fed, dry-aged beef, lamb and rare-breed pork. Brothers Derek and Brendan Allen are standing over this product as they are part of the animal’s journey from farm to fork.

Their family has been farming at Castlemine Farm since the 1800s. However, when the brothers took over the running of the farm, they realised that the traditional approach of selling their produce to the factory and then on to the supermarket shelf wasn’t doing their meat justice.

They since took ownership of their entire distribution and retail operations, and also take quality product from other local farmers, producing a brand of quality.

Dairy

Looking towards dairy, the award went to Village Dairy, a small local family run dairy based in Killeshin on the Carlow–Laois border. Founded in late 2014, the Village Dairy produces a variety of craft milk and cream products, including fresh milk and cream, buttermilk, organic milk and cream and Jersey milk and cream.

The milk is pasteurised and homogenised as little as possible to maintain its natural flavour. With a strong emphasis on supporting local business and trade, their milk is collected from farms within a 10km radius from the Village Dairy’s premises in Clonmore.

Celebrating artisan produce, Ballyminane Mills, Co Wexford, Ireland’s only authentic water-powered mill, was the winner. Run by the Murphy family, it was established in 1832 and the wheat is ground slowly through a set of French Burr milling stones which are easy to maintain, strong, robust and gives the flour its unique and authentic flavour.

Finally, the craft award celebrated a number of food businesses including Ballyholey Farm (Donegal); Glensallagh Gardens (Cork); Gorse Farm (Wexford); Iona Farm (Dublin); New Leaf Urban Farmers (Limerick); and Garrai Glas Farm (Galway).