All posts tagged: cork

Buffalo butter

There’s a first time for everything. And yesterday was the first taste of Irish Buffalo butter. Thanks to my talented friend Kevin Powell who treated me to a superb lunch of toasted Le Levain bread with Toonsbridge Buffalo butter and some delicious Corleggy soft cheese. The bread was crusty and perfect from the talented Rossa Crowe who has a stall in Temple Bar market. Then the butter…….soft and deceptively angelic in colour, it works in devilish pleasure in the mouth. Toonsbridge in West Cork make superb delights like fresh buffalo mozzarella, ricotta, feta and this heavenly butter. Produced by Toby Simmons of The Real Olive Company and farmer Johnny Lynch who impoted buffalo from Italia to West Cork, it is delicious. I am of the ‘Would you like some bread with that butter?’ scale of the knife spread and could happily have taken a spoon to this. Find it in Dublin at Temple Bar Market, but not if I get there first.

Recipe – Smoked Gubbeen Soufflé

I was lucky enough to spend a week in Ballymaloe Cookery School two years ago. And fell in love with food, Cork and found my food hero, Darina Allen. My whole attitude towards food, sourcing, saving and cherishing food changed in that sun blissed week in Shanagarry,East Cork. I learnt how to make mayonnaise, how to chop an onion and to always keep eggs at room temperature. I also got to taste Smoked Gubbeen in the same county it comes from with a glass of red wine outside the pink cottage where the group of us were staying on the grounds. The sun would go down on some very blessed and content cookery students every evening. It was one of the best week’s of my life and I dream of going back. I try to include cheese in most of my meals and this recipe is adapted from Ballymaloe’s http://www.cookingisfun.ie I’ve adapted it to include the delicious Smoked Gubbeen and it works a treat as an impressive dinner party starter: Smoked Gubbeen Soufflé 15g Parmesan …