All posts tagged: gubbeen

Irish Christmas Cheeseboard

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Christmas can mean a lot of things, but for me it is all about cheese. As one of the great loves of my life all year round, I love that everyone else gets equally besotted with it at Christmas time. Thankfully we have shaken off our Galtee shackles, and fled the Easi-Single prison cell to embrace the delicious cheese from our wonderful Irish cheese makers. We have the best dairy in the world and superb goats and sheep’s milk cheeses that will make your Christmas cheeseboard sing. Every Irish cheese is special because it has a story; the producer, where it comes from and how it is made. As the late David Tiernan who made the glorious Glebe Brethan once told me, ‘You have to be a bit cracked to make cheese, but sure that’s the magic of it.’ This Christmas, do try Irish cheeses if you are entertaining, or even if you fancy just having a party for one with a glass of something by the fire. You will not be disappointed. Trying to …

Cheese Revolution

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This was originally published in The Sunday Business Post a few years ago. Sadly, the wonderful cheesemaker and person David Tiernan who I interviewed for this piece has since passed away. He is much missed. Food Special: Cheese Revolution CHEESE, and particularly Irish cheese, is one of the great loves of my life. It’s been there on my soggy school sandwiches. It’s been there at supper time, when I decided to get adventurous with spaghetti bolognese. And it’s been the only thing I could stomach during the glory and heartache of falling in and out of love. My parents instilled an appreciation of this wonderful food in me from an early age, but in the last few years it has become a passionate pursuit and daily obsession in my cooking, eating, discovering and learning. I have it with marmalade with my toast, I’ve used blue cheeses with bacon and chocolate, and I’ve been known to swoon on sight when a restaurant has a cheese-board, or the ultimate – a cheese trolley – on its menu. …

Recipe – Smoked Gubbeen Soufflé

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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 …