Into the West; where's the good food?

On a foray into the West last week I was determined to prove that there was more to eat than the "rubber cheese sandwich" type offering that a friend recently convinced me was all that Connemara had to offer.


No no no! I said, Connemara is coming down with gorgeous local eateries, fresh seafood and hidden gems! A couple of days later I was wondering had I spoken too soon. That's not to say there isn't good food available in this part of the world - just not enough of it, and I'm talking specifically about Connemara - we know that Galway City has plenty of good restaurants but as you head Northwards into the real beauty-shot country which is a huge tourist magnet for international visitors, the landscape gets rough and beautiful while the food just gets, well, rough.



And this is the contrast that really struck me on my three day trip. If you have a region that is a huge draw for tourist euros, why aren't there more restaurants and cafes capitalising on this and offering local food of good quality?

Two places that I ate in really impressed here, the first was Ashford Castle which I had expected to be fairly average five star food, by which ususally means; anonymous, foie gras on the menu, expensive wine list and really geared towards Americans. However, I was very pleasantly surprised - most of their menu was sourced locally, including vegetables (which is hard enough to pull off in this part of the world and in winter), every detail of their menus from crusty breads to afternoon biscuits were made in their kitchens and the entire cheese board was an Irish selection. And the waiters and staff had good knowledge of food on the plate, local food and what they were selling. An unexpected top marks here, and even at this level it represented real value for money.



Another eaterie that scored highly in Connemara is O'Dowds seafood bar in Roundstone - the beautiful harbour village pictured above. O'Dowds is no secret and last week they deservedly won a Le Bib Gourmet award from the hard-core bunch at Michelin, which means they are recommended as a local food and "value for money" outlet. And that doesn't surprise, the boats are pulled up literally yards from O'Dowds unloading the crab that appears on their menu. Their food is fresh, delicious and tastes of the West which is something that the West should be selling as strongly as its scenery. After all, it's on the edge, literally, of the freshest, sharpest seafood factory in the world, but somehow the wealth of the Atlantic or the mountain lamb of Connemara just isn't widely available when you try to find a place to eat it.


In advance of my visit I looked to Good Food Ireland and its map of Irish restaurants - they have four members in Galway county - Ard Bia at Nimmos in Galway city and Bar No. 8 at Dock Road in Galway. Outside the city they list White Gables Restaurant in Moycullen and the Connemara Coast Hotel. I know that Good Food Ireland members have to be really committed to Irish food to be members of the group but I was still surprised there were not more food outlets generally heading this way in an area which is all about authenticity and a "real" Irish experience.


Instead, there are villages all across this part of the West where the rubber cheese sandwich rules or garage hot counter food (God save us) is all that's available. And I'm not saying that five star is the way to go... small cafes with a good food ethos can be just as succesful. And food can be a destination draw in itself; Moran's on the Weir outside Galway brings people to that area, just to eat, proving that food itself can be a tourist draw, not an add on.




I've been told that Olivers sea food bar in Cleggan is one for a decent food in Connemara list, as is the Avoca in Letterfrack. I know the Avoca's are hugely successful, in fact I live in the shadow of the Powerscourt Avoca and find myself there far too often for comfort - but their food is a solid winner, fresh, with an Irish twist and it ticks every box on the list, especially for tourists. It's just a pity that it might take the Avoca in Letterfrack to show other smaller operators how to do the same thing in a smaller way, I would love to see more independent good food operators in this part of the West. If you have more to add to the list, please send them my way x

The MacDonalds Fruit and Maple Oatmeal that contains, er, zero maple.

While I loved the recent comment that San Francisco had banned toys from MacDonald's Happy Meals, despite the toy being the most nutritious item in the meal, the news that they've fallen foul of labelling regulations in the US is threatening one of their prime products - a Oatmeal and Maple fruit breakfast.

While McDonalds pound the Irish airwaves with ads about their “premium” coffees and other such delights, over in the US the Vermont Agency of Agriculture have taken issue with the new Fruit and Maple Oatmeal item which they say does not actually contain any maple. The description violates Vermont's stringent maple law and could mean that McDonalds will have to change ingredients or labeling.

"What we understand, is there is no actual maple in the [McDonald's] product being advertised, and regulations are very specific for how the term maple is used in advertisements," said Kelly Loftus from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture.

"It is illegal to use the word maple on a product unless the sweetener is 100 percent pure maple. Artificial maple flavouring should be clearly and conspicuously labeled on the principal panel with the term 'artificial flavour'."

If we looked for an Irish equivalent, it would be the same as a product using the word “honey flavoured” on a food product when there is clearly everything under the sun except honey in it.

Not that honey itself hasn’t had its own problems with labelling trickery, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland recently investigated an “Irish” honey, that strangely enough came from bees in China. It took expensive DNA testing of the pollen in the honey to correctly locate the true country of origin. As a result, the company was found guilty of breaching labelling laws and quickly rapped on the knuckles.

The MacDonald’s oatmeal and maple syrup product is part of their relentless campaign to capture more and more of the breakfast market. Going to MacDonalds for breakfast sounds lunatic to me but it’s a huge earner for MacDonalds and surprisingly almost a quarter of the company’s revenue is generated during the early hours before its typical Big Mac and McNugget menu comes into play for lunch. In order to maintain its dominance, McDonalds pushes out a steady line of promotions and new products. The Fruit and Maple Oatmeal under issue, has actually seen big success in regional markets and is going nationally across the US this month.

In response to the labelling allegations McDonalds says they are "currently in discussions with the State of Vermont to ensure that we meet any applicable state standards." They apparently have 60 to 90 days to respond to officials. It may not seem like the biggest breach of labelling in the world but a breach is a breach, and if they are prepared to fudge the details on one item it makes everything else they do look bad.

Yes I know MacDonalds are one of the biggest customers of Irish beef but that shouldn’t let them off the hook in toeing the same line as other companies do in terms of food labelling regulations. After all, big shouldn’t mean you can pay scant attention to the law.

Expect the Maple and Oatmeal breakfast in Irish outlets any day now, though if it isn’t made from maple syrup, what exactly is in it? You have been warned.

The latest restaurant closures, not from recession but for putting customers at risk

Throughout 2010 I ate in several Dublin restaurants which had remarkably dropped their quality since visiting in the previous year. And I don't mean serving a lower quality offering which is still great food - if a restaurant takes crab from the lunch menu to replace it with French onion soup, then that French onion soup should still be a great product, even if it's produced for a lower cost and you're charged a lower price.

Yes we know restaurants are currently under pressure but cutting corners in respect of food quality, food hygiene and regulation doesn't work - I won't be going back to any of them.




Not only does cutting the quality of your product loose you customers, it can also kill them. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) recently released their figures for 2010 - revealing a total of 73 Enforcement Orders served for breaches in food safety legislation in 2010 compared with 54 in 2009, an increase totalling 35%.





Has the recession brought about this increase? If so, restaurants operating on this basis shouldn't be in business in the first place; those who use products beyond their sell by date, skip safe practise on storing them at the correct temperatures, or supply poor foodstuffs should pay the price for breaking the rules - not the customer. The FSAI emphasised that it's unacceptable to find food businesses continuing to breach food safety laws and warned businesses to place robust food safety management systems and hygiene practices top of their agenda for the new year or face the full rigors of the law.



Last year, the FSAI served 57 Closure Orders on Irish restaurants, four Improvement Orders and 12 Prohibition Orders on food businesses throughout the country. This compares with 34 Closure Orders, seven Improvement Orders and 13 Prohibition Orders issued in 2009.
Last month - December 2010 three restaurants were closed for breaches of food safety legislation.



The December Closure Orders were served on:
• T/A Sligo Spice and Halal Point butcher shop, 14 Connolly Street, Sligo


• Pattaya Thai Restaurant, Johnstown Road, Cabinteely Village, Dublin 18


• Fish Shop (the preparation room), Main Street, Schull, Co. Cork



An Improvement Order was served on:



• Chief Changs Restaurant, Omni Park Shopping Centre, Swords Rd, Santry, Dublin 9



A Prohibition Order was served on:
• Arirang restaurant, 102 Parnell Street, Dublin 1



During the month of December, successful prosecutions were carried out by the HSE West Region on Dragon Court Chinese Restaurant and Take Away, Chapel Road, Askeaton, Limerick and by the HSE Dublin North East Region on Adezath Superstore supermarket, 298 North Circular Road, Dublin 7.



Alan Reilly who heads up the FSAI said on the 34% increase in breaches of food safety law -
“The increase is disappointing... consumers must be confident that the food they are eating is safe to eat and the FSAI will continue to take a zero tolerance policy to breaches of food safety legislation. The onus is on each individual food business to take responsibility and commit to ensuring high food safety standards."


Details of the food businesses served with these Enforcement Orders are published on the FSAI’s website. Closure Orders and Improvement Orders remain listed on the website for a period of three months from the date of when a premises is adjudged to have corrected its food safety issue, with Prohibition Orders being listed for a period of one month.

Eat safely x

Oh here's me again, in 8 weeks time

Yes it's time again to beat ourselves up over what we eat and why our fridge isn't overflowing with homemade lobster roulade and wheat grass juice, alongside a bedroom bursting with size zero Celine dresses. After all, January is the silly season for food and dietary advice, and ninety percent of it is about as useful as a cold cocktail sausage.

In celebration of the slovenly season I have been very neglectful of my cooking over the Christmas break and aside from preparing a family Christmas dinner and party food for 40 people on New Years Day I took a giant break from the kitchen, with plenty of black and white movies, an overexcited toddler and the beautiful snowy conditions of our rural neighbourhood to keep me busy. And chocolate.

The Christmas period was also a break from an intense period of work researching the food documentary which starts filming next month, I've encountered so many great food producers while working on it this Autumn but unfortunately we can only fit in so many stories - this is the problem with television - you can only bring to light so much of the picture and there are many parts of Ireland's food and farming sectors that are not going to get on air as a result. Our aim is to tell the story of farming and food production in Ireland through looking at how supermarkets have changed our diets, the way food is produced, the way towns are designed and the way food is legislated. And it ain't pretty.

In terms of our own food intake, those wishing to cut themselves loose from bad food habits and a diet of ready meals this year will find plenty of advice in the first few weeks of January on how to remake oneself in the image of Angelina Jolie and that sort of thing. Personally I got tired of looking like Angelia Jolie and have now re-trained my sights on having the body of Giselle in er, a four weeks time. No problem. Unless you're under the age of ten you probably are aware that New Year resolutions rarely last, probably because we try to bite of more than we can chew, or more accurately, too little.

Most New Year's dieting advice involves taking far too big a jump in trying to change eating habits formed over a very long time. In trying to ignore most of this newspaper and magazine twaddle I came upon American writer Kim O'Donnell's advice on the New Year food and dieting advice craziness. Her approach can be summed up in three simple points -

•Eat down the fridge. This expression is borrowed it from the Depression-era and translates as - use what you already have on hand and resist the urge to stock up at the supermarket until the need truly exists. Challenge yourself to be resourceful with what you have in your kitchen for one week or longer, and learn how to reduce food waste. And don't whatever you do go to the supermarket when you're starving; in our household this results in a four tubs of Ben and Jerrys, three baguettes and a hunk of cheese.

•DIY vs. buy. Making your own food (and yes folks it does only take ten minutes to fry up some tinned tomatoes, garlic, onion and sardines and serve it up with penne pasta) costs a hell of a lot less than buying it as a prepared dish and offers control over salt and fat content. If you're not in the habit of cooking yourself, start with really simple stuff, like some scrambled eggs on toast with chopped parsley and a knob of butter. Don't go anywhere near a Heston Blumenthal et al cookery book or you'll have an aneurysm.

•Take baby steps. When it comes to making changes in our diet and health, less equals more. Pick a day to go meatless, for instance, or go for a walk, bring your lunch to work, climb the stairs instead of taking the lift, use one spoonful of sugar instead of two. Week after week, it adds up

So that's my pick of the advice. Time to go and load up on the chocolate again, after all, three weeks and six days is enough to look like Giselle, heaps of time...