In case you were wondering where I have gone to...

This is a link to another blog that I am active on at the moment - it is about our plans to create our new business called Honest2Goodness.

http://honest2goodnessfarmersmarket.blogspot.com/

While I still plan on being active on this blog in the coming months, there is lots going on at my other one, so please check it out!

Exciting moves and market days ahead...

After much thought and deliberation for the last few months, we are on the move to new premises and are planning to include a weekly indoor food market in our new location on Saturdays. The building is in Glasnevin in Dublin, and has about 6000 sq ft of available warehousing, as well as ample office and storage space, a stainless steel kitchen and space for our wine tastings and much more. It'll be full steam ahead in the coming weeks to prepare the space, meet all the Environmental Health requirements and be up and running by mid-summer. This is all part of our decision to join forces with Champagnes Unlimited, and grow our business jointly, with emphasis on good value wines in this time of economic recession, cookery demonstrations on how to use the produce from the market, and to have our own stall at the market. We will be able to have wine tastings and courses on the premises, although we will still be available for incompany tasting evenings.

Current plans are for a mainly fresh food produce market, lots of veggies, meat, fish etc with an emphasis on quality and good value as well. Of course we'll also have some produce for people to be able to treat themselves, but always with a healthy emphasis! So, I'm off to Borough Market in London this weekend to look at it with fresh eyes - not as a consumer of the food there, but to see how they have it set up from an operational perspective. Not much point in not aiming for the best we can be, and they are a good example in this part of the world... Barcelona would be even better, but maybe too ambitious... for now... So, if you would like to explore having a stall at our market, and your food produce is good quality and affordable, then get in touch with us at info@thetastingroom.ie or if you would just like to hear more about our plans...

Horticultural matters

A few months ago, a low-key statement issued announcing the closure of Warrenstown College, which is one of only 4 horticultural colleges in Ireland, and is the only third-level college in the county of Meath.

I can understand some of the economics behind the decision - and we are in such a state in the Irish economy at the moment! - however, it does appear to be a very short-sighted decision. We are at a time when all things horticultural are at a cross-roads in Ireland. We have two possible future directions. One is to follow the road of importing the bulk of our fruits and vegetables, with our own farmers getting fewer and fewer, and those who are still there having to do battle with the big multinational supermarket chains. Hmmm, doesnt sound good for the longterm to me!

The other is to differentiate ourselves into the higher-quality produce, with the bulk of it organic (or at least grown to organic principles), with the food being provided to local outlets, cutting out the multinationals from our food chain. Small retailers, farmers' markets and direct provision to local supermarkets could be the way to go. That way, our collective carbon footprint improves, we eat better quality, in-season vegetables (thus getting more minerals and vitamins from them) and therefore our health is better all round.

If we dont have sufficient places for people to be trained to produce food this way, then the likelihood of this second options being chosen diminishes... and the alternatives being offered by Teagasc are - The Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin and Kinsealy!! Not exactly in areas offering cheap accommodation, or indeed locations likely to seem attractive to people who have been born and reared in the countryside, and who just want to be able to farm better!

Is it too late to reconsider the options? What cost to our economy and to the future generations in this country? Does anybody care??

More market trouble...

I arrived into Temple Bar Market on Saturday and immediately sensed an air of negativity around the place. I wasnt very awake as it was early, so was a bit slow on the uptake. I chatted to Brendan at the Olive stall and then went to Jenny's stall for my usual range of salads and veggies. I overheard her conversation with another regular customer, and picked up that the other mainstay vegetable supplier - Dennis Healy - had been suspended from the market. I had spotted the gap in the stalls, but had assumed that they were just late in getting things set up. While stall-holders have been suspended before, there seemed to be more going on that just that. There was. As it turned out, all the stallholders had been informed over the New Year break period that their rents were going up - in many cases, they were being doubled!! I was astonished, to put it mildly. Given that we are in the midst of the biggest economic downturn in many years in this country, it seems totally unfair to put up rents to that extent. The various local authorities around the country were told in no uncertain terms by business and national politicians to limit their rates increases to marginal increases of below 5%, and here we have a public agency increasing the equivalent of rates by over 100% in most cases! Talk about not having a level playing field. Once more, there is inequity being fostered between big business who can command air-time and influence, and small business, who are too scattered to be able to hope to position themselves in equivalent positions of power.

Back to the problem that led to Denis Healy's stall being conspicuous by its absence... I spotted Denis himself before I left the market, and asked him what the story was. Apparently, his staff had left some empty boxes behind on the last day before Christmas, as one of their vans had broken down and they couldnt pack everything. As a punishment for this, he was being fined almost €1000, and was being suspended until the fine was paid! What an attitude this displays. You need to sell some amount of veggies and fruit to make a profit of €1000. Denis was visibly upset by the whole thing and had come into the market to attempt to meet with the market supervisor directly, as nobody had returned his phone calls earlier in the week.

Maybe the stall-holders should take matters into their own hands and find another location to set up their stalls - if I am anything by way of being a typical regular shopper there - I dont go to savour the early morning smells of Temple Bar en route to the market itself (stale alcohol and worse), but to buy the excellent produce that is available from the stall-holders...

Cooking the goose...

Well, my goose was cooked well ahead of time - and eaten! I came down with some flu bug or other last week, and so had done very little to organise the famous Christmas pressies, or food or wine, and I was in dire need of a pick-me-up to get me into the frame of mind for all the hassle. I love goose, as does my mother and my husband. My brother was a little unsure of whether or not it would be to his liking, but was prepared to give it a go. So, on Sunday - well ahead of the Christmas day dinner - I cooked a goose for us to have. No ordinary goose though - this was a Jenny special - organic beautiful goose, well-reared and ready for cooking! I collected it on Saturday, and cooked it on Sunday. No additives whatsoever - just goose and heat. I took my timings from Richard Corrigans cookbook, although I didnt bother with the rest of his recipe - I wanted simple plain cooking to show off the flavours of this wonderful bird. Amazingly, I didnt add even lemon or garlic to the cooking - all I did was to prick the goose all over with a sharp knife so that the fat could come out of the flesh, placed it in the oven at a high temperature for the first 20 minutes and then reduced the heat to 160 for a further 2 1/2 hours. And the result? The most sublime taste, served with roast potatoes (naturally cooked in the goose fat) and roast carrots, along with some organic cauliflower and a simple apple sauce. We had it with some red Burgundy - although a good Bordeaux or Italian red would have worked really well. And we have great goose fat left to use for more roast spuds or whatever for the next while - just enough to bring back the memories of this great meal!

Pig meat recall in Ireland

Listening to the radio this morning, I was very taken aback at the news that all pig meat was being recalled in Ireland (and on its export market) due to the presence of PCBs in routine samples taken earlier this week. It emerged that the cause of the toxins was due to animal feed from one feed supplier, and apparently only a small number of farms used that feed supplier. However, as pig processing is carried out in a very small number of plants around the country, it was impossible to separate out the pork products. I am puzzled that this is the case, as surely we have traceability schemes in place for this very sort of reason? What is the point of having extensive management systems in place - which presumably add considerable cost to meat production - if these systems dont work when there is a problem?

It does of course throw up many other issues - not least whether or not it was a wise decision to concentrate meat processing into a small number of plants around the country? While perfectly understandable from a logical perspective - that it is easier to control and manage large scale facilities rather than a myriad of small-scale processors - it does mean that when there is a problem, it becomes a large problem very quickly, and a whole section of the industry has gone into crisis due to an initially small problem. Diversification and dispersion of effort has its own benefits which shouldnt be ignored or forgotten.

I feel very sorry for the people who have now been caught up in a crisis not of their own making, particularly at this time of year when the Christmas tradition of having a ham as part of Christmas dinner would have meant a major boost to incomes at a difficult time in the economy and in farming - as well as the many other products which are being affected. The versatility of pork products will mean that all sorts of prepared and processed foods will also have to be recalled, and throw a lot of businesses into chaos.

One does wonder how PCBs managed to infiltrate animal feed - one rumour is that the covers of stale bread managed to get into the feed? Are PCBs in materials used to wrap bread - that is nearly more scary! Back to meat though - Given that humans are at the top of the food chain, maybe it is time to rethink our approach to cheap meat production - if the end result is food with toxins in it. Bad source materials at one end of the food chain surely will not disappear at the other end of the food chain - are we that foolish that we dont see the connection?

Autumn fare and photos

I recently spent a lovely hour in the Botanic Gardens near me in Dublin, taking photos. It is a place where I go for walks a number of times a week, and it is great to have such a resource nearby. They have launched an organic fruit, vegetable and herb garden there this year, and it has been a wonderful addition to the place. This is a photo of some of the produce, on display at the moment as we approach Halloween.

The images inspired me to come home and make some soup - always a comforting activity on a cold day! I had some wonderful Crown Prince Squash sitting in my vegetable bowl, so I decided to use one of those. As usual, my supplier of choice was Jenny McNally at Temple Bar Farmers Market, and she had told me that the Crown Prince is her own favourite - and it certainly made a great soup! This is the recipe that I used, which I've often used for butternut squash, so I would say it'll work for most types of squash.

Ingredients:

1 medium squash (organic if possible)
1 tsp of coriander seeds (whole)
2 cloves of garlic
750 ml of stock (either vegetable or chicken) or water – plus more if necessary
1 medium onion, chopped
olive oil

To garnish: small handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped, and plain yoghurt (sheep’s milk based if dairy intolerant)

To prepare:
Heat the oven to 200°
Split the squash lengthwise into two halves, and then into wedge-shaped chunks and remove the seeds with a spoon; rub over with olive oil, and sprinkle with the coriander seeds. Place clove of garlic (do not remove skin) in the centre of each half of the squash.
Bake in the oven for approximately 40 minutes, or until a knife can easily be inserted through the squash – it might take longer depending on how ripe the squash is.
Meanwhile, sauté the onion in a little olive oil until soft and transparent – this takes a little while, but keep the heat low as otherwise the onion will burn!
When the squash is cooked, leave to cool for a few minutes until it can be handled. Then peel off the skin – or scoop out the flesh - and chop roughly. Squeeze the cooked garlic centre out from the skins (it should come away easily)
Add to the cooked onion, and add half the stock (or water).
Blitz with a hand blender or use a food processor.
Add the rest of the stock or water to get the consistency you like – ideally quite thick but not a puree.
Serve with a dollop of yoghurt and sprinkle with coriander leaves

Other options on the spices would include cumin or fennel seeds, both equally delicious. Any left-over soup freezes really well.

Trouble at the market

As is probably evident from previous blog entries, I go to the Temple Bar Farmers' Market most Saturdays to pick up food for the week-end and the early part of the following week. I have been going there for some years now, and know many of the stall-holders at this stage. They are generally a very helpful crew, offering advice on how to use their produce, how it was grown or produced, and answering any other questions that arise. I have picked up many a good tip from them over the years. I have also picked up on the difficulties faced by people selling goods at markets, from lack of facilities to a lot of regulation and red tape to weather uncertainty etc, and know that it isnt the easiest way to make money!

I was there last Saturday, and immediately realised that something was amiss. Two of the stallholders normally occupying prime spots at the market were missing. Intrigued and somewhat taken-aback, I started asking what the story was. Apparently- I was dismayed to learn - some stallholders were suspended due to late trading the previous Saturday. While there are always two sides to each story, it seems to me that to suspend traders - and essentially depriving them of their weekly income - due to selling produce a couple of minutes after 4.30 is an outrageous reaction to a minor transgression. I was talking to a few of the traders about it, and in chatting to Ed Hicks, I reminded him that he hadnt sent me on his thoughts on the rights etc of the stallholders - the subject of a previous conversation a while back. He sent it to me that afternoon, and some of his thoughts are highly relevant to the suspension of the two stallholders. Essentially Ed links the rights of stallholders to the equivalent in Michael Davitts Land League days, and I quote...

I mentioned Michael Davitt and the Land League along with the 3 F’s today to highlight what can go wrong, as has been the case to date with all, bar one, of Dublin’s “Markets”.

1) Fair Rent: Fundamentally the exercise of running “ markets” in Dublin has become one of rent rolling for the organisers. These rents are generally unfair, representing as they do a multiple of between three and four times the rents per M sq off the Grafton St area in Dublin 2. This is way out of line with Competition Authority recommendations to LA’s regarding rental of pitches*.

2) Fixity of Tenure: Most market traders have no specific rights, and are almost beholden to the organisers. There is little or no opportunity for redress in most cases. There have been numerous cases of summary dismissal, particularly in “ Private Markets”. Many of these “markets” have exclusivity arrangements whereby certain traders are given guarantees of no competition. This is most definitely a bad thing! They are neither open nor accessible, a fact well disguised from consumers…

3) Freedom to Sell: As above, traders have no rights when it comes to selling their business should they choose to do so. They do not have any title or rights to their presence at a market. This is patently unfair, as anybody who has developed a business, should be entitled to sell it. But more important than selling your pitch would be the sense of ownership and empowerment it would give to small people.

While obviously Ed is presenting the case from a market traders point of view, he makes a lot of sense in what he is saying. The various Agricultural and Food interests, alongside political leaders, are making great play of our developing farmers markets around the country as being a real alternative for people to get good healthy, locally grown produce. In order for that to be successful, then flexibility on the part of market organisers is key to the success. Equally important is to give market traders a level of certainty over how they bring their goods to market and develop their business - otherwise it'll all remain a niche market into the future (sorry!).

I'm sure that the actions of Temple Bar market organisers were not intended to be draconian (indeed they may well have had legitimate reasons for their actions from their perspective, which they declined to explain to me from my email enquiry to them); also I'm sure that other market organisers have various ways of forcing compliance among the traders at their markets... but nonetheless they are an example of how not to do business.