Irish Seedsavers need saving

Did you know that the original carrot was purple and the early corn on the cob had multi-coloured corns?? No?? You are not alone. We have forgotten how our vegetables and fruit used to look and taste. Has your mother or grandmother ever said that tomatoes don't taste like tomatoes anymore?? That is because they still remember the freshness of wonderful tomatoes before science got involved and 'reformed' them to look unified. Long shelf life was more important that the originality of each of our beautiful nature.

Beautiful carrots, the way nature created them

Because of that, we need dedicated people who care about our heritage vegetable and fruit to preserve them for generations to come. One organisation is Irish Seed Savers Association. A group of volunteers who formed Irish Seed Savers to preserve what makes Irish vegetables and fruit so unique. They have collected and cataloged more varieties than we even knew we have forgotten about. Irish Seedsavers have been supported by Slow Food Ireland as well as state funds. But these funds have been cut over the last few years and an organisation like Irish Seed Savers can't survive on merit alone - they need hard cold cash to do the important work we need them to do. We are not talking having some seeds in a little metal box at home and checking now and then that no mould has set on them. We are talking about verifying the seeds, researching its origin, storing, planting, caring, saving and cataloging. It is a big undertaking that these hardworking volunteers took upon themselves to do - for no other reason than to preserve them for our future generations. And how is the State thanking them??? They cut their funding.

Sweetcorn like a painting

You might ask, is it really that important?? The seed catalogs are full of seeds for any kind of vegetable or fruit. If you think that - that's fine but if you actually check where the seeds are manufactured (and I am saying manufactured as nature is not much involved in getting us these seeds) you might be surprised. These seeds have been developed in labs under a microscope to ensure that uniformity is achieved. Is uniformed food really that great?? I love picking a carrot out of the ground that is misshapen - the fun I had in the past makes me still giggle.

Now you might think; but what can I do?? Simple - there are several ways but I think the most important, apart from becoming a paying member of Irish Seed Savers is to write a letter to Mr Simon Coveney, Minister for Agriculture to make him aware that we all care where our food comes from and that we demand that he is taking action to save the savers. Here is the address:

Mr Simon Coveney
Minister for Agriculture, Food & Marine
Agriculture House,
Kildare St.
Dublin 2.

Tell him the importance of Irish Seedsavers, tell him that you want your children to be able to learn, grow and eat our heritage food.

Thank you for any help you can provide for the Irish Seed Savers Association. For any questions, please contact the association:



Irish Seed Savers Association,
Capparoe,
Scarriff,
County Clare,
Ireland.

Opening Hours
Tuesday-Saturday 9.30am-4.30pm

Email: info@irishseedsavers.ie

Tel 061 921856/921866

What's in Season for January

Have you ever noticed that we stopped following the seasons? We can get anything at any time. Gone are the days where we were waiting impatiently for the first strawberries to arrive, or where we wouldn't have been surprised not to cook with tomatoes in winter.

I have recently watched a video from TedxDublin where months back, Kevin Thornton held a talk about the seasons and how we have forgotten about him. That talk pushed him up on the ladder of my 2013 heroes. He spoke about his childhood and how he and his family thought nothing of following the seasons - that's what people did back then. And for myself growing up (I am still not admitting to my age), it was normality to eat what was available and I can't remember that people were even asking for tomatoes in the winter months. So, the question is, if no one was asking for out of season produce, why did it happen that we are shipping food from around the globe to our supermarket shelves?? Now we are so used to having everything available at all times that we demand it when a shelf in a supermarket is empty. Farmshops closed down in the process and are just coming back slowly and are considered 'cool and vintage'.

I have to admit, even I sometimes go out of season simply because it is on the shelves. But do I really need fresh tomatoes?? I have jars filled with tomato chutney as the season gave us a wonderful crop. Why didn't I simply preserve tomatoes to use now. Because I know that I love the chutney, it's a great gift for friends and Mr T loves it with his cheese. But I also know that I just have to pop down to Blarney and pop into the local supermarket to get tomatoes at any time.

So, I am as guilty as everyone. But I grow my own vegetables, so know how good they taste when they come fresh out of the ground - nothing compares to it no matter how the supermarkets use modern technology to make the food look good in the shelves. Nothing is more rewarding to place freshly prepared vegetables in front of your family and friends and hearing them say that it tastes better than anything they have ever eaten. So I have decided to share with you what's in season for every month. Starting with January you will see that a lot is still in season. Beetroot is such a versatile vegetable, makes amazing soups & risottos. But you can also roast it nicely with balsamic vinegar or serve it with a nice hazelnut crumble.

Kale is a rich flavoured cabbage that is mostly loved by chefs - not so much by homecooks but it has such a wonderful dark green colour that dresses every plate so beautifully. By the way, the darker the green colour of a vegetable, the more iron it is suppose to have.

Parsnip taste wonderful when slow roasted with a drizzle of honey and who doesn't love a good old fashioned cauliflower cheese gratin. You see, winter vegetables are not boring - they are meant to warm us and give us the minerals our bodies need to get us through harsh winters.

Please have a look at the video of Kevin Thornton - I think you will be inspired as much as I was. So remember the seasons.

Can we save local businesses?

I am just reading an interesting article in the Irish Examiner written by Joe McNamee about how many local businesses are closing in Cork City. And he is right - small businesses that have been serving the local community have almost vanished. I know, you will say, hello we have a recession, but can we really blame it on the big bad R?

What can we do to help? We have amazing small retailers - not only in the food business - who are worth being saved. My heart bleeds if I am imagining that my favourite butcher O'Flynn in Marborough Street could close. The expertise and quality I am getting there - bundled with a lovely chat - can't be re-produced by a supermarket or shopping centre. The same goes for show shops, clothing etc. And what about our small corner shops. We have one in Blarney and it has been an institution for as long as I can think of. He never gave up the the tradition of having loose sweets for the kids to buy - even if it is only 2 or 3 pieces. This are the future customers and they are treated as such - and of course, their parents went already buying their 6pence sweets from him. If this corner shops closes, Blarney will have lost a big part of its tradition and history.

The same goes for all small villages but also for Cork City. Can you imagine North Main Street without Bradleys? They are fighting the recession with creativity and courage not only for themselves but also for Irish food producers as they are the biggest merchant for craft beers and ciders. They have the knowledge you need to make a choice when buying either for yourself or as a gift. They can tell you who made the beer, the characteristic and more - tell me one supermarket that can do that.

So, what can we do? We can choose with more conscience where we buy but also why be buy. Currently only 36% of Irish buyers check for the country of origin. I am proud to say that I am one of them and you can see Mr T and myself putting milk back on the shelf if it doesn't have the Irish Dairy Seal. By choosing Irish over imported goods, we save jobs here in Ireland each and every day - which will result in money being spent again and our wonderful small family run business will be able to survive the big bad R.


You might say, it is hard to park in Cork City - and yes, I do agree but what are we going to do about it? The City Manager will definitely not do anything unless he gets bombarded with requests. The City Council is hard to move on any subject they have decided - but hey, let's make it hard for them. Write your thoughts down and submit them to City Hall. They might wake up one day and act towards the greater good. Let's start a letter war with them - after all we are the Rebel County. Let's save our family businesses and corner shops.

You can read the article here

A Rant - Vegetarian Options in Restaurants

It is 2012 and the taste of diners has changed. Paying guests do expect more options these days than just the typical Roast Beef (nothing wrong with it) and the Chicken Breast with some overcooked veggies and gravy with no flavour. Some people are meat eaters but want to eat less for health reason.  But have restaurants realised the change in taste?? Have they adapted? My opinion - not really. Most restaurants only offer the very boring veggie stir fry or veggie curry (mostly a mix of the vegetable side dish - meaning they are simply using the same vegetables they are using for the Roast Beef) - boring indeed.

My favourite restaurant in Cork is Cafe Paradiso - obviously but not only because it is a vegetarian restaurant (I do eat fish - so I do go to 'normal' restaurants as well) but because they are creative in their cooking. Restaurants like Augustine's (still a big loss to Cork City), Fenn's Quay and Les Gourmandise having started to be more adventurous with the vegetarian option and have it actually as part of their daily menu rather than just a little mentioning between kiddies meal and the side dishes.

Vegetarian Food can look so delicious

Why are chefs so afraid of trying something new - it is depressing to read menus these days - if you are lucky you get a tart with caramelised onions and goats' cheese - gosh, how exciting. Some might say, that no one is ordering the vegetarian option - of course not, why would they if most people can cook better at home.

This is a call to all chefs out there - please get some cookbooks and try something new and exciting. Prove to your paying diners that you actually care about food and that you can cook more than just the 'usual stuff'.

Let me know what you think....

Calories on Menues - A Rant

I love to rant - about anything and nothing really (just kidding) and in the last few weeks I have been ranting about the latest fab idea of Food Safety Authority of Ireland  (also knows as FSAI) who are planning to force all restaurants to display calories on their menus. 

This might work for restaurants like Luigi Malones that never really changes their menu but what about restaurants like Fenn's Quay, Cafe Paradiso & Jaques who are changing their menus regularly. They will have to create their daily menu months in advance and hire a nutrionist to calculate the calories. Yeah, I can see that working out nicely.

I understand and appreciate that the minister for health, Dr. Reilly (who in my opinion could loose a few pounds himself) and FSAI are trying to improve obesity in Ireland (and it is needed) but lets face it, we are not overweight because we don't know the calories of the dishes we eat in restaurants. Going out for a meal is a treat and who is eating out every day (apart from critics)?? When I treat myself or get treated I don't want to feel guilty about cause the cream sauce in my pasta is actually made of cream. 

Obesity has different reasons, people need to understand food - we need to get a healthy relationship with the food we eat. And for that, education is the key. How many kids do actually know that Taytos crisps are actually potatoes (and that it is easy to make at home)?? And which child has drank proper milk from the farm. Can they difference between the types of vegetables? Would they recognise some of them if they saw them in the garden?? Here is where we have to start - eating habits start when we are young. Petra - one of the girls who joined our baking class - said that she gave her 2 daughters the sliced pan  for years because it was convenient and now she is trying to get her girls to eat proper food - they don't like it because they got used to the tasteless bread of the supermarket.

Our Minister of Health - A picture of health??

People like Lucy Hyland of Food for Living have the right approach. Teach rather than preach. We should be listening to them rather than some office poopers (sorry for the bad language) who don't even do what they preach.

Let's face it, it is the fast food chains that need to be overhauled. As restaurants are treats, fast food outlets are the norm. It is easy, fast and still cheap enough.Convenient for the busy mum and dad - and who could blame them (ok I do but that is a different rant altogether). Educate the kids and you have half the battle won. 

Phew, I could go on and on and on.....but have your say yourself. Go onto www.fsai.ie and fill in the questionnaire and please let me know what you think