Irish food – from farm to fine dining
“Irish fine dining. How many ways can you serve potatoes?”
This was KP’s reaction and just about everyone else to whom I mentioned ‘Irish’ and ‘fine dining’ in the same sentence. It seems that Irish food may have an image problem, which is strange given the export of ‘the Irish pub’ to every corner of the globe. Doesn’t a place where you go to have a great ‘craic’ need good food as well as drink? After the death of the Celtic Tiger (as Ireland’s economic boom between 1995 – 2008 was called), small artisan food producers have been an important part of the recovery, but, given my very unscientific straw poll of people’s reactions, there’s still a long way to go with positive PR for Irish food. However, I was lucky enough to meet two people recently, both doing a sterling job of flying the Irish culinary flag in very different ways.
Irish dining with finesse – The D Bar and Grill
Somehow missing the main entrance, we ended up weaving our way through the dimly-lit, cavernous McGettingan’s Irish Pub on the Sheik Zayed Road, before finding the stairs leading upwards to The D Bar and Grill (named for Dublin and Dubai). It was a brighter, calmer atmosphere with caramel-coloured leather studded chairs, polished wood and plush carpet; like entering an exclusive gentleman’s club albeit one where striking chandelier drip from the ceiling, stone pediments form a background to hundreds of gleaming wine glasses and an ornate harp stands in pride of place. Opulence meets armchairs.
This is Chef Richard Stratton’s newest venture. He made his name at the Mount Juliet Country Estate, in County Kilkenny, over a decade ago, creating international dishes with local produce including seasonal vegetables from the Estate gardens. However, he is no country bumpkin and I suspect the only wellies to have graced Richard’s feet are Hunter by Jimmy Choo. With a penchant for fashion as well as food, there’s not a glimpse of chef’s whites on his personal website, only discreet tattoos. He’s come full circle via haute-cuisine of the Capital Club and The Fairmont, full-on bling meets Italian at the Cavalli Club, (all in Dubai) to a celebration of Irish ingredients at The D.
The menu is simple in tone, leek, potato and thyme soup, onion tart tatin with spiced apple, Ballycotton hake with melted leeks and brown shrimp butter, Barnsley lamb and devilled kidneys (with a smattering of luxury – Tsarskaya oysters, foie gras with sweetbreads). Presentation is immaculate. A perfectly-formed miniature amuse bouche of seafood arrived, before our starters of beetroot vodka gravlax and Ballydehob crab scotch eggs with avocado and aioli. The soft citrus notes of a Chablis were a good match. We both chose ‘signatures’ from the menu.
There is something so seductive about an individual pie and my steak and kidney pudding with a suet crust came in a gleaming copper saucepan, along with parsnip chips and Savoy cabbage. Extra melting soft kidney lay beneath the cabbage, all in all a voluptuous, comforting plateful. Real soda bread (if it’s permissible to mop up the gravy when fine dining) would have suited me more than the elegant wafer perched on the dish and KP’s shoulder of lamb tortellini, Irish stew style – two open shells of pasta filled with a rich stew in a pool of broth – cried out for dunking. The sauces of both were savoury and rich enough not to be overpowered by the Australian Shiraz we drank with them. Delicate presentation didn’t mean delicate portions and a refreshing sloe gin and tonic sorbet paved the way for pudding. Chocolate fondant was perfect in taste and hot, molten-centred texture, with slightly bitter Guinness ice cream; KP’s blackberry and apple Eton mess an extravagance of meringue, cream and fruit. We decline Irish coffees (it’s a school night) and are introduced to Richard for a tour of the restaurant.
Richard scoured reclamation yards and the Irish cheese selection (including the divine Cashel Blue) is housed in a small room fronted by stone-work rescued from Dublin university announcing ‘Laboratory’. Sourcing most of his ingredients from Ireland (oysters, lobster, crab and beef flown in every four days), Richard prepares them with innovation and finesse for fine dining while retaining the authentic flavours of the classic dishes. If this is the face of modern Irish cooking I want to eat more of it.
Fine Irish produce with a smile
Rachel Allen rarely stops smiling. She looks as though she is having the best time in the world as she chops, folds and stirs, as relaxed as though she’s in her own kitchen at home. And home is near the Ballymaloe cookery school where Rachel arrived to learn cookery from the legendary Darina Allen, ended up staying to teach with her and eventually married her son Isaac. I met Rachel first at Abu Dhabi Gourmet and then at the Emirates Festival of Literature. Both times she made a version of Irish soda bread, both times it looked so easy – about five minutes to make and an hour to bake – and tasted delicious.
I asked Rachel what defines Irish cuisine. She said that Ireland hasn’t got a huge canon of dishes unlike more ancient cuisines such as France, in fact there are only about forty traditional recipes in all. However, the produce from this green and fertile land (she often mentions how much it rains) is of the best quality. In fact the philosophy of the cookery school is simple and reflects this:
We believe that the finest food comes from the finest ingredients. We teach using the best we can grow, rear or obtain locally. Our farm is organic and we use endeavour to use as much organic produce as we can in the school.
I wanted to share Rachel’s view of Irish food with you and took a video; sadly it came out with very low sound but I’m sharing it with you anyway so you can get an idea of how warm and friendly she is. I waited for her to finish answering questions from another couple first, but she asked all the questions putting them at their ease and teasing out details of their lives. By the end of her presentation we all wanted to go to Ballymaloe to collect eggs from the hens, make cheese and bake soda bread.
I’ve used Rachel’s basic white soda bread recipe a few times already – it’s fantastic for feeding hungry teens at short notice. She used laban instead of buttermilk when she was in the U.A.E. and it works well. To mix the flour and the wet ingredients together she recommends putting your hand in a claw shape and stirring round and round in one direction until it comes together and a dough forms. You do not want to knead the dough to work the gluten (as there is no yeast). A wet dough gives superior results (a lighter-textured loaf) but I hate the stickiness on my hands so used my dough scraper to fold it all together on the work surface. This worked well for me but use whichever method appeals. I also make some little ‘scones’ studded with chocolate chips and a little orange juice and zest.
So what are these 40 traditional Irish recipes? Here are some highlights:
- Barmbrack – a fruited tea loaf
- Boxty – grated raw potatoes cooked as a pancake on the griddle
- Champ – mashed potatoes combined with butter, milk and spring onions (scallions)
- Coddle – a braised dish of sausages, bacon (rashers), potato and onions
- Colcannon – mashed potatoes combined with butter, milk and kale or cabbage
- Farls – potatoes cakes made with mash cooked on a griddle
- Irish stew – a slow cooked stew with lamb (or mutton), onions and potatoes. Some versions include carrots, pearl barley and parsley.
- Soda bread – made without yeast (with fruit it’s called Spotted Dog)
I’m sure I’ve missed out some classics here. Please let me know what I’ve left out. What do you think of Irish cooking (and the concept of Irish fine dining)?
P.S. Just to show how nice Rachel Allen really is:
Related articles and links
- The D Bar and Grill
- Rachel Allen’s soda bread recipe
- Wheaten soda bread with stout, oats and molasses for St Patrick’s day (missfoodwise.com)
- Rachel’s Irish Family Food by Rachel Allen – New Cookbook (thekitchn.com)
- The Tradition of Irish Soda Bread (whenlifegivesyouchocolate.com)
Disclosure: We were guests of The D Bar and Grill; my opinions are my own.
Trackbacks
- A frenzy of cheese, wine, cook books and foodie friends. Farewell 2013 | My Custard Pie
- Several courses of the first Dubai Food Festival | My Custard Pie
Comments are closed.
My Custard Pie 
A wonderful soda bread and lovely restaurant!
Cheers,
Rosa
Thank you Rosa – I think it’s my favourite bread of the moment.
A great post Sally, two lovely experiences of Irish food. Love the mini copper pans, of course! I’m so pleased to read that Rachel was as nice in person as she comes across on TV. Often this isn’t the case. I noticed, too, the other day that she has a new book called Irish Family Food out, which intruiged me. I think Irish, like Polish food, gets a bad press – potatoes, stodge etc but in fact Ireland has some unrivalled produce with a huge emphasis on locality, seasonality and the artisan. Hope you get to visit Ireland, and perheps even the cookery school next time you are home! An true Irish cooked breakfast is also unmissable! Happy St Patrick’s Day!
I have to admit Ren that I have never set foot on Ireland’s shores…isn’t that shocking? I think I would love it. Interesting parallel with Polish food….there’s so much more to it than potatoes and cabbage. The copper pans are so covetable aren’t they.
Lovely post, Sally! I have to admit that like KP (King Pin?), I never gave much thought to Irish food beyond potatoes either in the past. And I’ve never seen a fine dining Irish restaurant before! I hope they do really well!
Ha ha – King Pin….better not tell him…it might go to his head 🙂
I love all these celebrities you get to meet, Sally. If its not Rachel Allen, it’s Giorgio Locatelli. Very jealous.
Yes very lucky. Dubai’s a small place and we do get our fair share of celeb chefs. However, the people I like meeting most are the ones who share an enthusiasm for simple ingredients, well-sourced and simply cooked. That’s more exciting than their celebrity status to me. Giorgio and Rachel both fall into that camp.
I love Irish Soda bread, would like to try Rachel Allen’s version now. i have the Ballymaloe cookbook and everything I’ve cooked from it is wonderful so far.
I think it’s inevitable that I’m going to buy that book!!
Lovely post. Thank you
Hi Sally!
Many thanks for an awesome blog post about The D Bar & grill, our new fine-dining venture. We were really happy to see that you enjoyed your evening & we hope to see you again one day!
All the best,
The folks from McGettigan’s and The D Bar and Grill
Your Soda bread looks divine! I had no idea about the Celtic Tiger but it makes sense now, I’ve seen a decline in Irish pubs in Belgium. But here Irish food never had a bad reputation due to the fact that there was a chain of pubs here that served sublime Irish food. I will always semember the first meal I had there, it was called ‘Drunken duck’ as it was served with two sauces made with booze, Whiskey (of course) and Stout (what did you expect) It was delicious and with every meal there was plenty of Soda bread. How lovely you have a good Irish restaurant over there! The meal looks delicious!
Some of that Irish food seems nicer than what you’d find in Dublin! I’d also note that due to the climate, foods with mushrooms are very popular in Ireland.
Pretty sure that sign is from my old uni!
Im a big fan of Rachel Allan, I love her down to earth style and reliable recipes. I have to admit I haven’t ever thought of Irish food as fine dining but I’m sure The greenhouse Dublin or Chapter One in Parnell Square could change my mind. Just need to persuade Mr Glam to do another trip to Ireland! GG
Such an exquisite post Sally. Your bread looks SO inviting, I just want to reach and try it – if only it was on my plate. Coincidentally, Rachel Allen inspired me to make an Irish stew – with barley as she suggested in the cooking demo at LitFest. And definitely followed up on her other suggestions: no need to be “traditional”, mine is a little heavier on the garlic and fresh mint, as well as a refreshing touch of lemon peel…
I really enjoyed reading about your Irish food experiences. An Irish colleagues here gets misty eyed when he talks about new potatoes (and the two weeks of good weather) towards the end of July. Visiting Ireland and doing Bloomsday in Dublin is definitely in my bucket list.
I love Rachel Allen and Irish food is simple and delicious. The restaurant sounds worth a return visit! Have a super day 🙂
I love the look of your soda bread. And there’s nothing like warm new potatoes and Irish smoked salmon…
Hi Sally – what a beautiful picture of your soda bread! And so interesting to read about upscale Irish cuisine. Also, thanks for the like on my blog!
Hi, Sally–Thanks so much for visiting my blog and liking my post on Irish Brown Bread. I found your discussion on traditional Irish dishes and upscale dining particularly interesting. My thoughts on the subject: it’s not so much about what the food is, as how it was prepared and presented, that makes dining “fine”.
Love this post Sally, the restaurant and the food sound fabulous, all the flavours and textures that I love.
Lovely post. Amazing picture of the soda bread. You look like such a cool model – the way you are standing! It’s sad that I couldn’t hear Rachel Allen… I adore her too! In Big Z’s school, on International Day I had taken some pics of food in the Irish stall and the Irish Mums said that this soup – Potato and Leek soup was pretty much a national soup! And scones:)
What a wonderful post!! That soda bread looks wonderful!! I just love the Irish stew!
What a great post and a wonderful meal! I must say that I was in the “how many ways can you cook a potato” camp until I was lucky enough to get to know the lovely folk at Bord Bia (the Irish Food Board) who have opened my eyes to the fantastic produce of Ireland! And soda bread…. how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…!
Sometimes Park & Shop stock Buttermilk to make soda bread with. Also very popular is Brown Soda Bread which is also delicious.
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