Cooking in:Not all local produce is good, but Wexford raspberries are sublime
I am currently living by the land. Or at least trying to, but it is not easy. I had to make an exception for olive oil for one thing. Herbs may come from the garden, but not spices. It's a salutary reminder of how precious these once were.
While I buy fish from down the road, I am under no illusion that it has come from far and wide. I hope it has come from the Irish coast, but who is to know. My chicken comes from Co Monaghan. Hardly local you might say, but at least it is not from Thailand.
Given my concrete encased garden I've had to rule out growing vegetables, apart from pots of herbs - thyme, sage, rosemary, mint and marjoram. Vegetable buying has turned out to be the trickiest. Much of what is seasonal comes from as far afield and Holland, Italy and Spain.
But the spinach in yesterday's pilaf came from less than 10 miles away, as did the salad, potatoes and yoghurt. I resisted the urge to buy garlic as it had come from Holland. But what was I playing at? The garlic would have made all the difference, as would the cumin, and let's face it, the rice came from India.
This evening I hit a problem. The strawberries came from Wexford, but were as hard and tasteless as bullets. In contrast, the raspberries were a dream. We considered having some cream, but that came from everywhere, channelled through a factory. We preceded this with some organic Monaghan chicken roasted with a bucket of herbs. The urge to add a chopped lemon was hard to resist. Instead the pan juices were enlivened by a little cider brandy from Kilkenny.
But what about later in the year? November does not bring much produce to shout about and I suspect the joys of citrus fruit will be hard to resist. Maybe this is to be a summer project which, as I contemplate the rain, is probably as much I can cope with.
Recipes serve 4
FINE BEANS WITH TOMATO, MARJORAM AND GOATS' CHEESE
450g fine beans
olive oil
1 tbsp finely chopped shallots
1 tsp picked marjoram leaves
450g tomatoes
200g goats' cheese, sliced or crumbled
Cook the beans, covered, in a saucepan with two tablespoons of water, three tablespoons of olive oil and a seasoning of salt and pepper, for five to eight minutes, or until the beans are cooked. Keep and eye out towards the end, you may need a little more water.
Remove the core from the tomatoes, quarter them and remove the seeds. Toss the beans with the tomatoes, shallots and marjoram. Season with salt and pepper and dress with more olive oil. Arrange in a bowl, scatter the goats' cheese over the top and serve.
RASPBERRY SORBET & SUMMER BERRIES
750g raspberries
juice and zest of one lemon
180g caster sugar
generous splash of cassis, or other blackcurrant liqueur
4 heaped tbsp mixed berries
4 shots well-iced vodka
a little icing sugar to serve
Liquidise the raspberries and combine them with the lemon juice and zest, the sugar and the blackcurrant liqueur. Taste and add more sugar if necessary. Freeze, or chill in an ice-cream maker until set. You will need to stir it a few times if not using a machine, to avoid crystals forming. Divide the mixed berries into four tall glasses, top with balls of the sorbet, add the shot of vodka and sprinkle a little icing sugar over the top.