The Top 10 Best Irish Foods to Watch Out For in 2016

2016 has a lot going for it, for many reasons. From a historical point of view this is the 100th anniversary of the year that Ireland fulfilled it's quest to become an independent state, to have it's Independence Day. From a Tourism & Food point of view 2016 is gearing up to be an incredibly busy year for many other reasons too.

The international marketing of Ireland Inc. by Failte Ireland through the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland's Ancient East initiatives is already paying dividends and Tourism Ireland's continuous all-Ireland marketing machine is at full throttle. (Just in case you didn't know, Tourism Ireland is responsible for marketing the whole island of Ireland overseas as a holiday destination, working through the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport in the Republic.)

The filming of Star Wars on Skellig Michael has introduced Ireland to a new generation worldwide

The success of Skellig Michael's brief appearance in the the recent Star Wars film, the filming of the international hit TV series The Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland, Galway's Food On the Edge event, Bordbia's Origin Green program, the number of Irish chefs guesting on international TV programs, Northern Ireland's 2016 Year of Food & Drink and even Saoirse Ronan's rising star all add to Ireland's international image as a country full of many good things and a place well worth a visit. 

And if you're going to visit a great place then you want to eat great food made by great food producers!

Every year, around Christmas Eve - I ask a question on my Twitter: "What was Your Best Irish Food Find of the Year?" I always get hundreds of replies from food lovers all over Ireland and this year was no exception with the replies pouring in all over the days of Christmas and the New Year. Some people tweeted about restaurants they had discovered over the year, but this list is only concentrating on food products.

I collated all the suggestions from the public, of their new food finds over the last year from all over Ireland and from that have created the Top 10 Best Irish Foods to Watch Out For in 2016!

This year, people tweeted about honey and cakes, artisan breads, cheese, black pudding, gluten-free foods, quality meats, seafood, preserves, dips and chutneys, fermented foods and much more!

One new food product, above all others, received the most mentions. I'll save that to last! 

I have included a Twitter "Follow Button" so you can easily follow the producers to get details of their delicious food products. And so, as suggested by the Irish public on Twitter, here are...

The Top 10 Best Irish Foods to Watch Out For in 2016

Broughgammon Farm - Kid Goat Meat

Cabrito (Kid Goat Meat), Free Range Rose Veal, Seasonal Game, Hand Harvested Seaweeds
Ballycastle, Co. Antrim - www.broughgammon.com

James Whelan - Beef Dripping

Dripping from the purest suet made from grass fed Irish Angus and Hereford beef
Clonmel, Co. Tipperary - www.jameswhelanbutchers.com

Frank Hederman - Smoked Salmon & Mackerel Pate

Made very simply with smoked fish, cream cheese and lemon juice. A satisfying pâté, full of flavour
Cobh, Co. Cork - www.frankhederman.com 

Wild About Foods - Chutneys, Preserves and Cordials

 Made from naturally wild, home-grown and locally sourced core ingredients
Gorey, Co. Wexford - www.wildabout.ie



MND Foods - Honey Bee Cakes

A unique sponge Honey Cake made with honey, caramel sauce, chocolate and hazelnuts
Ferbane, Co. Offaly - www.beecakes.ie 


Shines's Seafood - Irish Caught Albacore Tuna

Tuna caught using traditional methods, hand-filleted and hand-packed in olive oil
Killybegs, Co. Donegal - www.shinesseafood.ie



Rosscarbery Recipes - Gluten Free Black Pudding

A new Gluten-Free version of their multi award winning Black Pudding
Rosscarbery, Co. Cork - www.rosscarberyrecipes.ie

The Cultured Food Co. - Fermented Kimchi & Sauerkraut 

Reviving the ancient tradition of natural food preservation through fermentation
Ballydehob, Co. Cork - www.facebook.com/theculturedfoodco



Kearns Foods - Grahams Horseradish & Mustards

Made using traditional recipes & methods to produce delicate and sophisticated flavours
Slane, Co. Meath - www.grahams-condiments.com


Over the last two weeks, more people tweeted back that their Best Irish Food find of 2015
was Irish Biltong more than any other! Set up by John and Noreen Doyle of Haynestown Meats, as an extension to their existing meat business, this product has really captured the Irish imagination and palate!

And so, the Best Irish Food to Watch Out For in 2016 
as chosen by the Irish Public is...

Haynestown Meats - Irish Biltong

Not to be confused with American style beef jerky, Irish Biltong is based on a traditional South African gourmet beef snack made through a process of air drying and curing with natural seasoning and spices. The thick cured chunks of beef are then thinly sliced. Biltong is sugar free and completely natural with good nutritional value.

Irish Biltong can be eaten on its own or used in various dishes such as salads, soups, various beef dishes and even in bread. As a preserved meat, Biltong can be stored for a long time especially in the freezer. Haynestown Meats are drying, curing and seasoning 100% Irish premium beef on-site in their facility in Naas, County Kildare, resulting in their unique Irish style Biltong.

The product is available in Original or Chili Flavoured and can be purchased from shops around the south and east (See Here) and direct from the Irish Biltong website here.

Toughers Business Park, Naas, Co. Kildare - www.irishbiltong.ie

Happy New Year and we look forward to lots of great new Irish Food products in 2016!

Zack

Top 20 Best Irish Foods to Watch Out For in 2015

Every year, around Christmas Eve -  I ask a question on Twitter... "What was Your Best Irish Food Find of the Year?" I get hundreds of replies from food lovers all over Ireland and this year was no exception with the replies pouring in all over the days of Christmas and New Year. 

I collate all the suggestions for great new foods from all over Ireland on a spreadsheet and from that I create the Top 20 Best Irish Foods to Watch Out For in 2015!

There have been an amazing amount of new food businesses set up over the last year and many new products are being developed by small producers all over the Island of Ireland. Many established small food producers have also been streamlining their product offering and expanding their lines. People are testing their foods at country markets and farmers markets and getting great feedback from customers, chefs and restaurants. This obviously helps them bring a better product to market for us to enjoy.

This year, people tweeted about old-style butters, artisan bakers, flavoured vinegars, innovative seafoods, hand-dried salts, top quality meats, hand-made confectionery, unusual dips and chutneys, honeys, crisps, foraged foods and much more!

One new food product, above all others, received the most mentions. I'll save that to last! I have included a Twitter Follow button so you can easily follow them to get details of their delicious food products.


And so, here are the Top Twenty Best Irish Foods to Watch Out For in 2015 as voted for by you, the food lovers on Twitter, all over Ireland!

• Tartine Organic Bakery - Co. Dublin

Food Lover and artisan baker Thibault Peigne is passionate about baking bread and uses the finest organic ingredients and traditional methods. He has created Tartine Organic Bakery to make freshly baked sourdough breads, french pastries and cakes.

• Improper Butter - Co. Dublin

A range of improperly delicious, Irish flavoured butters that inspire creativity at mealtimes, made by Elaine Lavery and Hannah O'Reilly.

• Wild About Foods - Co. Wexford

Fiona and Malcom Falconer produce a wide range of artisan chutneys, preserves, syrups, seasoning rubs, cocktail bases and wild pestos made from foraged and homegrown ingredients. They specialise in native wild ingredients like nettles, hips, haws, sloes, damsons, elderberries, crab apples, rowan berries, guilderose and whatever else is in season.

• Goatsbridge Trout - Co. Kilkenny

Fresh Trout, Smoked Trout, Trout Pate, Trout Caviar and more are all farmed, processed and produced on the banks of the Little Arrigle River by the family of Mags and Ger Kirwan. They have a passion for trout, which comes across in the quality of their product.

• The Wild Irish Foragers & Preservers - Co. Offaly

Sharon and Gordon Greene create exclusively Wild Syrups, Sauces, Fruit Cheeses, Pontack & more homemade to old recipes using hand-picked ingredients from their Millhouse Farm near Birr, Co Offaly.

• Abernethy Butter - Co. Down

Alison and Will Abernethy make handmade butter from local cream, handmade in churns the traditional way and patted into rolls. It is creamy and slightly salty to give a luxurious creamy taste. They also make fudge.

• Broughgammon Farm Kid Goat - Co. Antrim

Broughgammon Farm produce Cabrito (Kid Goat Meat), Free Range Rose Veal, Seasonal Game and Hand Harvested Irish Seaweeds. Their ethos is to produce great food locally, sustainably and competitively while balancing the growing requirements for food production with environmental protection.

• Rebel Chilli Hot Sauces - Co. Cork

Ken and Paul Moore's award winning 'Red Chilli with Lemongrass and Ginger' is a crowd favourite and the Cork-based Rebel Chilli range also includes the fantastically hot 'Chillionaire' and the sweet 'Jalapeno and Raspberry Jelly'.

• Irish Bee Sensations - Co. Cork

Tom and Croéin Ruttle are multi award winning producers of artisan Honey and Jams made only with their own Irish Raw Honey. They have a passion for their bees and for the reintroduction of the native Irish Bee.

• Achill Island Sea Salt - Co. Mayo

Achill Island Sea Salt was founded as a family business by Kieran, Marjorie and Sean O'Malley in July 2013, reviving the age old tradition of salt production on Achill Island, creating a sustainable and pure artisan product, which has received critical acclaim from chefs and cooks alike for its appearance, texture and taste.

• Le Fournil Bakery - Co. Donegal

In 2007, French chef Franck Pasquier retired from restaurant kitchens to set up Le Fournil Artisan Bakery in Donegal Town & Sligo. He bakes superb sourdough breads, patisserie items, tarts, croissants & much more. He also supplies the breads to Clotilde Rambaud and Tomasz Giderewicz at Le Fournil in Sligo town. Clotilde makes all the patisseries and chocolates in the Sligo store.

• Killowen Farm Yogurts - Co. Wexford

The Dunne family have been farming in Enniscorthy for nine generations. Their award winning yogurts are gluten free, low in sugar, naturally low fat and contain no artificial additives. Everyone says they taste great!

• Soul Soup - Co. Dublin

Lloyd Hamilton-Felton wanted to bring the healthiest and tastiest soups possible to soup lovers all over Ireland. He is now supplying some of Dublin's best artisan cafés and health shops.

• Keoghs Farm Crisps - Co. Dublin

Keoghs Farm say they produce Ireland’s only “hand cooked on the farm” artisan potato crisps. The family have been farming their potatoes for over 100 years and their crisps have become a favourite at home and abroad.

• John Stone Beef - Co. Longford

John Stone comes from a very long line of butchers and has been at the forefront of gourmet meat production for almost fifty years. His meats come from small manageable farms and he believes that the natural lifestyle of the cattle gives his meat it's unique and delicious flavour.

• The Foods of Athenry - Co. Galway

The old milking parlor on the Lawless family farm is now the bakery where they bake wheat and spelt soda breads & bread mixes, scones, cakes and pies as well as a range of Gluten Free breakfast cereals, cookies, crackers, flapjacks and cakes.

• Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms - Co. Limerick

Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms produce a wide range of foraged and cultivated speciality mushrooms and also a selection of handmade artisanal mushroom products. However, it was their Shiitake Dust which caught the imagination of so many people this year. This Powdered Irish Shiitake Mushroom delivers delicious buttery and umami notes making it perfect for seasoning meat, fish, vegetables, gravies, soups & sauces.

• Toons Bridge Buffalo Cheeses - Co. Cork

The first Toons Bridge buffalo calves arrived in the early spring of 2011 but their buffalo mozzarella took almost two years to perfect. A joint venture between Toby Simmonds of the Real Olive Co. and his neighbouring farmer Johnny Lynch, the dairy is now producing Buffalo Mozzarella Balls, Ricotta, Halloumi, a salty Greek-style cheese, Cachocavalio and smoked Scamorza cheeses. From time to time, milk quantities allowing, they also make buffalo milk yogurt and butter. And Ireland loves it all!

• Silver Darlings Herring - Co Limerick

Kirsti O’Kelly pickles Irish herrings according to traditional family recipes handed down from her mother and grandmother in her native Finland. She marinates the fish in a combination of mild vinegars and spices which dissolve the herring bones and keep the integrity of the fish flesh allowing it to take on the subtle flavours of aromatic spices like mustard seeds, sandalwood, cinnamon, bay leaves, cloves, pink peppercorns and fresh herbs such as dill, tarragon and coriander.

And the Best Irish Food to Watch Out For in 2015 as voted by the Irish Public, via Twitter, is ...

• Wild Wood Vinegars
  
  
  

  Rathlacken, Ballina, County Mayo

Fionntan Gogarty is an artist, vinegar producer, a lover of fine food, poetry and the wild rugged west of Ireland, an organic farmer, a dry-stone-waller, a beachcomber and an innovator. He is indeed all of these things!

Fionntan Gogarty of Wildwood Vinegars

Wildwood Vinegars, based in the little village of  Rathlackin, near Ballina in County Mayo, are a unique range of foraged wild fruit, herb, berry and blossom infused vinegars that unlock the hidden magic of nature's flavours and essences. Fionntan has only been producing them for less than a year but already they have been received with rapturous delight by all who have tasted them and have won several awards.

The fruity and flavourful vinegars are used for sauces, salad dressings, marinades, desserts and chilled as an alternative to sorbet or even added to soda-water for a refreshing soft drink!

If ever there was a product that gives you a true taste of the best of Ireland, Fionntan Gogarty's Wildwood Vinegars are just that! It's no wonder that so many people all over Ireland tweeted that this product was their Best Irish Food Find of the year.

Congrats to Fionntan and everyone else that made to Top 20 Best Irish Foods to Watch Out For in 2015. We look forward to another great year for Irish Food!

Zack