Our trip to Mayo this weekend was…….well, surprising to say the least. I picked up some smashing produce along the way including basil pesto from Cafe Rua.
Now when it comes to pesto there are lots of okay pestos in delis and restaurants, many too saltly, few are incredibly fresh, and I always struggled to find one comparable to that of homemade pesto. I presume that is beacause the cost of making full on pesto with Parmesan and pine nuts is prohibitive in terms of costs for most food producers. However, not to skimp on quality Cafe Rua have matched my homemade pesto using only the traditional ingredients, and resulting in a fresh and pungent basil pesto. YUM, score again for Rua!!
Another item I picked up in the deli at Rua was an imported cooking chorizo from Sheridans in Galway, which turned out to be most awesome. It was fascinating to cook as it release all the oils from inside the sausage to turn your frying pan into a liquid gold vat of Spanish flavour.
On to Newport and I bagged some of Dominick Kellys award winning black pudding. It is a traditional pudding with a smaller white pudding running through it. The nicest pudding I have ever had!! It is the best of both worlds, top class black and white in harmony together. Michael Jackson would have love it!!
With the weekends goodies I set to work. I adorned Kelly’s incredible pudding with some luscious North Atlantic scallops from Alis fish shop in Barna, complimented by Sheridans spicey chorizo with puy lentils, beef tomatoes, and a mild mustard vinagarette.YUM YUM YUM
Finding culinary jewels and cooking them up after your adventure is akin to a day of fishing and bringing home one skinny makeral, PURE HEAVEN!!
I am planning to revisit a most interesting experience from a few years ago in the coming week. The day of the pigs head for Christmas dinner is long gone, but the flavours are some to need to be revived.
Three years ago I set about making a traditional brawn, one of the most disgusting yet satisfying culinary experiments I have witnessed. A pigs head is about as close to a human head as it gets, and they probably don’t taste too disimilar.
Keep an eye out for my pictorial on producing a yummy and incredibly thrifty meal……….
Bia go halainn 