While I was at Terra Madre in Turin in October they took a photograph of the chefs, there were over 1000 of us, to commerate the event.

The souvenier magazine arrived today.
I copied half of the photo, and then blew up a small section.

And yes, there he is, red of face and not in a chefs jacket
next to John and Christopher Ferrugia from Malta
(and holding on to his chef’s hat for grim death)
yours truly

For ten years now I have been a food consultant to the Ardkeen Quality Foodstore here in Waterford.
This is a really delightful shop, it was originally started by Robbie Jephson as a pair of petrol pumps down from their house on the Dunmore road about forty years ago.
It then expanded into a garage shop and then gradually grew into what it is today; a full sized supermarket, but one with a difference.
Because it is a totally independent outlet the family (Robbie’s son Colin now runs the store) are not dictated to by any principal of central buying but make a lot of their purchases locally. They have always had a very strong deli section so, when they decided to expand the shop to make it a full sized supermarket ten years ago, I was delighted to be asked by Colin to design a range of ready prepared meals, prepared by chefs in the shop, to be sold fresh and chilled to the people of Waterford.
This has turned out to be a huge success and today, even though now sandwiched between a Tesco and a Lidl, Ardkeen is holding its own.

I was delighted when I got a mail from Angeala Flannery, a reporter on the new RTE food programme; “Corrigan Knows Food” telling me that they were interested in doing a piece about quality ready prepared meals and to feature the Ardkeen in this.
This all came to a head yesterday when the team from RTE arrived at the store to film this piece.
They came fresh from Myrtle Allens grandchildren’s “Cully and Sully’s” operation in Ballycotton and their intention was to do a similar piece (about 7 minutes) on the Ardkeen and then follow this up with a tasting session on the quay in Waterford in which the public would vote on which of three Fisherman’s Pie’s they preferred, ours, Cully and Sully’s and one made by Angeala.

All I had to do was to stand by the food chill while they tracked the camera to me ( I imagine this will be about 10 seconds of film on the tele) and then conduct the interview with Angeala.
After I had stood for about 20 minutes on a precise spot on the floor while the tracking shot was repeated about forty times, and my look of serious gravity became closer and closer to a manic and sinister rictus, that part of the exercise was completed.
In the meantime one half of Waterford were standing out of the range of the camera making personal remarks about this idiot (“He’s put on weight hasn’t he)

The interview itself was a much easier affair to do and, even though I feel I may have burbled rather a lot (like nature I abhor a vacuum and will always try and fill it with talk) the director and crew were kind and took off the tape for editing and airbrushing in the studio.

The whole process took about two hours to film and for most of this I was standing stiffly in one position in the middle of a busy supermarket unable even to move my head in case I ended up casting the wrong sort of shadow on my face.
There was very little glamour.

The director and the crew couldn’t have been nicer and the interviewer was like an old friend by the time we finished.
The shoppers I think saw it as Martin Dwyer grasping at yet another opportunity to expose himself.

As for the result of the taste test on Waterford’s Quays?
To answer that you will have to watch the programme when it is aired at the beginning of June.

As was inevitable we had our first visitors when we went to
Languedoc this Easter. Sister D and Milo were first, quickly
followed by daughter Caitriona, son in law Aonghus and friends
Isabel and Paul. We ate out on the terrace mostly.

We discovered the way one spends a lazy bank holiday
Monday afternoon; watching the canal boats go through
the 9 locks in Beziers.

The garden had become wonderfully lush since we had
been there last.
Isabel and Sile, having green fingers did powerful weeding.

Caitriona (and I) watched attentively from the terrace.

Sile, far better at the bricolage than I, managed to putty
in a pane of glass (thanks Clive)

I did however manage to stain an Ikea table.

There is a house for sale in the village by the way.
If you look carefully you can see the number to ring.

Taken from the ferry on our way back from Cherbourg on Saturday

I have been wondering how old our house in Thezan is, a question which is more difficult to answer than I had imagined.
It is very much a living house and has been constantly renovated and adapted over the years. I am now however begining to realise that its roots are very ancient indeed.
Last week I got a chance to nip into the winery across the street and take a, comparative, close up of the back of the house.

This gave me my first and reasonably close look at our strange attic window which sticks out of our roof.
I can already see from long shots of the back of the house that it seems to tally with the line of the original walls of the village.

It also provides out attic with both terrific light and height.

Seeing it this close it is obvious that, from its ancient stone finish, it was indeed part of the original walls.

About five doors down from us is a house which the history of the village tells was built into the original walls.

The similiarity of structure is striking.

So where does this place the roots of our house?

The church was originally built in the 12th Century, presumably the walls to protect it went up sometime soon after.

Exciting to own a little bit of history.

Yesterday I went into the library in Waterford, a beautiful modern building which is in fact much more than a place for books.
It is also used for lectures and exhibitions and much more besides.
There I found two very recently published books both of which were on my wish list.
Their buyer/buyers obviously has impeccable taste or else has access to that list which I hopefully leave in Amazon.

McGee on Food and Cooking is a book which is so full of information that I think I will have to buy it anyway.
It is a scientist in the kitchen and explains (even to people who gave up chemistry at Inter Cert) how Béchamel Sauces thicken,
how gluten affects the rising of bread and the correct scientific way to extract maximum flavour from coffee.
To a chef with and enquiring mind it is a treasure trove.
I shall certainly have to buy a copy to keep.
The second book is Tim Robinson’s amazing ;
Connemara, Listening to the Wind.
As I own and love his previous book on Aran this was a must.
His minute exploration of the stones, plants and history of the area around Roundstone (two more on Connemara are planned)is rather like an easily read prose poem.
Another book I’m afraid I will have to buy to keep.

Recognizing my difficulties in the naming of the place in France my friend Peter Denman alerted me to the possibilities of La Cure, and this, an old word for Le Presbytère, is somehow much more flexible.
(See comments here)

Now Peter is a man who loves words even more than I do.
He is also extremely skilled with them, anyone who can create a crossword in which the solutions all had relevance to my life is a true wordsmith, it puts his other achievements, like his doctorate in English Literature and being a published poet, into the ha’penny place.

He also (unintentionally) alerted me to the Presbyterian connotations of Le Presbytère, not that I should care a damn about that , not with the big man himself now sitting at the table with Gerry Adams.

I started to think of various ways in which I could use La Cure.
It has a secondary meaning in French which is the same as “cure” in English. Consequently I discovered thet names like La Cure du Détente (as in relaxation cure) were already much overused.
In trying to think of other cures (water cure, sleep cure, rest cure)I thought of what all of us Irish, sufferers from SAD syndrome are constantly seeking: A Sun Cure ; La Cure du Soleil.
I like it.
It has a nice ring of sunnier climes as well as recognising the history of the house.
I like its affinity to Le Circue du Soleil, and also to that French chain of wonderful biscuit shops; La Cure Gourmande.
I tried it out on my French class last night .
It went down like a lead balloon.
My teacher, a French Lady, even made a little moue francaise to signify her lack of enthusiasm.

I still like it, Sile isn’t TOO against it.
Comments Please!

Ratatouille was enormously fashionable in the sixties and seventies and, like all things which were enormously fashionable it became very unfashionable once its vogue had passed.
The reasons for its being a la mode at this period were I think similar and concurrent with the (Elizabeth David inspired) yearning for all things Mediterranean. It was our northern hankering after the warmth and sunshine of Provence after the long dark days of WW2 and its straitened aftermath.

Like all things which are very fashionable for a long time Ratatouille is much more than just a fashionable, vegetable taste of the warm south.

This time of the year I find myself looking at the imported courgettes and aubergines with a less jaundiced eye. The long winter showing signs of departure I am prepared to cheat to rush in the summer.

Last night I cooked a Ratatouille with great care and it was delicious.

The secret was I think in the liberal and late seasoning and the late addition of the courgette and pepper which gave some liveliness and texture to the dish.
The flavour was also improved by the fiddly, but worthwhile blackening and peeling of the peppers. This lent it a subtle smoky flavour.

Sunday Ratatouille

Olive Oil
2 medium Onions
1 Medium Aubergine
1 Medium Courgette
2 Red Peppers
500g Tin Chopped Tomatoes or Tomato Passata
1 teaspoon Sugar
1 Teaspoon red Wine Vinegar
Salt
Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Chopped Thyme
1 teaspoon Chopped Basil
2 Cloves Garlic, chopped fine.

Peel the Onion and chop it into small dice.
Chop the Aubergine into similar pieces.
Put about two tablespoons of olive oil into a pan.
Cook the Onion and Aubergine gently in the oil until soft.
As Aubergine absorbs a lot of oil you may need to add some more to stop it drying.

Blacken the peppers by holding them over a gas flame until black
Or
Halve them and grill until black.
Rub off and discard the blackened skins and seeds and dice the flesh.
Dice the flesh of the Courgette.

Add these to the Aubergine and onion and saute together for a few minutes only.

Add in the tomatoes, bring back to a simmer then add the sugar vinegar, salt pepper herbs and garlic and then simmer for just a few minutes.
The diced courgette should have a crunch.

Best served warm or at room temperature.