Foodie heaven

I was watching a documentary recently about the life of Myrtle Allen, the doyenne of fabulous Irish food and the matriarch of Ballymaloe House. It was a fascinating story of one woman's determination to source and cook good, wholesome, seasonal Irish food, be it for family, friends or paying customers in her restaurant. Myrtle Allen - and the Ballymaloe restaurant and cookery school - has had an incredible effect on the food scene in Ireland over the last 50 years. There is certainly much to be grateful for, with the increasing availability of Irish artisanal foods, farmer's markets and wonderful places to eat and browse (hello Avoca!). I ate in a cafe / deli last weekend in Killarney (Wholesome Fayre), after a long walk in the National Park, which was wonderful from its delicious food (a chocolate cake to rival my own), right down to its Irish craft beer menu. It makes me so happy to find places like that, but then of course, it only increases the gloom that descends when you come across a bad eatery.

In spite of the progress that's been made, it can still be incredibly hard to get really fabulous food in the various towns and villages around the country. As an archaeologist who has wandered the length and breadth of Ireland for work, I can safely say that Foodie Heaven it is not. Granted, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool city girl who loves her coffee and I get very grumpy when I can't get a decent cup of the stuff everywhere I go (apologies to all you tea-drinkers out there, but tea is no good - makes me nauseous). I'm also, admittedly, rather fussy about my food (in case you hadn't noticed). Now don't get me wrong, when I say 'fabulous food', I don't mean haute cuisine or anything too clever or fussy, I simply mean good, seasonal ingredients that are cooked well. I'd be quite happy with a toasted sandwich for lunch, if it's on fresh, non-factory-made bread, with some Irish cheese and maybe some baked ham and chutney (without an 'anything that was in the fridge' salad and the ubiquitous raw red onion on the side, thank you very much). Fabulous doesn't have to mean complicated and using local, seasonal and Irish artisanal products can only be a good thing for everyone involved.


It was with these thoughts that I sat down with all of my baking books to search for something lovely to make for Mam's birthday a couple of weeks ago. I knew that luscious and decadent cakes or desserts would not be on the menu - Mam might nibble on the odd piece of chocolate cake if it's offered (albeit after scraping most of the icing off - I know!!), but as I've mentioned before, it's really not her cup of tea (so to speak - though she does like tea, by the way). So I went back to basics and thought about something seasonal, using fruit - yummy crumble, warm from the oven? - that you could also serve on a pretty platter and stick in a candle or two for the birthday celebration (not fruit crumble then). Happily, I came across a promising recipe for a fruit crumble cake, from a book called 'Weekend Baking' by Sarah Randall (if you'd like to try it, the recipe is below). It was only after I'd made the cake (perfect recipe and result) that I read her bio at the back and discovered that she has worked with Delia Smith for years, developing recipes for her books and TV programmes.

It's a very moreish cake, with a sponge base, topped with blackcurrant jam, raspberries and a lovely, nutty crumble. The sponge base stays very moist and light, thanks to the mix of flour and polenta and the addition of Greek yoghurt, and although both sponge and crumble are sweet, this is off-set by the tart jam and berries. In fact, the cake proved such a success that I had a phone call from her yesterday, looking for the recipe so that she could make it (she had a rare yearning for something sweet). Fortunately for me, I'm heading up there this evening and (hopefully) there should be some left-over. If all goes to plan, I'll be working off a big slice of crumble cake tomorrow, when I'm out field-walking once more (with perhaps a slice to nibble on as I go!).

Confessions of a baker

I've made much of my love of baking and how I would happily spend every spare moment whipping up a nice cake. Not a word of a lie, I promise you, but I do have a little confession to make. Sunday was World Baking Day and what did I do? I sat in the sunshine (SUN!! I know!), sipping a lovely cold G&T, with not a whisk or a spatula in sight. The lovely cake in the picture was, in fact, made by No. 1 Sister; a delicious gooseberry upside-down cake baked that morning. The berries were the last survivors of her dearly departed allotment, frozen after the final harvest last autumn. It's safe to say that their life's mission is now complete - the tart gooseberries were the perfect partner for the soft sponge with its caramelised topping.

After a really fabulous afternoon soaking up the sun in the back garden, we had a celebratory family dinner (I know I've a bit of mention-itis, with 'sun this' and 'sun that', so apologies to those of you who were stuck with cloudy skies). No.2 Sister had prepared a very tasty lamb tagine with couscous, which, given its Morrocan origins seemed fitting for such a sunny day (oops, there I go again, sorry!). Dessert was also provided by No.2 Sister (No.3 Sister was off-duty as she's studying hard for her exams) and came straight from the pages of the old Hamlyn All-Colour Cookbook. Scandanavian Apple Charlotte was very popular in our house as a special Sunday dessert and every now and again one of us gets a hankering for it. It's like the posh relative of an apple crumble, with layers of stewed apple and a crispy, crumble mixture. It is presented, in all its 1970s glory, in a glass bowl so you can see the layers, topped with whipped cream and then sprinkled with Cadbury's Flake. Oh, but it was good!

So in summary, I got to spend World Baking Day doing nothing more taxing than sitting in the sun and eating fabulous home-made cakes and desserts not made by me. Thank heavens for sisters!