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As part of the euphoria that is part of winning a Three Star Gold in the Great Taste Awards, we felt that we needed a small display sign to give to our wonderful retailers to help them let their customers know about our Smoked Silver Hill Duck. So a quick Skype call to Nevil Swinchatt, our graphic designer now based in Cornwall, with a simple request to produce something by lunchtime.

And he did!

So delighted were we with the image, that we thought we really should introduce Nevil to you because not only is he a very good graphic designer but he is also a painter! One of his clients is the famed yacht designer, Ron Holland, and here is one of Nevil’s paintings of the Thalia. Have a look at Nevil’s website, www.nevils.co.uk to see more of his work and to download a press release about his painting of Thalia.

We are really thrilled to report that we have been honoured with a Gold Award in this year’s Great Taste Awards in the UK for our Ummera Smoked Silver Hill Duck Breast.

And not just a Gold Award, but a Three Star Gold Award - can’t get much better than that!

With over 6,000 entries, only 91 products were awarded a 3 Star Gold Award.

We did an initial test smoke of duck breasts from Silver Hill Ducklings in Co. Monaghan, back in July last year. In November 2009 we tasted it with many  wine lovers who attended the Cork Wine Show, and such was the reaction that we knew we had something very special. Since then we have been smoking duck in partnership with Silver Hill Foods; whenever we have tasted it in public, be it the UK at Mortimer & Bennett in Turnham Green last January, Birmingham at the FoodExpo in March, or here in Ireland at various venues, the reaction has been the same: “Where can I buy it?” or  ”Who stocks it?”.

And now our Ummera Smoked Silver Hill Duck has received the highest honour by getting this three star award at the Oscars of the Food World!

Receiving this Gold Award for our Smoked Duck,  now means that every single one of our products has received an award from the Guild of Fine Food!

Of course, Ummera wouldn’t have been able to win this award without our great team here, Anat, Andrzy, Jonathan and Marcin. Thanks to you all!

A list of retail stockists can be found here: Retail Outlets

Or you can order direct from our online shop.

We received the following email from Euro-toques Ireland yesterday and we urge all who are involved in the small-scale, artisan production, marketing and selling of food in Ireland,  to read and act on it. It’s quite lengthy, but very relevant. We can complain amongst ourselves about the nightmare of compliance, but here Euro-toques are helping us get our problems  into the right place and to get action:

Euro-toques is working on a very important project to defend small Irish food producers/farmers and further the cause of traditional/artisan/local/small-scale/real – whatever you want to call it – food production in this country. We need you to help us help you.

This is relevant to you if you are a small-scale food producer or farmer, abattoir, butcher, market trader, food seller etc and relates to any difficulties encountered in terms of food safety enforcement relating to premises, production methods/tools/materials, product, on-farm/on-site sales, farmers markets, retailing, packaging, labeling etc.

As some of you may be aware at our annual Food Awards last year, we proposed the establishment of an expert ‘Safety Net’ group for small producers in trouble in relation to Food Safety/Hygiene rules and enforcement. We are working in earnest to set this up and we hope to provide emergency support for producers as well as advocacy to advance recognition of safe traditional and artisan food production practices. This concerns not only secondary artisan products, but also importantly small-scale primary agricultural production.

Of course we, like all of you, recognise the importance of food safety. But we also recognise that practices that have been carried out in food production for generations are safe, and that hygiene requirements must be proportionate to the risk. Our main aim is, on behalf of producers, to identify the least expensive way of complying with legal requirements and to have these methods recognised by the authorities. We also want to work in general on promoting a food safety culture which is better disposed toward ‘non-industrial’ food production and to contribute to educating our food safety authorities and enforcement officers towards a better understanding of artisan/traditional/small-scale production.

In order to do this, we must build an overall picture of what is currently happening in Ireland, the problems being encountered, the solutions being offered etc. We must be in a position to highlight, factually, where food safety regulation has been applied in a way that is not necessary or proportionate to the food risks in question.

Some of your own experiences, or the experiences of other producers you know, will be invaluable to us in building this picture and in identifying legal arguments against some of the things that are happening in Ireland.

We have, of course, a huge body of anecdotal evidence about incidents which have occurred with the authorities; producers who have gone out of business or almost due to the imposition of immense and unrealistic compliance costs, produce and materials destroyed or confiscated, conflicting advice given etc etc. However, we need concrete facts and real cases so that we can tackle these issues properly with the authorities and hopefully work with them to find solutions.

In order to properly compile this research, we need to record the full details of the producer and the incidents for our own file. However, we will guarantee that all facts and cases will be used in an ANONYMOUS way and your details will be kept confidential, unless we obtain your prior agreement to use them.

If you have a case/incident which you believe is relevant, please let us know about it as soon as possible. Or forward this email to any producer you know of who has run into difficulty.

In informing us of the case, please follow the guidelines below insofar as you can and provide as much factual information as possible.

We would also welcome any feedback in terms of positive experiences or ways in which you managed to reach a satisfactory compromise with the authorities, which we may be able to take lessons from in the future.

You can email your responses to me in confidence at ruth@euro-toques.ie

We would ask that you send these to us as quickly as possible, as we need to gather this information urgently before our next meeting of the group and subsequent meeting with the FSAI. We have a legal expert on board who will work on relating your cases back to the relevant legislation and showing where EU law allows for flexibility in such cases etc.

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO SIT DOWN AND RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL IMMEDIATELY if you can.

We hope to get a comprehensive and timely response from producers to assist us on this very important project.

Sincere regards

Ruth Hegarty

Secretary-General

Euro-toques Ireland

(on behalf of the Food Producer ‘Safety Net’ council members Myrtle Allen, Darina Allen, Evan Doyle, and Ruth Hegarty, in addition to our technical and legal experts).

GUIDELINES FOR YOUR RESPONSES:

Please follow these guidelines as much as you can and provide as many facts as possible. You do not need to send us any documentation, but you may if you feel it is particularly relevant. Otherwise, please just quote the name/reference for any legislation referred to in correspondence from the enforcement authority/officer.

We need to know the following detail:

1. Details of Producer What was the scale (output size) and nature of the business in question; i.e what was the product, where were inputs sourced from, what production processes were used, to whom (and how) is product sold.

2. The Problem – Please give an overview of the problem which was encountered (was it hygiene related, labelling, marketing standards, animal health, micro criteria testing etc)

3. Legal Issues – What legislation was used by regulators (DAFF officials, EHOs etc) to ground a complaint/warning/specific order/shut-down. This is important as it can assist us in identifying particular pieces of legislation which we hope to critique further.

4. Costs – what costs did the problem lead to, this can include the financial costs to the business in question (new equipment, buildings, transport etc), but also potentially costs to the actual quality of the product, the local nature of its production etc.

5. Suggested Alternative – how do you think the regulatory objective which the regulator was insisting upon can be met in a suitable and satisfactory way. How is the nature of the risk ‘over-inflated’ by the regulator given the particular circumstances at hand.

6. Interaction with Regulators – how was the interaction with the regulators in question, i.e. were they constructive, unhelpful, aggressive etc. How would you assess their understanding of food safety, food production and their attitude toward risk management.

.

CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEBSITE     www.euro-toques.ie

Includes events, activities & policy info, applications, Member Search & much more…..

Please note our new email contact details and save them to your address book:

General info/enquiries:                               info@euro-toques.ie

Ruth Hegarty, Secretary-General:            ruth@euro-toques.ie

Carrie DeSoye, Office Administrator:    carrie@euro-toques.ie

____________________________

Ruth Hegarty

Secretary-General

Euro-Toques Ireland – The European Community of Chefs & Cooks

11 Bridge Court, City Gate

St. Augustine Street

Dublin 8

Tel: 01-6779995   Fax: 01-6779977

Email: ruth@euro-toques.ie

Website: www.euro-toques.ie

We have just had another visit from our veterinary officer to make sure that we are compliant with the tomes of legislation that seems to grow and expand on a daily basis to ensure, apparently, that you, the consumer, do not suffer from any known or unknown disease, parasite or bacteria that might harbour in the deepest recesses of the sanitised smokehouse.

Consumers can sleep easy at night knowing that we, like all food processors, in Ireland are subjected to regular inspection by the Dept of Agriculture, the SFPA, the FSAI, Cork County Council etc etc.

Each time, one of these bodies want us to do something new; we get that sorted then they find something else for us to tick more boxes, get tested, buy new shoes, get temperature mapped, get thermometers calibrated, remove this, buy that and on it goes.  Is there some overpaid civil servant up there in Dublin and/or Brussels dreaming up new challenges to keep them and their merry team of inspectors in a job?

Headlines today:  ”Rip-off Republic”.

Is it any wonder when the costs of compliance are so high?

Ten years ago we built our smokehouse here ouside Timoleague; for ten years we have been using the same smoking kiln. Why, after ten years of production, do they want us to spend serious money to get our kiln temperature mapped? Why didn’t they ask us to do it ten years ago? What information do they expect to glean from mapping it now? We know how it works, we know where the hot and cold spots are, we know how to control it; that’s our experience, that’s what we do.

Small producers are throttled by the inspectorate; good work has been done by the Artisan Forum with the FSAI, but there is still this No Risk mentality that permeates. Risk is part of our life. Remove all risk and perhaps the bureaucrats may be happy, but the rest of us won’t.

Last week the Irish Examiner published an article about the reopening of a wild salmon fishery in Castlemaine Harbour in North Kerry.

The next day the same paper had a furious editorial condemning the decision.

In Saturday’s edition, there were two letters published, one from Aidan Barry, CEO of the SWRFB and the other from John O’Donoghue T.D.

The news about the fishery reopening really is good and does truly reflect the benefits of the drift net ban in 2007.

What the writer of the editorial in the Examiner completely misses is the ability that the Fisheries Boards now have to manage stocks effectively. The indiscriminate nature of the drift net fishery has gone, and sound management of individual river systems is now being implemented.

The simple fact is that each river has the capacity to handle a certain amount of spawning salmon.  When that number of salmon has entered the system, then anything over that number is surplus and can be harvested. The Fisheries Boards have the knowledge, information and ability to ensure that only the surplus is harvested. The division of the surplus between anglers and nets-men will probably always be contentious but …..!

Over the last 30 years, the record of the Irish Government in looking after the wild salmon stocks was abysmal; however, since the scales were lifted from their eyes in 2007, they have listened and have acted upon the advice  from the scientific “body”  which government had been ignoring up to then.

We hope that you read the article, editorial and letters in the links above, and that you will be optimistic that Ireland is now doing its best to repair the damage of the last thirty years.

Perhaps one day, the Irish Smoked Wild Atlantic Salmon Presidium may once again take part in Slow Food’s Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre.

At last night’s Parliamentary Palace of Varieties in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, the 600 guests were dining on Ummera and Uig Smoked Salmon and reading the following in their Programme!

Click on the image to enlarge!

A quirk of fate, and an email and Ummera finds itself jointly sponsoring the Smoked Salmon at tonight’s Parliamentary Palace of Varieties at the Intercontinental Hotel on Park Lane, London in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.

The Parliamentary Palace of Varieties has become a must in the Westminster calendar. It is a fun, entertaining evening when members of both the House of Lords and the House of Commons generously give their time to share their amazing, and frequently unexpected talents.

In previous years audiences have been entertained by Cabinet Ministers who tap dance, a folk singing Foreign Secretary, classically trained MPs, a jazz playing Peer and a Parliamentary Rock Band – which includes MP @IanCawsey, as well as listening to poems and laughing at monologues and sketches performed by mixed party politicians from the newest MPs to the Lord Chancellor.

Ummera is jointly sponsoring the smoked salmon with Uig Lodge Smokehouse on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides off the coast of Scotland.

Students of Irish and Hebridean history are well aware of the synergies between the two regions, but here the synergy exists between the two smokehouses as they were both founded by my father, Keith.

From Cork in Ireland, Keith Creswell crossed the sea to advise son-in-law Malcolm. Under Keith’s instruction, the Uig Smokery was established. They smoked on both the shores of Cork & The Isle of Lewis. Two houses joined over a single question: “Which salmon smokes best: Irish or Scottish?”

On a wild Atlantic edge, Guardian of the Uig Smoke, Kenny MacKay tasted his way through endless concoctions. He found the recipe for a dry cure that’s best for Scottish salmon. He’s always seeking to perfect his recipe…

Back in Cork, where the River Argideen turns tidal to the sea, the Creswell branch steeped salmon in a brine of Portugese sea salt from Tavira. They mixed in a little raw Costa Rican organic cane sugar – until the fish was right. Dried in Cork air, smoked for hours over sawdust of oak…

Today, both smokeries are led by Anthony (in Cork) & Dickon (on Lewis), sons of their founders. An older generation’s experience (inspiration?) has smoked its way through to the fish.

The families may be in competition to provide the most subtle & tasty fish.

Both addicted, both obsessively focussed on the beauty of top class smoked salmon – produced with love.

Wanting to help a customer last week,  I asked if there was anything we could do to increase his sales.

He promptly replied:  ”Yes, you could herd a few thousand people into our half deserted center…….!”

So in the continuing spirit of goodwill, I asked him how he used our smoked chicken – and back came the reply:

We use Ummera smoked chicken for sandwiches and for a salad. We make it with iceberg lettuce, the chicken and a few pieces of Italian semi-sundried tomatoes (marinated in olive oil, garlic and herbs). This way no other ingredient is distracting from the fine smoked chicken flavour.

This is by far our bestseller. We get proper first class breads from a french producer to make sure the whole package is on the same quality level (baguette, ciabatta, sour dough bread which we daily bake on the premise).

In the salad we just use iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, garnished with the same sundried tomatoes and we use the very aromatic olive oil from the tomatoes as dressing. Another dressing option is our own jasmine tea dressing but this works better with normal green salads.

Smoked chicken goes well with almost any tea. Especially finer black teas, e.g. Darjeelings, Chinese black teas (have a sweet-smoky flavour), Chinese green teas (not so much Japanese green teas) and above all fine Oolongs (between a green and a black tea with distinctive peachy notes).

And so wrote Martin Mehner of The House of Tea in the CHQ Building at the IFSC Center in Dublin 1

Check out the House of Tea website to learn more about Martin’s teas and do drop by and enjoy one of his amazing Smoked Chicken Sandwiches!

There was an article last Saturday in the UK’s Mail Online about how UK Supermarkets and food outlets have come together to create a voluntary code on the labeling of pork products in respect of country of origin. (Read it here)

Since Ireland’s Pork Fiasco in December 2008 there have been noises made about exactly where our Pork comes from. There are now Assurance Schemes which help to reassure us that those particular products are Irish, but there is nothing in place to show where pork products NOT bearing these schemes labels come from.

Are we to assume that all products NOT carrying these labels are therefore NOT Irish grown pork?

The pork that we cure and smoke is Irish; what’s more we can trace our pork back to the farm where it was grown, back to Martin O’Donovan in Timoleague for instance, which is much more than most suppliers of bacon or pork can do.

But we aren’t part of Bord Bia’s Quality Assurance Scheme, so don’t assume that if it doesn’t have the Q.A. stamp on it that it’s not Irish.

The need for clear Country of Origin labeling is obvious.

Yesterday, Ummera had a Twitter conversation/debate with Bord Bia over the question of traceability.

Thought you might be interested in it:

Bordbia: @ummera Food products, especially meat with our Quality Assurance Scheme logo on it is produced in Ireland and fully traceable.10:01am, Feb 24 from TweetDeck

ummera: @Bordbia And Pork? Farm to fork? Not yet by any means.10:39am, Feb 24 from HootSuite

Bordbia: @ummera & Pork. Bord Bia Quality Mark assures consumers with fully traceable & origin Ireland product, processors/farmers all audited.1:36pm, Feb 24 from Web

ummera: @Bordbia Quality Mark excellent, but it is all the rest that aren’t covered. Shouldn’t there be traceability Farm to Fork on ALL products?2:30pm, Feb 24 from HootSuite

Bordbia: @ummera That’s why it’s important to look for the Quality Assurance Mark on products.http://bit.ly/cg01qw2:58pm, Feb 24 from TweetDeck

ummera: @Bordbia Indeed; but do you think that supermarkets, & retail outlets here could agree a voluntary code for all pork products as in the UK?3:31pm, Feb 24 from HootSuite

All we really want to know is where our food comes from: what country, and if Irish what farmer and where?

Last night, RTE’s Nationwide had a piece on Val Manning of that famous institution, Mannings Emporium at Ballylicky, West Cork.

Anyone travelling on the road north of Bantry on the way to Glengarrif, Kenmare and Killarney will have passed this little shop with the grand name; anyone with a modicum of interest in food will have been compelled to stop and enjoy Val’s company and stories.

To those of us working with food in West Cork ( and further afield) Val has been the mecca for artisan producers over the last 30 years and it is right that he should have been given such warm coverage last night. Val gave support and encouragement to many over the years.

Click Nationwide to watch the clip.

And I’ve just heard that Carmel Somers of The Good Things Cafe in Durrus has just been on TV3, s0 West Cork really hitting the news!

And a reminder to those readers in the UK that as from March 1st we have our very own Swansea Cork Ferry coming back.