Day 52: Ballymaloe On Tour...

The Ballymaloe road tour was en-route around munster today on our sold out tour. The first stop was Frank Hederman's smokehouse, Cobh, Co. Cork.

 
Frank has a smoking business in Cobh, Co. Cork where he supplies Selfridges; Waitrose and Ballymaloe House, to name but a few. Frank took us through the process of smoking salmon from filleting right the way through to smoking, it was a brilliant morning.

Back on the tour bus to the next venue which was the sold out Mahon Point Farmer's Market gig. The tour bus pulled up and we were given a VIP lunch (at 10am how rock and roll!) at the fabulously delicious Green Saffron.

 Green Saffron was set up by another ex-student of the Ballymaloe course and has a number of delicious spices and sauces at his stall and in their store in Midleton.

Other interesting stalls from the day were:

Buff A Lo Lo steak sandwiches.

Glenilen Farm produce with yummy smoothies, yogurts, hot chocolate and milk. I had an interesting chat with the founder about the Raw Milk movement.

Volcano wood fired pizzas who have a brilliant wood fired pizza oven with a very chatty guy doing the pizzas.

Ballycotton Farm free range produce from Ballycotton, Co. Cork.

Arbutus bread who produce the most wonderful sour dough bread, soda bread and spelt bread.

Back on the road with destination Clonmel, where we took a tour of Cashel blue cheese production site. They have invested six million euro in their state of the art facilities recently to cater for their rising international demand.

Following a picnic, we were on the road again, destination Waterford and what a day it was to take a tour. The sun was out and the scenery en-route was breathtaking, what a beautiful part of Ireland.

A whistle stop tour of Mac Graths' butchers in Lismore was the first stop. We got a tour of the fourth generation craft butchers who have a small arbitrator in the back of their shop. This is a rare but very crafted skill and is well worth a visit. 

A talk for us was held in The Chop House- one of Ireland's best gastropubs. Our delightful friends at The Chop House served us some elderflower sparkling lemonade and a tour of their most wonderful eatery.

The final stage of our tour was a biscuits, cake and light refreshments chat with an ex-Ballymaloe student who set up The Summer House in Lismore, Co. Waterford. The summer house is nested a few doors up from The Chop House. The Summer House have become renound for their marvellous coffee and delightful soft home furnishings. It is a must see if you are planning a summer trip to Lismore.

We returned back to Ballymaloe just as dusk was setting in after a long and fun filled day visiting some of Ireland's finest food producers.

Tune in tomorrow for more gossip,

D x