LCBO Food and Drink Spring 2016

TAPIOCA RISOTTO WITH MUSHROOMS recipe on page 104

Ale, honey, dairy, fish, seafood and lamb form the backbone of Irish cuisine. The Irish main- tain that their island has the best grass in the world—most if not all animals are grass fed. Taking it a step further, the milk, butter and cheese from Ireland’s grass-fed dairy herds is exceptional. Irish butter is the third-largest- selling butter in the world and Irish farmhouse cheeses such as Cashel Blue are gaining inter- national recognition. Fishing, too, is big busi- ness, with much organic farming, especially in the salmon farming industry. Irish organic salmon is among the best in the world and is exported to Canada. Lobsters, crab and many

varieties of fish thrive in the cold Irish Sea, and fish, even in the pubs, is fresh and tasty.     Both the community and consumers are closely connected to farmers, trading at the farm gate or through farmers’ markets. The Irish are proud of the quality of their prod- ucts and in the past few years their restau- rant food and home cooking have improved enormously. In part the 2008 recession led many chefs to go abroad to seek out jobs. Away, they learned new techniques, which they brought back and used in their restau- rants, changing the face of that old calorie- laden, potato-heavy Irish cooking forever.

Ireland is a country of small farmers. There are over 112,000 small farms producing exemplary, small-scale premium products. N E W I R I S H C U I S I N E

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