“We may find in the long run that tinned food is a deadlier weapon than the machine-gun.” (George Orwell)
The ever-prescient George Orwell clearly had his finger firmly on the pulse many moons before the Irish Food Board unmasked the gruesome reality of horsemeat masquerading as beef. The future of food – with its multi-faceted trends, fads and potentially Orwellian possibilities – is an area that continues to fascinate and enthrall, in the process generating vigorous discussion about the kind of food we can expect to be ingesting in twenty years time.
The debate has been heightened in no small part by the multitude of food scandals in recent times. The likes of BSE, Avian flu, foot-and-mouth disease and the aforementioned horsemeat scandal have all taken their toll on international taste and sentiment, so much so that when, at the start of the year, such culinary cognoscenti as Restaurant.org and Kitchen Daily predicted a focus on things ‘local, sustainable and healthy’ it seemed less like crystal ball-gazing and more like a reasoned and logical response to the mistakes of the past. Food provenance is now very much in vogue with diners the world-over increasingly keen to establish the precise origin of the food they put in their mouths.
Such global trends are replicated and reflected in the local food and drink scene here. A recent Grant Thornton Good Food Ireland survey suggested that the horsemeat scandal had simply accelerated ‘changing consumer food expectations domestically and globally towards quality, locally sourced and traceable good food’.
Even the most cursory review of Dublin menus bears this out, with many revealing an increasing emphasis on food provenance, coupled with a well articulated desire to satiate the new-found consumer appetite for meals which are locally supplied and sourced. Examples such as ‘Achill Lamb’, ‘Burren beef’, ‘Clogherhead prawns’ and a wealth of variations on the theme, now form the backbone of the bill of fare in many Dublin eateries.
Next time you’re in a restaurant in Dublin take the time to examine the menu. You’ll find it to be a veritable mine of information, detailing regional origination and aspects such as how the food on offer has been reared, caught and prepared. Many restaurants also itemize the suppliers of the produce they use in a concerted effort to educate and inform dining choice. Traceability has emerged as the byword for rebuilding confidence and trust, and underlying all of this is a clear emphasis on quality.
In keeping with the practice of many of their European and American counterparts, Dublin restaurants often showcase produce emanating from their own farm or kitchen gardens. Ely is a case in point, where the emphasis is on locally sourced, seasonal produce. Their Burren Beef is produced at the family farm in Clare, while the neighboring McCormack’s organic farm, coincidentally the location for the Fr. Ted series, is the source of the organic “Craggy Island’ lamb served in their restaurants.
Many restaurants also highlight the way in which their beef is hung and 28 day dry-aged frequently proves a popular choice. The steakhouses run by FX Buckley occasionally offer Irish Moiled beef – perhaps the oldest breed of cow in Ireland – citing its excellent quality and recognizable flavour. 
The cream of Irish Lamb, with a carefully cultivated and well-established provenance, also features widely on many Dublin menus. Available varieties include such staples as Wicklow lamb (Jaipur and Darwins to name but two), Boyne Valley lamb (Fallon & Byrne) and Lough Erne lamb (Rustic Stone).
More than fifty years since it was first produced in 1962 Achill lamb has now very much come into its own. The website of Keel-based producers Calveys of Achill notes that the name refers to the black-faced mountain lambs born and reared on Achill Island and raised solely on a natural diet of grasses, heathers, mosses and lichens. The Atlantic sea-mist is also credited with playing an important role and the Dax restaurant website reports that the resultant lamb is ‘a great Irish slow food full of flavour’. Their menu features Achill Black Face Loin of Lamb, braised shoulder, onion puree with Sauce Vierge. Chapter One also presents Achill lamb, accompanied by new season leeks gratinated with gremolata, boudin of lamb and oatmeal, fried sweetbread and pickled garlic sauce. It is, by all accounts, mouthwateringly delicious.
Seafood and fish are perennial favourites on Dublin menus and as with Irish beef and lamb there is ever-increasing detail available regarding its origins, the way it is caught and subsequently prepared, smoked or cooked. Examples abound viz., Carlingford oysters (Super Miss Sue), Castletownbere Scallops (Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud), Clare Island organic salmon (Il Primo) and Kilmore Quay black sole (The Trocadero). Artisan smoked fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring, and trout have wide-ranging appeal while Dublin’s seafood menus also demonstrate increasing interest in how fish is landed. Some examples of this approach include ‘crispy line-caught Howth mackerel’ (The Woolen Mills) and ‘rod-caught blue-fin tuna’ (Thorntons).
It is clear that despite recent food scandals, when it comes to the provenance and quality of food available in Dublin restaurants, the real winners these days are Dublin’s diners. We suspect that this particular food trend, with its back to the future and a carefully trained eye on some of the best practices of the past, is more than a mere flash-in-the pan fad. Long may it continue!
Words: Martina Murray
Pictures: Foodpr.ie, Mayo Advertiser, FX Buckley, Carlingford Oyster Company
