Episode 3 Trish Deseine's Doorstep Food

I'm Trish Deseine, international food writer and cook.

I was born and bred in County Antrim, and for the last 20 years

I've been living in France, tasting, cooking and writing about

the great French passion for food.

SHE SPEAKS FRENCH

I'm now one of France's best-known cookbook authors,

and was the first non-French food columnist for Elle magazine.

Now, I'm returning home to a very different Northern Ireland,

a country finally waking up to the fact that it produces some of

the best food in the world.

-There's a food revolution going on and

-I

-want to be part of it.

In this series, I will be showcasing some fabulous local produce.

But just how easy is it to spot local, shop local and eat local?

To find the answer, I'll be dining out in style.

Belfast is a culinary capital.

Just an amazing dish.

And finding farmers and food producers who champion local.

I'm a very pro-Northern Ireland kind of guy.

People in Northern Ireland are still in love with their spuds.

I'll also be challenging a family to live for a week

just using food from their doorstep.

We like to eat a variety of different types of foods.

I think I'm not in touch enough, er, with local food.

Meet the Morris family. Mum Lindsey, Mauritian dad Nick,

and their children Seth and baby Elijah.

Both Lindsey and Nick are keen cooks,

and very interested in where food is sourced.

They also love international cuisine.

Food is such a huge part of our lives, really,

from the planning what we're going to eat during that week.

We cook together quite a lot, which is quite nice.

Our food is quite exotic, and we would cook anything from

French dishes to Middle Eastern or Indian dishes.

The shopping is probably one of the most fun parts of what we do.

You know, we go into local stores - we've become friends, I think,

with the shop owners, and that way you get the best types of food.

The Morrises strike me as a typical modern foodie couple.

They shop locally, but given their interest in international flavours,

I wonder just how much of the produce is local?

Lindsey and Nick, by your own admission,

you are very international cooks,

and you like using a lot of quite exotic ingredients.

So, my challenge for you for the next week, is to use only

Northern Irish produce. And I want you to be really, really strict.

So, if it's not produced here, don't use it.

OK? And here I have a basket of some local produce to get you started.

So, there's some rapeseed oil, some flour, some oats, some honey,

-bits and pieces.

-Mm-hm.

-Are you up for it?

Yeah, we're up for the challenge.

-Are you up for it, Nick?

-Oh, yeah.

I'll be catching up with the Morrises later.

Northern Ireland is back on the UK food map,

with two restaurants recently awarded Michelin stars -

our first for four years.

Joris, as the Belfast Telegraph's restaurant critic,

you have your finger on the pulse of what's happening

in restaurants around Northern Ireland...

For the last seven years, I've been writing about restaurants

in Belfast and Northern Ireland every week.

I haven't missed a week.

And that means that, you know, out of the 400-odd restaurants

that I've seen...there has been a distinct movement,

and a distinct improvement. The portfolio of restaurants

in Belfast, and now beyond Belfast, is much greater,

it's much better.

How easy is it for chefs to put local produce on their menus,

when there is such a demand for international cuisine?

We always suffered, in Northern Ireland, from a sort of

inferiority complex. Anything that came in off the boat

was going to be better, anything imported

was going to be better than what we could make or produce.

That...that has altered very dramatically,

and the truth of it is, it has taken outsiders to tell us that.

It has taken the food critics from England and abroad

to tell us, "My goodness, Paul Rankin was right,

"this local produce is excellent."

And how does Belfast rate restaurant-wise?

Belfast is fantastic - it is a culinary capital.

Northern Ireland's food renaissance is reflected in our restaurants.

We have more choice than ever before.

But are we eating local when we eat out?

One of Belfast's new Michelin-starred restaurants is Ox.

Their ethos is to showcase local produce

and to use their creativity

to bring out the flavours and tastes of our doorstep food.

Stevie, you've literally built Ox restaurant around local produce.

How did you come to do that?

We've got the tag - seasonal creativity.

Basically, when it at its best we try and create dishes with it,

and let the customer experience what's going on -

local, seasonal food. And with a bit of a chef's twist to it.

We just wanted to use what was on our own doorstep.

So this is my dish, Stevie? What's in this?

You've got some purple sprouting broccoli,

Romanesco...leek...

We're going to serve that with some Irish brill

caught from Kilkeel. Comber potatoes and a seaweed butter.

The first thing we get on is the leek. Just wrap it up in tinfoil,

just make a parcel. Just onto the top

and start dry roasting it here. Here we have an onion.

-Just going to, again, bake the onion in its own skin.

-Mm-hm.

Just so it's maximum flavour, there's nothing lost through

cutting it or sauteing it. I've just got tinfoil here,

just keeps it in place, so it's an even cooking.

So, pop it into a hot oven.

That's dry roasting, and the onion is just baking.

Yep. So, here we have some small hand-picked Comber potatoes.

I get Ivan McKee just to pick them personally for me,

just the small ones.

How do you do your sourcing today? Do you go out and find producers?

I've different suppliers. Even some customers grow things for me.

-Oh, right.

-A lot of people have polytunnels

and grow them in their back gardens.

Five or six always bring stuff that they grow for themselves,

and they give us a little bit.

They just come in with a bag of vegetables?

One of our regulars, Mr Henderson - he always brings

nasturtium flowers and wild garlic and, you know...

there's lots going on.

The way I'm cooking this is quite different.

-I'm going to cook it on a bit of paper.

-Uh-huh.

As opposed to in a pan, cos at least this way it's a constant heat

and I know it's a direct heat,

so, at least now I'm in control of the temperature.

And how important is it now for your customers

to find and eat local produce here in Ox?

I think it's very important. Your body almost knows

what's coming up in season. You cry out for tomatoes

when it's becoming tomato season.

You cry out for peas and asparagus when it's close to spring.

So, on with the sauce.

So, here we're just going to add some cream.

Here I have some seaweed butter, I just...

It's blanched to take out any dry bits, saltiness.

We strain it off, chop it and just mix it with some local butter.

So I'm just going to whisk that into the sauce.

-Lovely brill - just set that straight on the sauce.

-Beautiful.

-Check the leeks.

-Wow, amazing. And you're just taking the inside?

-Yeah...

-Not the outside.

-The outside is quite charred,

a little bit too smoky, so we'll just use this...

-Some nice vegetables around.

-Ah, colours are beautiful.

Don't be worrying about them being soft,

at this stage you don't want anything too crunchy or too hard,

it's for a nice delicate piece of brill.

So, here we have it - we have local brill with seasonal vegetables

and a seaweed-butter sauce.

The brill is still really pearly inside.

I'm intrigued - mostly by the leek.

-Mm.

-What do you think?

-Oh, it's lovely. Absolutely delicious.

Usually when you think about a dish that has leeks and onions in it,

you think of something really quite earthy and...

almost a bit harsh, and that is just so smooth.

Just an amazing dish.

We like them steamed, boiled, chipped, roasted

or simply in their jackets.

And now one potato-growing area has received special recognition.

The harvesting of new-season Comber potatoes, or Comber Earlies,

from May to June each year, is an important event in the food calendar.

In 2012, these spuds were granted protected geographical indication,

or PGI status,

putting them in the same league as Champagne or Parma ham.

I'm meeting potato farmer Richard Orr

to unearth the secret to their success.

Richard, we're here in the heart of Comber spud-growing land

on the banks of the Strangford Lough. Could you tell me a little bit

about the Comber potato, and what makes it so special?

Comber are the first-harvested potatoes, locally, every year.

So that makes them special,

they are eagerly anticipated by all the local customers,

who haven't seen them since last year.

-So, could we maybe see some?

-Certainly.

A few years ago, things changed remarkably for the Comber potato.

-You were given PGI status.

-The PGI status applies to the land.

All of the designated land around the lough

is eligible to grow Comber Earlies.

And there are, maybe, three or four different varieties

which are grown and marketed as Comber Earlies.

Comber Earlies are quite fragile, aren't they?

They've hardly any skin. How does that affect how they get to market?

Comber Earlies are growing right up until the point

that they're harvested, green top or still growing.

So their skin's soft and unset, so yes, they do have to be

handled very carefully. Ideally, you would like to be eating

your Comber Earlies the day after harvest.

Or certainly within 36 hours of harvest,

so we aim to get our Comber Earlies harvested just right

before they are taken to the shops, and delivered fresh each day.

Would you say that the people of Northern Ireland

will ever fall out of love with the potatoes?

No, definitely not. Certainly, the sales of the Comber Earlies

this year are proving yet again that people in Northern Ireland

are still in love with their spuds.

Back with the Morrises, and I thought I'd take them

to a great source of local food they hadn't been to before.

This is Ewing's - Shankhill Road, and this is Crawford Ewing.

-Hello, Nick, hello, Lindsey.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Hello!

This is one of Belfast's oldest businesses,

and probably the oldest fishmonger in Belfast.

The fish is looking absolutely gorgeous today.

Could you maybe give us a little bit of...?

Yeah, we've...got a selection there.

We have fresh lemon sole - Kilkeel. Monkfish - Kilkeel.

Mussels - Strangford Lough.

Cod - Portavogie.

I think the brill was Portavogie today.

Fresh cockles. Fresh king scallops, turbot, salmon.

We have Glenarm organic salmon,

we try to have as much local produce as possible.

And what sort of fish do you like? What do you like, Seth?

Um, I like, um...chicken fish.

Chicken fish! Do you have any chicken fish?

-LAUGHTER

-I think I could get something called chicken fish, surely, yes, I could.

-Well...

-We'll do you chicken fish.

-LAUGHTER

Well, as well as the chicken fish, I'm going to actually choose

some fish for you today. It's going to be scallops, so, local scallops...

Good choice. Fresh, local king scallops.

-And some of these lovely oysters.

-Very good choice, yet again.

They are local produce - Strangford Lough.

-And they will go down very well.

-So, we're going to do a dish

based on these two ingredients. And something where

we're going to get back to very clean, pure natural flavours -

hardly cook it at all.

And let the local, pure, wonderful taste shine through.

We'll be making a dish that's practically raw.

It's pan-fried scallops with tomato water and raw oysters,

and garnished with a little bit of foraged sea herbs.

First things, could you chop tomatoes?

Could you do me about four or five of them?

Quite finely. And then put them in the sieve, a little bit

of salt on top. Nick, I'm going to put you to work

on the scallops. Could you take the corals off

and then any of the brown bits round the outside?

Lindsey, is it rare that you and Nick will cook together?

-Like this, side by side?

-No, it's very common, actually.

-We enjoy cooking together, but he's the boss.

-Oh, really?!

-LAUGHTER

-Yeah.

-There's only one chef in the kitchen.

-LAUGHTER

-Past the island here, I'm a puppy dog, you know.

And I do what I'm told.

LAUGHTER

-Lindsey, how are you doing?

-Yes, I'm almost done.

To make the tomato water, all you have to do is just let it sieve,

so you are using the weight of the tomatoes

just to press down on themselves. And we'll just pop that in the fridge,

just to let the tomato water drain out.

Now, I hate throwing anything away,

and especially this part of the scallop.

So, we're going to make scallop coral on toast with these.

And a lot of chefs don't use this -

I think it's a bit of a shame, cos it's got a great taste to it.

So, a really simple way of cooking it is just frying it in butter.

And then as a garnish - just to add an extra little bit of taste,

we're going to use some sea lettuce, which is a local seaweed.

-Do you cook with seaweed?

-Never.

-Never?

-But it looks fantastic.

And a little stir and then there you go, you've got a nice little starter,

appetiser, before you hit the main dish.

So, we've waited about 30, 40 minutes for the tomato juice to collect.

We're going to take the oysters out of the shells,

and we're going to use the oysters to salt the dish.

So, now we're going to sear the scallops.

We're going to fry them in this rapeseed oil.

That's great.

Right, so it's ready. Now we're going to plate up.

First of all, we're going to put the oysters into the tomato water.

And that is going to give it a little bit of salt

and lots of taste. So, raw oysters, there we are.

Just give that a little stir round.

And then we're just going to set this into the bottom of the dish.

And the scallops can go in.

And just garnish it with some sea aster.

And then finally, some golden rapeseed oil.

Just to add a little bit of sunshine. Makes it look very pretty.

And there you have it - pan-fried scallop with tomato water,

tomatoes, raw oyster, sea aster,

and rapeseed oil. Purely local.

There's a new generation of food producers

emerging in Northern Ireland.

And one young man who's taken the local food world by storm

has aptly named his product Young Buck.

Michael Thomson is producing Northern Ireland's first raw-milk blue cheese.

And his pioneering product has found its way

onto many of our restaurants' menus.

Michael, how did you get into cheese making in the first place?

I was working in a wee family deli down in Belfast,

and I'd been there for about four or five years.

We were starting to put a bit of focus towards local produce.

And it just seemed to be the one thing,

whenever you were sourcing all the local produce -

there just didn't seem to be a local, small-scale artisan cheese.

-And I just decided to give it a go.

-Young Buck is made with raw milk.

-Why's it so important to you?

-People who are making raw-milk cheeses

just seemed to be connecting the raw product with the end consumer,

and I just thought there was a real demand for that.

Also, being a very small start-up,

using a thing like a pasteuriser is a big expense. And there's no need,

you've got all the goodness in the milk and the raw product there,

and it's just handling it in the right way to make it into

a really good cheese. The cheese itself is really creamy.

A lot of people say, "I don't like blue cheese."

And that's probably cos they've had a rubbish blue cheese

that just tastes of that sort of really blue picquanced spiciness.

What we wanted to do was create something really creamy.

Whenever you make a raw-milk cheese,

you're trying to bring through the terroir,

you want to be tasting the land,

like they do with wine producers and stuff like that.

So we're trying to have a milkiness and a real sort of creaminess,

-and just lovely floral notes.

-The way you started the business

was different, quite modern and unique.

It's an equity crowdfunding platform,

like an online Dragons' Den, where I went and got investment

from £10 all the way up to £15,000...

..to get our start-up that we needed.

I went to the banks and all the traditional routes,

and being a 27-year-old with no house and savings -

if you're trying to raise £80,000, not a lot of people

will give you that, which is a good thing.

It was an alternative way of doing it,

and it's a sophisticated way that you can have friends and family

be a part of something you're doing.

You learned about cheese making in England,

but you decided to come back to Northern Ireland.

I was offered the chance to do what I'm doing now in England.

But I turned it down, because the plan was always

to come back and make cheese in Northern Ireland.

At the time it was a great thing to be the first person doing it.

Starting a new tradition was really important to us.

I'm a very pro-Northern Ireland kind of guy.

So, yeah, it was really important to do it back here

and not in England. It's been a great year, a real whirlwind,

and the fact that we're stocked in places like Neal's Yard in London,

it's a real endorsement for our cheese

and for Northern Ireland produce in general.

Today, a Northern Irish classic meets a bit of a young buck.

I'm making a Veda and blue cheese terrine

with local pears and hazelnuts.

I've been making terrines like this one for years in France.

But of course, they don't have Veda there.

So this is a bit of a departure from the usual.

And all it is really - it's not really a recipe,

it's really just a construction game.

I put some clingfilm into the bottom of the terrine,

cos it makes it so much easier to take the terrine out afterwards.

And this is just Young Buck cheese which has been mixed with

quite soft butter. And I've got about half-and-half portions of

Young Buck to unsalted butter, but you can go stronger

or less strong, according to what you like.

Now, I'm going to put on some very thinly sliced local pears,

for a bit of crunch, a bit of freshness.

And of course, pear goes beautifully with blue cheese.

Just press that down, right into the corner.

And then for the next layer - Veda. So I've cut the Veda,

just taken off the tip her,

and I've cut one of the sides, so you've got have two sides

with crusts and the other two are bare.

And that's going in on top. And just give it a good press down.

Again...

So, just press that down with your hands.

Next layer, some hazelnuts. These grow wild, locally.

And you can crush them if you like, but it's quite nice

to have a whole hazelnut in here, for the bite.

Just spread them over the top.

And then the next layer of cheese.

It's going to get a bit messy.

Just spread that on.

And you know, once you've cut up pieces of Veda,

it's really something you could do with the kids.

So, that's the last layer of cheese and butter.

Next, we're going to slice a little bit more.

Final three slices.

And don't waste these - you can make breadcrumbs out of them,

and use them for stuffing things or putting on gratin.

Or even make Veda ice cream.

Press it down properly, so all the layers meld together.

Then wrap it up. And it goes in the fridge for about two or three hours

until it's nice and hard. And then you just take it out

and slice it up like a Veda.

A Veda and Young Buck blue cheese terrine

with hazelnuts and fresh pears,

served with a salad studded with blackberries.

The Morrises are halfway through their living-local challenge,

and at the end of the week they'll be cooking me a 100% local meal.

But, for now, how are they getting on?

We feel that the protein is easy to obtain,

so lots of lovely fish...

..and beautiful meats and poultry.

No problem with that.

With vegetables, we've found that there's only a limited amount

of root vegetables readily available. Some broccoli.

Certain things are slowly coming into season.

There's just no food available - just from talking to some

of the local sellers - this is a transitional period

in growing local produce, so we're not getting apples, plums, pears,

the things that we would... Could normally see.

There really is no fruit at the moment,

so that's been a huge challenge.

For me, the lack of spices -

we use lots of different spices in our food.

And we also eat rice quite a bit, so...

Rice to a Mauritian person is like pasta to an Italian.

You take that away from me, I go nuts!

We've been a little bit more creative

and Lindsey has done some fantastic salads.

And it's opened my eyes a wee bit to how...

..lovely local ingredients can taste,

and how much they change the flavour of our food.

BABY LAUGHS

Some of Northern Ireland's finest restaurants

can be found off the beaten track.

Local produce and a beautiful setting can be more than enough

to attract diners in their droves.

Situated right at the edge of Portstewart Strand,

Harry's Shack has been making big waves on the foodie scene.

I'm meeting manager Donal Doherty.

Donal, this is a dream location for a restaurant.

How did you end up here?

We were show this location by the National Trust.

It was a winter's day, the rain was coming sideways at us,

and I stood here thinking, "Wow! Imagine if this could work."

That was the big question - could it work?

We always knew this was going to be beautiful in the summer,

and busy in the summer. But no, night-time in the winter,

they're walking down here with the bring your own wines

and the locals are loving it.

Can you tell me a little about Harry's Shack's philosophy?

Food should be very well sourced, very fresh, and relatively simple.

And then present it in this environment.

For some reason, it puts people in really good form.

How easy was it for you to source local produce for the menu?

It takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of time going to meet boats,

takes a lot of time filleting all the fish,

investing in our two acres of walled garden,

and all the gardeners year-round, you know, in our production zone.

So we're a bit unusual in our approach,

and we've put huge investments and many years into it.

Could you describe some of the more popular dishes to me?

Fish here has become nearly 85% of the menu.

And then, of course, it's summertime

and the demand there... And what we can grow in the summer...

I would say vegetables and salads would be the next things

with the biggest impact here in what people are enjoying.

And then, meats have a lesser importance here,

although because we're on a beach, something like a very good burger

and a local baker makes a nice brioche bap for it.

Simple things like that, that's what people want when they're down here.

Do you think you've become an inspiration for other chefs

and restaurants across Northern Ireland?

I think we're on a crest of a wave, to be honest with you,

and I'd like to think we're part of it, definitely.

There's people looking at what we're doing here, and thinking,

"My God, that's a little bit unusual what they're trying to do here."

And the risk that we did take. And I think there's definitely

other people taking risks before us and since us.

But I think that wave thing happening through Northern Ireland,

you're feeling that, where people are more confident

on things on the menu they may not have ordered a year ago

or two years ago and now they're more confident in ordering.

So, I think it's not just the chefs or producers,

but the consumer, as well, is coming with us on this journey.

It's been a week since I set the Morrises their challenge.

Now I'm back in Belfast to see

how they got on with eating and sourcing local.

-This looks amazing, Nick.

-Thank you.

-I'm talking to you

cos I know you've done most of the cooking.

So fresh and colourful and delicious.

Can you tell me what you've made here?

It's my take on an open steak sandwich.

We've got some lovely beef from our local butcher.

Also, some caramelised onion which I did this morning.

I extracted some of the jus and some of the beef jus,

and mixed it up together for a lovely, wee sauce.

And we have some fantastic sourdough bread.

Then we have a lovely salad that Lindsey made.

-This looks incredible.

-Thank you.

-This is yours, Lindsey?

-Oh, yes...

-LAUGHTER

-He let you in the kitchen!

-The salad is all locally grown products.

We've got some lovely spinach from Comber.

We've got some lovely rocket, locally grown.

There's some wild garlic leaves that we foraged ourselves

just in a little field across the way there.

There's some purple sprouting broccolini.

We've got lovely locally grown radishes, different coloured.

There's purple, white, red. And then some lovely goat's cheese.

Just topped off with some local bacon.

-Some coleslaw. Is this grocery or market?

-This is home-made as well.

And we do have some token potatoes.

-LAUGHTER

-Yes! You have to draw the potatoes in!

-What have you done with these?

-We've triple cooked them,

so parboiled them for a few minutes and then shallow cooked them

and then cooked them again.

It just gives them that extra crisp and beautiful golden colour.

The oil that we used was the rapeseed oil

that you guys kindly gave to us.

Mm-hm. I'll try a little bit of the meat.

-And don't forget the lovely sauce too.

-Oh, yes!

Oh, this all looks so good. Beautiful.

Seems nice and tender.

-Oh, that is fabulous!

-Thank you.

-That tastes so good.

So, Nick, what do you reckon you've changed most

about your eating and shopping habits this week?

-Well, I've had to give up quite a few things.

-Mm-hm.

So I guess I had to substitute it.

I've given up lots of the spices that I used.

And you know... And rice.

So we had to become a little bit more creative with our carbs.

Lindsey, what did you find difficult about this week's experiment?

We've missed fruit. We eat a lot of fruit in our family,

but haven't been able to source any.

Nick, you pride yourself with shopping local. Do you think

this week's experiment has increased the amount of

-local producers you shop with?

-Absolutely. The lovely food

you have in front of you speaks for itself. You know,

-it's colourful, it's tasty.

-I think there's something lovely

about chatting to people. When we went to the market

on Saturday, we chatted to all sorts of people,

and we bought things like lovely, local spring onions,

which we were really surprised how flavourful they were.

They were really delicious I wouldn't have thought,

"Where do my spring onions come from?" As long as I was buying them

from my local shop. Now I think I would deliberately source local.

So, local also means taste?

-Oh, certainly, yeah.

-Without a shadow of doubt.

That was the most delicious meal. It was fresh, varied, colourful,

absolutely wonderful.

I think the Morrises have done really well.

And apart from discovering a few new local producers,

where they can shop, I think what they've discovered mostly is

just how good Northern Ireland's food really tastes.

Together, in this series, we've explored and celebrated

Northern Ireland's food revolution.

There's so much fantastic food on our doorsteps.

But without our chefs, artisans, farmers,

and you, the consumer, there can be no revolution.

So, get out there! Shop local, cook local, eat local.