Family Food Blog: Letterfrack, Connemara

Hello everyone,

What can I say....?

It is so good to be back in Letterfrack, Connemara, the very far West of Ireland. Back 'home' in a way. I have lived here twice. Half a year each time. First in 1997, then 2007. A funny 10 year cycle. Both times were pretty much life changing for me. There's something very down to earth yet (or perhaps because of it..?) spiritual about this part of the world. I go here for my sanity. If life has been too demanding and I simply need to find my energy (or myself for that matter!) again - then this is where I go. This is where I become 'me' again.

It's still pretty wild and unspoilt here. Can be desolate too. Great for introverts like me. You could go for days without having to listen or talk to anyone. At times, that can be brilliant. For me anyway. You can be with people if you like. But equally spend days without seeing anyone.

Duncan and I went here together for the first time at Christmas 2009. For two weeks. Very special. Rented Grace's Cottage in Moyard. Lovely house and location.
So this is his second time. We're staying with Jeremy & Nicole who've become very good friends since I first came here. Nicole is also a very good cook and they are both absolutely super hosts. Have had so many hilarious dinner parties here. Loads 'n loads of good memories.

So.....let's talk food....and Guinness of course ;-)! I love Guinness. But really only here. Or no, perhaps I should say preferably here. It just tastes so much better than the imported version. It is in fact different by the way. A slightly different brew to the one made in England.

After our flight into Knock last Saturday we drove straight to Westport and had lunch at McCormacks (upstairs, around the corner from McCormacks butchers). Always heaving. Always sharing a table with others. It has the feel of eating in someone's kitchen really. Uncomplicated. It's about the food. I will attach a picture of the open crab sandwich I had. Man, the amount of fresh crab was not from this world. And the Irish brown bread underneath: deliciously fresh. Such a 'welcome back' lunch. Duncan went for the seafood chowder. A big bowl of it. Absolutely laden with fresh fish.

Because McCormacks is not really a place for beer, we decided to go to Matt Molloy's pub afterwards for our first Guinness this trip. Matt Molloy is a member of the band The Chieftains (see previous post on my blog) and we saw him play two weeks ago in Brussels. His son was behind the bar in Westport on Saturday. Gosh, he's like an exact copy of his dad. Amazing.
Pint of Guinness was delicious and finished pretty soon.. See photos.

On to Letterfrack where we were welcomed by a bouncy Nicole and the (always) very calm and balanced Jeremy (well...nearly always!).
Off to Veldon's (V's to us) a bit later for more Guinness. Outside, blue sky, sunshine.. Unbelievable! Have included a picture to prove it! Good to see John too and catch up with him.

Back home for supper: a wild salmon caught by Jeremy himself. They do a lot of fly fishing around here. We had the fish with new potatoes from the garden (they were yum!) French beans and a salad. Duncan made a video of Nicole making a Hollandaise sauce to go with all the above. We laughed our socks off. She did it in a 'Nigella kind of way'. Sensual, shall we say..
It's a foolproof way of making Hollandaise sauce in the magimix. We know now how to copy this :-)! Thanks to Nixie the Irish pixie!

She had also made fresh strawberry icecream and a beautifully tangy, zingy Tunesian orange cake (from Darina Allen's Ballymaloe Cookery Course book). Definitely going to try that too when I get back home.

Everyone full and tired on sofa but not for long....we all needed a good night sleep!

Big fry up for brekkie with N&J's own bacon. Yum!! Pete and his two little girls Rose & Mary joined us too. Lovely to see them again. Couldn't believe how much the girls had grown.. With the weather being absolutely gorgeous (soooooo lucky!!), the four of us were definitely going for a good walk. Killary Harbour! Bit like a 'fjord'. Path on rocks, sea below you. Will add picture. Glad we went. It was brilliant!
Guinness for us and Irish quantity rosé (......!!!) for Nicole at V's as a reward afterwards. Happy days :-)! Also caught up with others whilst there. For example Stephen Gannon who owns the (busy as ever) hostel in Letterfrack. And of course Squire - glad to see him in hood form. Everyone seems to be in good form actually and things haven't changed a bit.

Back home for supper. Quails on the barbeque. With spicy mini roasties and VERY spicy roast veggies... More Tunesian orange cake for afters. Lots of music. Bed.

Started reading 50 Shades of Grey this morning. Read 80 pages in one go and that's quite an achievement for me. You all know probably that it doesn't get really exciting until page 200 so nothing to report yet...!
As it was raining anyway and Nicole & Jeremy were off to work we didn't get up until 11.30....!! What a luxury!

Quick brekkie - the brown bread Nicole and I made last night - and off to Clifden to see Nicole in her bookshop and have a general mooch around.

Did a little tour by car as fine drizzle on and off. Roundstone: lunch at O'Dowds. It's gotta be done ;-)! Very lucky again as Roundstone heaving but table free in O'Dowds: OUR table too! Oysters to share. Mussels for Duncs and crab claws for me to follow. See piccies. Feeling very lucky generally and thoroughly enjoying this trip. Pinching myself all the time...

Bit more touring after Roundstone and back at da house now. Relaxing. Writing blog post. We have butterflied leg of lamb from the BBQ to look forward to. And crêpes Suzette for afters! Is there a better hotel around here...;-)?

So.........that should give you a bit of a picture of our Connemara time so far! Apératifs now. Nicole in kitchen again. Always love it when I see others who spend so much time with food. Talking about it. Reading about it. Cooking it. Eating it. Brrrrrrrilliant! She won't let me do a thing though...

Have a good food one everyone!

Love,
X Bee