The Best Farmhouse Cooking on the Planet

What’s happening in and around Cork food wise is nothing short of magical. I haven’t seen an artisanal food community with as much diversity and as high a level of quality anywhere in the world. From hyssop and elderberry infused juices to handmade sausages, from smoked fish to baked goods, from cheeses to jams, everything I tried was devoid of the pretension that accompanies so much of this type of fresh local food production, especially in our country. More importantly, while the whole world can sing every U2 song or name their favorite Joyce book, Irish food is a cultural icon that’s harder to define. Ask most folks to name an Irish dish and they will immediately shout out corned beef and cabbage. I spent a week in that country and never saw it, not once. What I did find was the best farmhouse cooking on the planet. One day at Gubbeen Farm in Schull, I had one of the best meals of my life. Gubbeen is a family run farm where the Fergusons have raised dairy cows for five generations. Giana runs the globally famous cheese room, Clovisse runs the gardens and Fingal runs the meat shop. We spent about 18 hours working, cooking and shooting with these amazing folks. Giana and Clovisse cooked all day for us, and the crew lunch they prepared remains one of the most memorable meals of my life…tomatoes from the garden, roasted chickens from the pasture out the window, broiled fish from the brook, their own pickles, cheeses, terrines …and yes they have a cookbook out that has all of their farmhouse recipes and stories set in one place.

For more information visit gubbeen.com.