Earlier in the month I was lucky enough to attend the re-launch party at Hilden Brewing Company for their restaurant The Tap Room. I got to rub shoulders with the great and the good of Northern Ireland’s fledgling foodie scene.
Philip Clasper Head Chef at The Tap Room really nailed it on the night with his delicious menu of canapes to much applause from all the guests. Continue reading
This one is a definite crowd pleaser. This recipe will take even the most hard-hearted, cynical non-foodie back to their childhood, standing in Granny’s house with the smell of fresh baking wafting out of a homely kitchen. Continue reading
Lunch
I can’t think of another two ingredients that divide opinion in such stark militant fashion than the humble anchovy and olive. Continue reading
Independent retail week has been and gone and it definitely got me thinking about how hard things must be for independent businesses of any kind these days. That’s why it’s so encouraging to see independent shops doing well. One shop in particular which has become a bit of a Belfast institution for all things desirable when it comes to home and kitchen ware is Equinox Shop and Cafe. Continue reading
Irish Moiled Sirloin steaks
What does it mean to be passionate? These days I think the word ‘passion’ is thrown about too easily, people claim to be passionate about so many things, but it seems we’ve forgotten the meaning of the word. The dictionary tells us passion is ‘a powerful or compelling emotion, like love or hate.’ For me the key word in that definition is ‘powerful.’ Passion is something inside us, something deep down that stirs emotion. When I see true passion it inspires me and reminds me why I get out of bed in the morning. Without passion we are nothing, we’re just existing. Continue reading
There’s nothing quite like making a discovery in your own hometown, something completely unexpected and hidden. A place that feels like you need a secret knock to get in. Continue reading
I definitely seem to be going through an Italian phase at the moment, maybe it was my luncthime meal at Il Pirata, which certainly had notes of flavour that brought memories of my honeymoon in Tuscany flooding back.
I’ve grown into my love of Italian food. I feel I understand it on a much deeper level than before. At first as a cuisine, it can seem almost too simple, and a little bit underwhelming, but when you eat authentic Italian food in the right surroundings, a foodie epiphany can be on the cards. Italian food really is about simple ingredients, cooked with a lot of love.
I caught the One Show the other night, with Jay Rayner doing a slot on finding the best Spaghetti Bolognese in the UK. Of course ‘Spag bol’ is a British invention and the Italian dish from which it comes is a slow cooked meat sauce called Ragu. I’m sure if any Italians had seen this programme they would have been in uproar.
Growing up, there was the odd dinner at friends houses of ‘Spag bol.’ I hated it, dry stodgy spaghetti served with a spoonful of tomato flavoured under seasoned mince on top. There is nothing worse than being presented with a mountainous plate of steaming overcooked pasta with a heap of grey mince on top. My heart breaks a little when I see pasta served this way.
And don’t even get me started on that saw dust in a plastic tub that smells of sick, a very poor excuse for ‘freshly’ grated parmesan. Even at a young age I knew this stuff was the work of the devil. I would watch in amazement as those poor bastards sitting round the table lashed the stuff over their ‘Spag bol’ like ravenous honey badgers on heat, wallowing in their own delusion! God awful jackasses must have enjoyed eating dust that smelt of puke!
The One Show ‘Spag bol’ slot made me think about what it means for a cook to create traditional dishes from other countries, in their own kitchens. I am of the opinion that as a cook and food lover, I shouldn’t mess about with the cuisine of a country too much and should try to create a traditional dish as close to authentic as possible. That way I feel like I’m showing my respect for that country’s cuisine, but I still pour my heart and soul into the dish. OK, so I’m never going to cook a 100% authentic Ragu as I’m not Italian and I don’t have a recipe handed down through the generations from an Italian Mama, but I’ve got my cooking instinct and passion so God dam I’ll try!
For me the real pleasure of producing a plate of food as close to authentic as possible, means I can be transported back to a place, whilst I’m sitting at my own dinner table. Food has that power, as I’ve said before, smells and tastes are so evocative and are hard wired into our memories. They lie dormant and still, but once in a while they will be ignited and burn fiercely and quickly, lingering briefly, only to retreat until the next time you give them that familiar taste. It happens when I make Pad Thai, all those flavours come together and I could be sitting at the counter of a street side restaurant in Bangkok. It also happens when I smell garlic frying in olive oil. When I smell that, I can close my eyes and be in Tuscany.
What I’m trying to say is that for me food is the most inspiring medium from which humans can gain great pleasure, treat it with respect and put your heart and soul into a dish and you will eat very well indeed.
My quest for authenticity has lead me to the ultimate in Italian comfort food, Ragu. This dish is all about the slow cooking of the sauce, for several hours, and a few key ingredients that really ramp up the flavour. Chicken livers give the sauce a richness that you won’t get without them. They will melt into the liquid, providing an incredible depth of flavour. I also like to add a Parmesan rind into the sauce, which adds a layer of subtle seasoning as the sauce cooks.
I like to serve this Ragu sauce with either Penne or Rigatoni, which I think is another nod to the authenticity of the dish as the sauce clings to the ridged tubes of pasta and also gets trapped inside.
Ingredients
Serves 6
Olive oil
2 Large sticks of celery finely diced
2 Large carrots finely diced
2 Cloves of garlic finely chopped
2 Onions finely diced
2 Sprigs of thyme leaves picked
2 Sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped
1 Bay leaf
450g Beef mince
450g Pork mince
225g Chicken livers finely chopped
1 tbsp Tomato puree
2 x 400g Tins of chopped tomatoes
Half a bottle of red wine
1 Pint of chicken stock
1 Parmesan rind
700g Rigatoni or Penne
Method
In a heavy based casserole pot heat some olive oil over a medium heat and gently fry the celery, carrot, garlic and onion, for about eight to 10 minutes until softened, without any colour. Remove the vegetables to a side plate, now add the mince beef and brown well. Remove the beef mince and do the same with the pork. When the pork mince is well browned, transfer to a side plate and fry off the chicken livers for a few minutes. Season each batch of meat well with salt and black pepper as you go.
Once all the meat has been browned, add the meat and vegetables back into the pot. Add the herbs and the tomato puree and allow the tomato puree to cook out for five minutes. Now add the tinned tomatoes, the red wine, the chicken stock and the Parmesan rind.
Put the lid on the casserole and into a low oven, about 150 degree C for four hours. It is this slow cooking that will yield a rich comforting sauce.
Cook the Rigatoni in plenty of salted boiling water. When the pasta is al dente, drain and reserve some of the pasta water. Quickly add the hot pasta to the Ragu and toss well to make sure the pasta tubes are well coated in the rich sauce. Add a ladle full of the pasta water, just to loosen the sauce slightly.
Serve with a large wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano for grating at the table.
Pizza is one of those simple foods I get a lot of pleasure from making. There’s something very satisfying about baking your own bread from scratch. I’ll tentatively bring the ingredients together, looking like a big doughy mess, but then all fears subside after some kneading, when I produce a lovely ball of springy dough from nothing other than flour, yeast and honey. It’s something that never fails to excite me every time I do it.
Baking bread is a source. When you want to slow things down, go bake some bread. You might be covered head to toe in flour and your kitchen might look like a bomb site (or maybe that’s just me?), but it’s worth it.
The first time I made my own bread I tried mixing the flour and water directly on the work surface by making a well in the middle of the flour, just like the pros, but of course the water broke through the flour and it went everywhere. I learnt very quickly to mix the ingredients in a bowl first, then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and then you can knead.
Once you learn how to make your own pizza you’ll never go back. I love it on a Saturday evening for dinner with a green salad on the side and a bottle of red wine.
You might not have your own stone baking oven, but if you make your own dough and crank the oven up as hot as it will go, you’ll produce a very good pizza. I use a metal pizza tray with holes in the bottom which I find really handy.
Some basic bread recipes use sugar but I like to use clear honey, it seems to give a better result compared to refined white sugar.
Where you go with toppings is entirely up to you, there are no limitations. For me personally I think the less ingredients you have on a pizza the better. There’s nothing worse than a pizza with too many toppings. One of my all time favourite pizza toppings has to be one of the simplest – homemade tomato sauce, topped with parmesan, lots of finely chopped garlic, wilted spinach and finished off with a sprinkling of dried chilli flakes.
Ingredients
Tomato sauce
Olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
1tbsp of tomato puree
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1tsp of sugar
A glass of water
Salt and pepper
Pizza dough
3 x 7g packets of dried yeast
30g honey
625ml / 1 pint of tepid water
500g strong bread flour
500g plain flour
30g salt
Extra flour for dusting
Method
For the tomato sauce heat some olive oil in a pan over a medium heat and sweat down the onion and garlic for about five minutes. Then add the tomato puree and cook this out for a couple of minutes. Now add the tins of chopped tomatoes and the sugar. Allow the tomatoes to cook down over a low heat for about 15 minutes and add some water as needed to make sure the sauce isn’t too thick. Season to taste.
To make the pizza dough, first of all dissolve the yeast and honey in half the tepid water.
In a large bowl, mix the two flours together with the salt and make a well in the centre. Pour in the dissolved yeast mixture. With four fingers of one hand, make circular movements from the centre, moving outwards and slowly bring together the flour and yeast mixture, until all the yeast mix is soaked up. Then pour in the rest of the tepid water and incorporate all the flour to make a moist dough. Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface.
Now you get to knead. Just roll, push and fold the dough over for about five minutes.
Flour both your hands well, and lightly flour the top of dough. Make it into a round, and place back into the mixing bowl. Score the dough deeply with a sharp knife, which will allow the dough to relax as it proves. Cover the dough with cling film and leave beside a warm oven to prove until the dough has doubled in size. This should take about an hour.
When the dough has doubled in size, give it another knead for a couple of minutes. Make into a round and divide into four small rounds of dough. This recipe will give you four pizza bases.
Take one portion of the dough and roll out into a rough circle. I use a metal pizza tray. Lay the pizza base onto the pizza tray and you’re ready to build your pizza.
The pizza should be ready in about 10 to 12 minutes as long as your oven is preheated to its maximum temperature.
Fresh pizza dough
Spinach, garlic and chilli pizza
Bacon and salami pizza
It’s always a topic of conversation amongst foodies, that death row meal. What would you choose to eat as your last meal on earth before going to see old sparky? Well I don’t know about the whole meal, I haven’t quite decided, but I’m quite sure my death row dessert would be Sticky Toffee Pudding.
It’s the one dessert, if I see it on a menu, I just can’t say no. It does everything a good dessert should do, it’s rich, sweet, takes you back to your childhood and envelopes you in a comforting duvet of sugar laden warm soft sponge, toffee sauce and of course cream. This dessert has the power to turn grown adults into giggling children.
Sticky Toffee Pudding is a true classic and is pure, unbridled indulgence. It might not be the healthiest item of food you could eat as there is an obscene amount of sugar, butter, eggs and cream in the pudding when you combine the sponge with the toffee sauce, but it’s definitely one hell of a treat.
Some people may be surprised to hear that the sponge mixture includes dates, but this makes sense when you think about the texture of dates, which are almost toffee like in their consistency and flavour. I was surprised that the dates are soaked in hot tea before adding the softened dates and tea to the sponge mixture, but the tea actually adds a nice background aroma to the sponge, which for me really lifts the whole mix.
Trust me, if you master this recipe and produce this dessert for a dinner party or after the Sunday roast, people will love it and will talk about the pudding for a very long time afterwards. Get this in your repertoire and it will become a firm favourite. This recipe if from Darina Allen, the Godmother of Irish cooking, and is one of the easiest I’ve tried, which produces a light rich sponge and a delicious toffee sauce.
For me this dessert has to be served warm to get the maximum comfort factor. Both the sponge and the toffee sauce should be warm and the cream should be cold from the fridge. There’s no better sight than a wedge of soft light sponge, flecked with dates, with buttery toffee sauce dribbling down the side, and a big dollop of freshly whipped cream on top, just beginning to melt.
Sticky Toffee Pudding, I salute you!
Ingredients
225g chopped dates
300ml hot black tea
110g unsalted butter
170g caster sugar
3 organic eggs
225g self raising flour
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp ground espresso coffee
Toffee sauce
110g butter
175g dark soft brown sugar
110g granulated sugar
275g golden syrup
225ml double cream
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Method
You need a spring form cake tin 8ins in diameter.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Soak the dates in the hot tea for 15 minutes. Brush the cake tin with oil and line the base with oiled greaseproof paper.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then fold in the flour. Add the sifted bicarb of soda, vanilla extract and coffee to the date and tea mixture and stir this into the other mixture. Turn into the prepared tin and cook in the oven for about 1 hour, or until a skewer comes out clean. I check mine at about 45 minutes.
About 10 minutes before the end of cooking time, make the toffee sauce.
To make the toffee sauce, put the butter, sugars and golden syrup into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and melt gently on a low heat. Simmer for about 5 minutes, remove from the heat and gradually stir in the cream and the vanilla essence. Put back on the heat and stir for 2-3 minutes until the sauce is absolutely smooth.
To serve pour some hot sauce onto a serving plate. Put the sticky toffee pudding on top, and pour more sauce over. Place a dollop of whipped cream on top.
When pirates hoisted the Jolly Roger colours it was meant to frighten their victims into surrendering without a fight, since it conveyed the message that the attackers were outlaws who would not consider themselves bound by the usual rules of engagement! Well the Jolly Roger has been brazenly hoisted in East Belfast, by a new restaurant which has broken the mould of the usual Italian offering and is flying the flag for quality rustic Italian food served up with a splash of style and a twist of tapas!
All the talk of Tony O’Neil’s (Merchant Hotel + Littlewing) latest venture Il Pirata in Ballyhackamore has been lighting up Belfast’s foodie blogosphere like a pinball machine, so we finally paid a visit during a Saturday lunchtime. It was somewhat of a homecoming for me, as I grew up in this part of Belfast, but back then the food offering was a little less cosmopolitan. I remember Nibblers Burgers, which was the precursor to Arnolds and there was the obligatory handful of anglicised Chinese restaurants, serving up chicken balls and fried rice, and Capers pizza was the zenith of food offerings at the time. A Hawaiian pizza seemed so foreign and exotic back then! I was extremely excited to head back to my old stomping grounds, to the new ‘talk of the town’ restaurant which used to be a KFC!
Of late, Colonel Sanders has been causing quite a stir in the Ballyhackamore community, due to the monstrosity of a new KFC drive-through that has opened just down the road. So it seems fitting that Il Pirata, the antithesis of said fast food chain, has taken up residence in the shell of the old KFC premises, but you wouldn’t have a clue, as the interior is like something that would seem more at home in Sydney or Lower East Side Manhattan!
The outside of Il Pirata is modest and other than the small wooden sign hanging beside the door, you could quite easily miss it, but that is the charm, as there is the feel of Doctor Who’s tardis to Il Pirata. You step off the grey pavement, in through the ramshackle wooden stained glass front door and once inside, you are magically transported to somewhere unexpected. It’s hard not to enter Il Pirata without a big smile on your face and we watched a few customers do the same thing as they entered, a kind of wow effect takes hold, as the exterior of Il Pirata could in no way prepare you for how the inside looks.
Il Pirata exudes cool in an area of Belfast that possibly is quite starved of coolness, no offence to Ballyhackamore, but Il Pirata definitely brings some much-needed über trend to East Belfast. The interior has that unfinished feel to it, with exposed ceilings, reams of light bulbs hanging down from long cables, some of the concrete and brick have missed a few licks of paint and the floor is made from beautiful old stained wood. That stylish distressed look is everywhere and the furniture is a mismatch of old chairs and tables, of which I’m sure I spotted my old P3 chair from Gilnahirk Primary! The space is light and airy, with sharp white tiled walls, a long wooden bar in the middle of the room for easy propping and pints, and a shiny drinks bar with beer taps, providing a glimpse into the busy kitchen.
It really is like something out of the meat-packing district in New York, I was half expecting to see outlaw TV Chef, Tony Bourdain walk through the door at any minute, sucking on a cigarette, whilst ordering a cold pint of Coppperhead from the barman with his camera crew in tow! But as I sat looking out of the window, I couldn’t quite believe we were down the ‘Hack! Il Pirata is like a breath of fresh air. I did feel like I had been spirited away on holiday for my lunch!
Very friendly staff were quick to enquire if we were Il Pirata virgins, after which they duly explained the menu, which takes it’s lead from simple Italian fare, mixing small tapas style plates to share with bruschetta, salads, pasta, risotto and a selection of larger dishes. Now some Philistines out there might be confused as to the menu, and they might whine ‘you can’t have Italian tapas!’ Balls, why should you try to put everything into a neat little box with a neat little label on it? Hats off to Il Pirata for not following the usual rules of engagement to bring something new and fresh to Belfast.
For too long Belfast has been crying out for a good Italian restaurant that does something other than pizza, there are too many faux Italian restaurants in Belfast, Villa this or Villa that, with fake plastic vines creeping up the walls and shiny pvc gingham table cloths, claiming to serve up real Italian food, which is about as close to authentic Italian food as a tin of ready spaghetti! Thank the Restaurant Gods for Il Pirata, serving up authentic Italian grub in surroundings that don’t make me want to vomit!
As I was the designated driver I opted for some Pellegrino sparkling water but my dining companion fancied a lunchtime pint of Copperhead, a local pale ale nonetheless, brewed by Whitewater Brewery! Great to see local Northern Irish beers being championed by local chefs, the craft beer revolution is alive and well in Northern Ireland! Forget about generic tasteless fizz like Carlsberg or Heineken, this is the beer you want to drink!
We ordered two small plates of deep-fried Whitebait and Cazilli Croquettes, which came with roasted red pepper mayo for dipping. We also went for two large plates of Italian spiced sausage in a red wine and tomato ragu, with some gnocchi on the side and a plate of the slow braised beef brisket with Pappardelle. We just asked for everything to come out when it was ready.
Copperhead Pale Ale
The Whitebait were crisp and fresh, I could have eaten a whole plate of these, whole little fish with the lightest, crispiest batter, dunked into the red pepper mayo was a winning combination. The croquettes were also delicious, soft fluffy creamy potato, flecked with scallions and ham, perfectly seasoned, covered in a crispy golden exterior dusted with what must have been Panko bread crumbs to give the croquettes that extra crunch.
Deep fried whitebait, Cazzilli Croquettes and red pepper mayo
Next up were the larger plates. The slowy braised beef brisket was falling apart, beautifully tender and the plate was dusted with some flat leaf parsley and orange zest which really lifted the flavour of the beef and tomato sauce. The thick ribbons of fresh egg pappardelle added just the right amount of carbs to mop up the sauce. My only criticism on this dish was that there wasn’t enough of the sauce to go with the meat, which meant the dish was a bit dry and I could also have done with a generous portion of freshly grated Parmigianno over the top just to lift the seasoning.
My dining companion had the spiced Italian sausage in a red wine and tomato ragu, with a side of gnocchi. This dish smelt and tasted like Tuscany! The sausages were some of the best I’ve ever eaten, the pork meat had been coarsely minced and was packed full of garlic and fennel seeds giving the sausage that beautiful hit of aniseed that goes so well with pork. The ragu sauce was rich, deep red, full of flavour with a good pinch of chilli, and there was plenty of it, I think I even used my finger to dab up the rest of the sauce when all the sausage had been devoured!
The waiter had recommended the side of gnocchi to go with the sausage and indeed the man knew what he was talking about, as the combination of juicy pork sausage, dripping in rich tomato ragu, with a chunk of pillowy gnocchi, all in one mouthful was heaven on the end of a fork – I will return for this dish alone!
And even the gnocchi are worth a mention all of their own. Usually you get gnocchi and they are small little bland balls of what taste like ‘Smash’, but Il Pirata’s gnocchi were are at once light, but doughy and springy in the mouth, and there is added texture as they are lightly fried just before serving which gives the exterior a light golden crunch. These dumplings of goodness were a good size, perfectly seasoned and a pleasure to eat.
Italian spiced sausage, red wine and tomato ragu
Beautiful potato gnocchi
Slow braised beef brisket ragu with Pappardelle
Our plates were clean, but there was still room for dessert and coffee. I had heard rave reports of the Il Pirata Tiramisu so that’s what I went for and my dining companion couldn’t say no to the warm chocolate and hazelnut cake served with vanilla ice cream. Served in a little ceramic dish, the Tiramisu was creamy, sweet, chocolatey, and right at the bottom held a prize of alcohol soaked spongey soft chocolatey goodness. At one point I was inhaling a spoonful of this Tiramisu with such vigour that I took a big deep breath in and a cloud of the cocoa powder was sucked right into my lungs, nearly coughed up a lung, but my coughs had a nice ‘chocolatey’ note to them – try not to eat the Tiramisu with too much enthusiasm, but it’s so hard not to!
The chocolate hazelnut cake was warm, moist, deep and rich, with a good balance of sugar without being too sweet, with lots of bitter tones of good quality dark chocolate coming through with a nice nutty texture added from the hazelnuts. Two delicious coffees to finish a lunch that has set a very high bar for the rest of the year.
Tiramisu
Chocolate and hazelnut cake
Our bill came to £48, which is excellent value, considering we had two small plates, two large plates, one side, two desserts, our drinks and coffee.
This is relaxed casual dining as it should be – fun, down to earth with no formalities. I think Il Pirata have really nailed the current mood for dining out and I can see them gaining a loyal following very quickly. It’s an extremely good indicator of the blossoming condition of Belfast’s dining scene when a restaurant of Il Pirata’s pedigree opens up in the burbs. Belfast has never had it so good!
Man the rigs, hoist the main sail! Move you lubbers and get down to Il Pirata! Yo ho mee heartys! Yo ho!
Il Pirata
279-281 Upper Newtownards Road – no reservations
Follow on twitter @ilpirata
