Of Ireland’s finer pleasures

I hail from a village called Breaffy in the county of Mayo. Mayo is pronounced as Mhaigh Eo in our native Gaelic tongue, which means ‘plain of the yew trees’. The county is located on Ireland’s west coast and looks out to the North Atlantic Ocean. The food back home is simple yet incredible, all due to the pure, clean flavours of our ingredients. I really miss delicacies such as black pudding, which I usually get from Kelly’s Butchers. For cheeses, I love Carrowholly, an award-winning Gouda-style variety made on the shores of Clew Bay in the Westport district. It’s produced from raw cow’s milk sourced from local farmers, and is sometimes flavoured with cumin, pepper, and even nettle.

Excerpt from the December 2016 issue of epicure.