As the prolific growing season has begun, we look at ways of putting all the gorgeous tastes of the season into a jar! The Doyenne of Preserving, Darina Allen of Ballymaloe Cookery School, made time in her busy schedule at the cookery school for a quick chat about all the basics you need to make your own delicious jams and preserves at home. Here she gives us an insight into why she is a big preserving fan.   Preserving Was Part Of Daily Life When There Was Produce Available. It Was No Big Deal.   Preserving was always going on at home when we were children. Mummy always made jams and chutneys. We had lots of fresh produce in the garden, including a good selection of soft fruit. Plenty of blackcurrants, gooseberries, and damsons, and all these were made into a jam in big batches. Preserving was part of daily life when there was produce available. It was no big deal.       I remember when I first went to Ballymaloe House after hotel school and my now mother-in-law Myrtle Allen announced at almost midnight one night that we’d better make jam because the strawberries in the fridge wouldn’t last till the morning. I couldn’t believe my ears! The memories of the mammoth jam-making sessions from home came flooding back to me. I thought we’d be up all night!   But I was new and wanted to impress so I just asked how I could help. Myrtle asked me to weigh the fruit and called out instructions while she looked for jam jars and before I knew it we had jam. That’s when I realized it is very very easy to make your own jam. It’s best made in small batches which reach a set point in a matter of minutes. You don’t have to be making masses of jam at one time. You can make it with just one punnet of strawberries or raspberries.   Basic Preserving Equipment I get asked a lot about preserving and people seem to think you need all sorts of specialist equipment but you don’t, It’s all very basic. Every kitchen should have a good stainless steel pan or preserving pan. It’s not just useful for jam and chutney but for cooking hams and all sorts of other jobs. A sugar thermometer is also useful for testing the setting point for jam.   It’s Important To Understand The Principles Of Preserving. If You Are Pickling You Want A Good Balance Of Salt, Sugar, Vinegar And Spices.   The temperature for setting should be 105C/250F. I often also use the saucer test for setting. You pour 1 tsp jam onto a cold saucer or plate and leave it to cool for a few minutes. If the surface wrinkles when pushed with a fingertip, the jam has reached the setting point. Test frequently so the fruit doesn’t overcook. If you like making fruit jellies you don’t really need jelly bags. I find a really good quality clean soft cotton shopping bag is absolutely brilliant, fantastic. Recycle all jars for jam. Your jars should be scrupulously clean, with any old labels removed and then sterilized. Do this by putting the clean jars in a hot oven Gas 4/180C/350F for ten minutes before filling. When you have filled the jars with jam, you can seal with a wax paper disc on the surface of the jam. Then add cellophane, dampened on one side, and pull tight over the top of the jar, and secured with an elastic band. If you are bottling fruit you need Kilner jars with rubber seals and metal clasps. Use a fresh seal every time and stand the filled jars in water with the lids on till they are sealed.   There are a few rules to follow for good preserves It’s important to understand the principles of preserving. If you are pickling you want a good balance of salt, sugar, vinegar, and spices. For jam, the quality of the fruit is important. Good fruit will have natural pectin to help the jam set. People often ask me about jam sugar. I hate using it because it contains artificial pectin, which I find really affects the character of the jam. I always say if the fruit isn’t good enough to make jam without jam sugar you shouldn’t be making jam. Pectin is found in the skins and cores of fruit. Acidic fruit or slightly under-ripe fruit has a higher pectin content. Strawberry jam is one of the hardest to set because strawberries are low in pectin so the fruit must be of very good quality. Redcurrants have high pectin content and can be added to strawberries to help the jam set. They also enhance the flavour. Raspberry jam is one of the first jams I teach my students because it sets in five or six minutes. It’s so quick to make it’s even possible to make and bake a batch of scones and make the raspberry jam at the same time! When you make the jam simmer the fruit before you add the sugar. Sugar must be completely dissolved before the jam comes to a boil otherwise it will crystallize on top of the jar. After dissolving the sugar it’s best to boil the jam rapidly till the setting point is reached. Skim the surface of the jam toward the end of cooking to remove any scum. A little scum on the surface can be easily dissolved with a knob of butter stirred in after the jam has reached the setting point.     It’s always great to talk to Darina Allen. Her practical approach to cooking never ceases to astound us. She really takes the worry out of cooking and with a few words from her we feel we have been led by the hand right into the kitchen! We’ll definitely be using Darina’s preserving advice for making our own jams this summer, especially now the soft fruit season has kicked in. There are lots more hints and tips on preserving and jam making in Darina Allen’s Ballymaloe Cookery Course and Forgotten Skills. Both great books and seriously useful in the home kitchen.     Visit Our Shop     Buy A Voucher    

It’s a great time of year to eat fish. The waters of Ireland produce superb seafood of all types. Our local fishing fleets are currently catching haddock, hake, plaice, Black Sole and Lemon Sole, among other prize specimens.       There are some Dublin Bay prawns to be had from inshore prawn boats, which go out when the weather is good enough. Farmed seafood like mussels and oysters are also in superb condition now. WHERE TO BUY YOUR FISH AND SEAFOOD Our fishmongers stock the finest fish and seafood. The staff are experts who take great pride in knowing their fish, inside out and back to front! They will skillfully fillet, skin and portion your fish, recommend recipes and give you lots of cooking tips, all in the blink of an eye! So take the opportunity to avail of all that knowledge and craftsmanship, plus get the benefit of enjoying one of nature’s healthiest forms of protein.     HOW SHOULD FISH BE COOKED? Many people who don’t eat fish will say they don’t eat it because they think it’s dull. This perception probably comes from old wives’ tales of long ago, when it was thought fish had to be cooked very well to make sure it was ‘done’! There’s not a much greater crime in the kitchen than cremating a piece of delicate fresh fish!  No wonder the dry and tasteless offerings of times past have coloured some people’s opinions.   These days, chefs and cooking experts have taught us that fish is actually very quick to cook. It’s a natural convenience food which can make the fastest of meals. When fish is cooked properly, you should still be able to see moistness in the flakes.   The flesh should be just opaque and coming away from the bone when prodded lightly with the point of a knife if it’s not been filleted beforehand. Steaming, griddling, poaching, quick pan-frying, stir-frying, fast deep frying and oven baking are all great ways to cook your fish. The latter works best for whole fish like salmon, trout, or brill cooked on the bone.   Visit Our Shop     WHICH SAUCE FOR WHAT FISH? When you’ve decided on the fish you’re going to cook, what sauce will you serve with it? Here are a few of our particular favourites:   Parsley Sauce – Great for white fish like cod or haddock. Parsley sauce is a white bechamel sauce flavoured with finely chopped fresh curly parsley, sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Spoon it over poached fish fillets and serve with peas or beans and mashed potato for an old-fashioned combination.           Hollandaise – A French classic emulsified sauce made with a reduction of white wine vinegar and shallots as the base flavouring. The reduction is strained into a bowl placed over a pan of simmering water, before whisking in egg yolks till thickened then whisking in warm melted clarified butter until the sauce takes on a thick and velvety texture. This luxurious sauce takes a few times to perfect, but you’ll be glad you did. It adds a touch of class spooned over quick pan-fried salmon or sea trout fillets, served on a bed of wilted young spinach. You can fancy your Hollandaise up by adding chopped herbs and lemon zest if you wish.   Beurre Blanc –this is another French beauty. Again a reduction of white wine vinegar and shallots is made first. Then cubes of cold butter are gradually whisked into the vinegar reduction over low heat until the sauce is creamy and velvety smooth. The sauce is strained and seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground white pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice, but you can also add fresh chopped herbs too. This sauce is a traditional match for Black Sole or a fillet of turbot. It’s also good with pan-fried scallops.   Beurre Noisette with Capers and Lemon – The French have given us some fantastic sauces but this one must be the quickest of all time! Beurre Noisette simply means ‘nut butter’ and that’s exactly the flavour of this sauce. All you do is melt butter in a pan till it starts to go brown and smell nutty. Before it gets too dark, a add a squeeze of lemon to stop the butter solids from burning. Add chopped capers and finely chopped parsley and season. Serve over grilled or pan-fried white sole or plaice fillets. Top-class sauce, made in a jiffy!   Chimichurri –An Argentinian sauce similar to pesto. This is a very robust sauce generally made with parsley, garlic and dried chilli to taste. But most chefs have their own combos and even add other herbs like coriander or oregano. A fantastic sauce for meaty fish like salmon, fresh tuna or swordfish in season. All these oily fish can handle macho flavours.   Garlic Butter Sauce –Easy peasy sauce of melted butter flavoured with lemon juice, parsley and garlic. Pour over pan-fried prawn tails or even split grilled langoustines in the shell. You’ll be licking your fingers as you nibble!     Marie Rose Sauce – The Crab or Prawn Cocktail Classic! Mix mayonnaise with ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, seasoning and even a couple of shakes of Tabasco Sauce to hot things up a little. Blend well and spoon generously over fresh crab or peeled prawns on a bed of shredded iceberg lettuce, all beautifully arranged in serving glasses.     Tartar Sauce – where would fish and chips be without this magical sauce to accompany them? A derivative of mayonnaise, Tartar Sauce is piquant with finely chopped gherkin and capers, finely chopped parsley and seasoning. Make lots because everyone loves it!    Tomato Salsa – A cold sauce to perk up any fish dish. Simply mix chopped fresh peeled ripe tomatoes with finely chopped fresh chilli and garlic, finely sliced spring onions and finely chopped fresh coriander. Sharpen with lime juice to taste and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Good with grilled white fish, salmon fillets or big prawns.       WHERE TO EAT GREAT FISH AND SEAFOOD WITH GOOD FOOD IRELAND® If you fancy dining out on fish and seafood, we have a few places in mind you might want to try! Check out Good Food Ireland ® seafood specialist restaurants. We guarantee you won’t be disappointed.   Visit Our Dining Page