It wasn’t until the peace process kicked in that good food became consistently easy to find in Belfast and throughout the country. Brilliant local food and imaginative chefs have transformed the eating out experience to make Belfast a ‘foodie’ city par excellence. Eating trends are changing rapidly with more choice and good, well-priced food available throughout the city. Having said that, the choice for vegetarians is still restricted, although demand for organic food is a selling point in an increasing number of restaurants. Throughout the north of Ireland eating establishments vary from seafront restaurants along the Causeway Coastal Route to seafood bars at the foot of the Mourne Mountains, and from contemporary city restaurants in Belfast to hearty pub grub in beautiful rural spots.
IRISH COOKING
A distinctive style of Irish cooking has started to emerge over the past years. A new generation of chefs takes pride in using indigenous foods, supported by the growing number of artisan food producers, to produce a lighter, modern style with an innovative spin on traditional Irish cooking.
Organic produce on display at a farmers’ market.
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Guinness tastes better in Belfast.
APA Kevin Cummins
But traditional food will always have a place in the hearts of the people of Northern Ireland, and most traditional dishes have their roots in potatoes and bread. No visit to Northern Ireland would be complete without experiencing an Ulster Fry, distinguished by its griddle breads – soda bread and potato farls – fried until crisp and golden. Bacon, sausages, an egg, a tomato and maybe some mushrooms complete the picture – and, of course, lashings of tea.
OTHER LOCAL SPECIALITIES
Champ: potatoes mashed with lots of butter, warm milk and chopped scallions (spring onions or shallots).
Dulse: a salty, seaweed snack, harvested by fishermen to supplement their income when fishing was slack.
Potato bread farl: a dense, earthy flat bread, made with potatoes, flour and buttermilk, cooked on a griddle.
Soda bread farl: thick, chunky soft bread, first baked in 19th-century Ireland when local peasants added baking soda to help the dough rise.
Wheaten bread: a brown bread made with wholewheat flour.
Yellow man: crunchy golden confectionery that resmbles honeycomb.
Boxty: starchy potato cake made with a 50:50 mix of cooked mashed potatoes and grated, strained, raw potato.
LOCAL PRODUCE
A mild climate and green and fertile land conjures up perfect agricultural country. Specialist farmers and artisan producers are plentiful in Northern Ireland and the region is rapidly gaining a reputation for its superb local producers: Lough Neagh is Europe’s greatest source of eels; Finnebrogue venison has put Northern Ireland on the map in top restaurants; the much sought-after Comber potato is grown in the arable farmland of County Down; Kettyles of Fermanagh produces extra-mature, dry-aged beef from its grass-fed native herd; and Moyallon Foods is the first choice among local chefs when it comes to dry-cure bacon, sausages and prime beefburgers.
Bushmills Whiskey
Bushmills Irish Whiskey is the original and best-known whiskey to come out of the Old Bushmills Distillery in County Antrim. This smooth, rich blend of single malt and single grain has been produced for four centuries, since King James 1 granted a licence to distil in 1608. The whiskey is processed the same way today as it was 400 years ago – aged a minimum of five years in oak casks specially selected to bring out the golden hue using only 100 per cent barley.
A lively atmosphere at St George’s Market.
APA Kevin Cummins
FOOD SHOPPING
Soak up the atmosphere at Ireland’s oldest covered market, St George’s, which is abundant with terrific fresh fish and seafood, meats from grass-reared stock and creamy Irish cheeses. Farmers’ markets are great if you are on a self-catering holiday, planning a picnic, or just wanting to try authentic Irish foods and talk to artisan producers. The pick of the bunch are in Dungannon (tel: 028-8776 7259), Omagh, Strabane and Enniskillen (tel: 028-8284 0724), Coleraine (tel: 028-2955 8055), Derry (tel: 028-7137 6506) and Lisburn (tel: 028-9250 9250).
On the fiddle at Bittles Bar.
APA Kevin Cummins