I remember family visitors to Ireland asking what we grew or produced in the Boyne valley when I was going to school in the seventies and all I could say was beef, lamb and spuds. It was always met with Gallic or Germanic derision as if we were a backward country. There was the odd person dabbling in honey and we would be given a pot of it now and again. There was a family friend out in the country that made their own butter which fascinated me. Our diet was simple enough except when frozen crispy pancakes or instant mash arrived.
My mother would take me to a weekly market in the town where they would be soda bread, cakes and jam for sale. The vegetable stalls had no peppers, garlic or aubergines just boxes of carrots, turnips, parsnips, cabbage and bags of potatoes. There would also be buttercup lettuce, onions, scallions, cucumbers and hard green tinted tomatoes. The fruits were bananas, pears, apples, grapes and oranges. That was your lot. Avocadoes, pineapples and kiwis then arrived adding much needed exotica.
Meat and fish wise it was still the basics. Soup, stew, mince, lamb and pork chops, sausages, liver, boiled bacon and gammon steaks would be the weekly options. Eggs were plentiful but there was no rice or pasta. Chicken was a rare treat and the religiously Friday fish was usually whiting or smoked cod. Salmon was still a luxury. The meat came from the butcher shop and nobody was looking for anything else as this diet seemed to satisfy everyone.
So there was not much going on food manufacturing wise in the region. Ironically around the same time there was the Michelin starred Dunderry Lodge restaurant four miles outside my town with customers coming from all over Ireland to Meath just to try their cutting edge dinner. The brilliant chef owner went to work for free in France’s top restaurants every winter for a few weeks and came back with recipes which may as well have been from outer space. The locals would tell stories of the small portions, strange flavours and high prices of dishes commonplace now.
It all changed slowly and I saw the shoots after being away cooking in Dublin and abroad for nearly twenty years and moving back to my home town in the early noughties. Upon my return I set up in my spare time a wine club and then developed a couple of farmers markets also. I decided to form an artisan foods group for the area so that with a collective spirit the fledgling food producing community at the time could really showcase themselves as a viable culinary and agri tourism attraction.
I was inspired by my work as a voluntary member of the chef association Euro toques food committee promoting Irish food businesses nationwide for a decade with the wonderful Myrtle Allen. The economic crash ended this first farmer’s market initiative and group collective for the Boyne valley but not for long. The movement is now on a firm footing again the last few years as Boyne Valley Flavours, a dedicated award winning group of businesses supported by the local authorities. They can only be admired for their passion by organizing food festivals, markets, tastings and tours.
The Boyne valley has a long history in being rich in farming and food production with my own family background in the land here also. When I look around now at the amount of amazing producers creating world class artisan craft food and drink it puts the Boyne valley region not just on a national but world culinary map. There has never been a greater need to support local business for gifts or experiences which in turn supports local jobs whether it’s the hundreds employed by Meade potato farm or a small artisan craft butcher shop like Brogan’s in Athboy. Valleys do not come greener than ours so keep it local if you can this Christmas and beyond.
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