Northern Irish corned beef among 'Forgotten Foods'


Ulster Corned Beef from O'Doherty's Fine Meats in Enniskillen has been named among the 'Seven New Forgotten Foods' by the prestigious Slow Food Movement which seeks to showcase artisan foods.



The corned beef, rejuvenated by Pat O'Doherty, is included with Westmorland Pepper Cake, Penclawwd Cockles, Dulse, Carlin / Black Peas, Martock Beans, and Cromer Crab. The artisan products are being named ahead of Slow Food Week, a week-long event being held from 1-8 June and is being led by Richard Corrigan, the celebrity chef.



Corrigan, in fact, selected the corned beef for inclusion in the 'Forgotten Foods' that should be embraced by all those who value the quality, taste and provenance of artisan foods in the UK and worldwide.



Records, uncovered by Pat Doherty, who runs O'Doherty's Fine Meats in Enniskillen, show that corned beef was eaten as far back as 1100 AD, and then throughout the centuries it was widely consumed across Ireland and also exported to the UK and the British colonies.



Today however, with cheaper, canned supermarket versions on offer and a declining market for preserved meat, there are only a few producers left in Northern Ireland who still make this product.



Pat ODoherty says: "What a marvelous endorsement of corned beef by such a distinguished chef and commentator. It will certainly help us to boost sales in Britain and further afield."



O'Doherty's Corned Beef, marketed as Old Fermanagh Corned Beef, is based on a recipe for curing beef discovered by O'Doherty from lengthy research in archives.



The recipe for Ulster Corned Beef in its traditional form is a far cry from the cheap cuts of tinned beef that most people associate it with. The name "corned" refers to the rounded lumps of rock salt that looked like grains of corn which were used in the salting process.



Traditionally the cuts of beef were salted using either the brining method, which meant placing the beef inside a saline bath, or the dry rub method. Spices, herbs, juniper and elderflower berries, and even burnt seaweed can be added during these processes to enhance the flavour. As a result of curing, a rich red hue develops within the meat which does not fade during cooking, and the texture becomes much tighter and the weight a lot denser as the salt draws out the liquids.



Corned beef is simply a method of meat preservation using salt, and this technique has a long history in Ireland stretching back over a thousand years. It allowed farmers to prevent their meat from spoiling so quickly, providing nourishment over a longer period of time before refrigeration was an option.



The Irish traded their corned beef with the British, and it fed the British naval fleets on their long voyages across the oceans. Napoleon offered a huge cash prize to the person who could solve the problem of this foodstuff spoiling when his troops went on expeditions, and thus an airtight glass jar was invented and followed by canning techniques.



The Seven Forgotten Foods recognizes those artisan producers who opt to swim against the tide of 'fast life' by developing innovative products.



Slow Food UK has seen tangible results for the small-scale producers working to revive these foods and retain and sustain local jobs surrounding these economies. By preserving these foods, creating a market and retaining them as part of the landscape. Slow Foods's long term objective is preserving Britain's edible biodiversity, and with this, its food security.