Traditional rustic pies recreated by Northern Irish meat specialist
O'Doherty's Fine Meats in Northern Ireland has expanded its portfolio of speciality foods with the launch of a new handcrafted Venison and Wild Game Pie using only locally-sourced ingredients.
The company, based in Enniskillen, county Fermanagh, has an international reputation for its unique dry-cured Fermanagh Black Bacon and Old Fermanagh Corned Beef and has been active in recreating traditional pie making in the UK and Ireland.
The new 8oz pie, described by Pat O'Doherty, managing director of the award winning butchery business, as a "winter warmer" features venison and pheasant meat from the Colebrooke estate in Fermanagh, home of Lord Brookeborough. The company is also developing other speciality pies from wild duck and jellied pigs' tongues.
O'Doherty says: "We've identified a developing market opportunity for rustic pies with different flavours that are produced using artisan techniques and the best local ingredients with traceability and provenance.
"I know from my research into traditional Irish foods over the past six centuries that handmade pies were part of the staple diet in most households in Fermanagh and many other parts of Ireland. Delving back into the archives I discovered original recipes for curing bacon using local herbs and corned beef.
"As well as these products, we've developed a distinctively flavoured Black Bacon Pie that has proved immensely popular with leading chefs and gourmet food fans in many parts of Europe who've used our ebusiness site to purchase the product.
"The new Venison and Wild Game Pie is a further development of our focus on recreating traditional meat products for the developing market for speciality meats. The new pie is ideal for a winter evening. It's best eaten hot and is delicious with a Cumberland sauce. Wild venison also has benefits for those concerned about health and weight because it is low in fat and high in vitamin B.
In addition to the focus on traditional rustic meats and pies, O'Doherty launched Ireland's first Black Pudding Festival in December which attracted puddings from many parts of the world
Formed in 1957, O'Doherty Fine Meats operates a retail butchery business and an EU approved processing plant in Enniskillen. O'Doherty's has been one of Ireland's most innovative butchers and meat producers for over 40 years.
Popular with celebrity chefs such as Richard Corrigan, Rick Stein and Gary Rhodes, O'Doherty's now exports its products, especially the unique Fermanagh Black Bacon, worldwide. Other speciality meats in the range include Aberdeen Angus beef, wild venison, pheasant, wild duck, guinea fowl, rabbit and exotic meats that are subject to availability.
O'Doherty's has moved from being a butchery focused on the Northern Ireland market to a successful export business with a growing customer base in the key sectors of retailing and upmarket catering for hotels and restaurants in London, Brussels and Amsterdam.
The company has won a string of awards including UK Meat Innovation of the Year Award 2011 for its original Old Fermanagh Corned Beef at the UK Butcher Shop of the Year 2012.