High-end eateries In Britain and Ireland taste Fermanagh Black Bacon

Diners in some of the Republic of Ireland's most highly regarded restaurants are now enjoying the distinctive flavour of Fermanagh Black Bacon. The unique and award winning bacon from O'Doherty's Fine Meats in Enniskillen, county Fermanagh, is now featuring on the menus and dishes at high-end restaurants including the unique Winding Stair Restaurant and Bookshop and Michelin Star Chapter One in central Dublin. Both specialise in premium quality food from Irish suppliers.

The bacon, developed by Pat O'Doherty, who runs the Northern Irish butchery business which has racked up a series of international awards for innovative meats, is produced using a unique curing technique that's based on an ancient Irish recipe.

Pat O'Doherty, managing director of O'Doherty's, a family owned business that's been based in Enniskillen for almost five decades, says: "Our Black Bacon is ideal for chefs either as a delicious dish on its own or as a distinctively flavoured ingredient.

"The bacon is being used increasingly by chefs in many of the best restaurants in Ireland, the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe.

"Some our business with London restaurants came from our relationship with Harrods," he adds.

The bacon is sourced from a herd of free-range pigs raised by Mr O'Doherty on a remote and environmentally clean island on picturesque Lough Erne.

Fermanagh Black Bacon is hung to mature for at least three months. The pork is cured using ancient methods and natural ingredients, dry cured and allowed to season naturally until it reaches maturity. It is not injected with water or phosphates and does not ooze white phosphate residue as it cooks, ensuring an excellent texture and flavour.

The bacon is shipped to a wide range of customers including major retailers including Harrods and is also sold online by the company. In addition to the Black Bacon, Pat O'Doherty created a corned beef using as process that stretches back 600 years to the era when Irish corned beef was used extensively throughout Europe.