Rossaveal looked brilliant. If only because we were finally there after five and a half hours in the car. It was 5.30pm and the dusk was falling. Karen from Aran Direct, the new ferry company, lifted our spirits and we all felt excited about our island venture.
Aboard the ferry all seemed so different. This was my first time to Inis Oírr, the smaller of the three Aran Islands. The group for the trip, 15 in all, were all hoteliers or restaurateurs. We alighted on the pier at Inis Oírr to be greeted by an excited Enda Conneely with his magical blue van. Luggage aboard, itineraries handed out - we set off on foot to our various abodes for the night with instructions to meet for dinner at 8.30 in Enda's restaurant, Fisherman's Cottage.
I walked up the hill and the higher I went the more I had a sense of the beauty and difference of being on an island as the stone walls outlined the tiny fields and dropped away to the Atlantic Ocean and the Clare coastline in the distance. In that moment I understood the pride of the islanders.
And so it began, a brief introduction and a welcome by Enda and his wife Marie. It was obvious he loves food, loves good food and talked with passion of fishing in the morning and cooking with local vegetables in the evenings. A glass of wine or sherry followed, all very genteel, which quickly went out the window as we sat down at the dinner table.
What an experience - we were here to sample the best of the Aran Island's local food. Introduced by Enda course by course we started with Kombu Consomme, a revelation with a bonus and a description of all the nutrients it contained - a healthy start.
Local crab meat on potato cakes with chilli jam followed and then an introduction to the main local delicacy wrasse which came as brandade of salt wrasse with Parmesan. Bowls of salad and the most wonderful homemade soda breads followed.
I also tasted limpets for the first time, cooked with garlic. They were very pleasing. Enda also served dulse, a type of seaweed which was extremely good and cooked like I had never tasted before. A little drop of Pouilly Fuisse or red Bordeaux, Chateau Passe Craby accompanied.
The conversations around the table concentrated on food and the wonders of what we were eating topped the list. Enda's team never tired as they told us about traditions like how to eat our next course, salted wrasse with boiled potatoes and onion sauce. The secret was to eat the three ingredients together from a communal bowl using your fingers. Mixed reaction; different, striking but always interesting.
Strips of pink lamb with a selection of summer leaves tested our appetites and finally an Aran apple tart with an amazing blackberry coulis to finish. The dinner was a triumph.
Slowly the party made their way to Neds, pints of Guinness and various other concoctions flowed. Neill and Roisin McGrory, from McGrory's in Culdaff with fiddle and guitar accompanied by Patrick, a friend of Enda's from Inis Meáin on the whistle provided the entertainment, and what an evening ensued. Mirco from Farmgate Café in Cork city sang his mother's favourite song in Italian and brought tears to our eyes. Songs and stories went on into the small hours and really the evening ended too quickly. Through a haze we set off into the darkness to find our beds.
Monday morning, sun blistering down, we wandered sheepishly to Enda's meeting room for a 10.30 rendezvous and a hearty breakfast. The session was a discussion on food, a topic we are all passionate about. A coffee break with warm homemade scones, tea brack, crab apple jelly and blackberry jam was followed by a tour of the island and a visit to the basket weavers. Inis Oírr was resplendent in the sunshine and all of us sorry that our stay was not longer.
As I sat in the car and headed east the memories, experiences and meaningful exchanges gave me renewed vigour and fresh ideas to bring home. |
