Brian Fitzpatrick
FOODFOCUS
OrielSeaSalt
Irish diners proved the most health-oriented, with eight out of 10 of us boasting
healthy diets.
The “free-from” brigade hold economic
sway and home-grown companies echo the
US success of Veggie Grill, and Chop’t and
Tossed. Meanwhile, as UK institutions
such as children’s hospitals and schools rethink their food offer, healthy kids meals
are becoming de rigour, especially for family-focused dining. Brasserie le Pont’s current campaign to reinstitute Sunday lunch
is a good example.
6
Root to stalk
Forget nose-to-tail eating: from micro-herbs adding wow and lesser-used ends taking centre stage (think
brussel tops or parsley root), embracing
the humble vegetable is where it’s at now.
Protein-lite mains with “flexiterian” appeal are filtering down from Paris’s l’Ardege via Belfast’s Ox to menus throughout
the country, while foragers and kitchen gardens reign.
Meanwhile Ireland’s Heritage Potato
Collection (a nomadic project headed by
Dermot Carey and David Langford which
had temporary outposts in Sligo, Donegal
and Dublin) has been hogging headlines
thanks to the joint-patronage of Dublin’s
Urban Farm and Boxty House.
7
Looking outwards
Local sourcing remains high on the
agenda but coupled with a curiosity
for international flavours. Mexican has
more to give the world at large, from chia (a
superfood seed) and chiccarones (crispy
pork rind) to moles (complex curry-style
casseroles). Middle-Eastern cooking is
only getting into its stride, with the Ottolenghi-effect boosted by the growing profile of Beirut restaurateur Kamal Mouzawak who recently cooked a pop-up dinner at Galway’s Ard Bia. But we’re not done
with Asia yet, by a long shot. Asian fusion
sees the likes of nam plaa (fish sauce), srirachi (sour chile sauce) and shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven-spice) going mainstream in Western dishes, while cultural hybrids such as Vietnamese banh mi (filled baguette) tick all sorts of boxes. Asian restaurants are popping up over the island, from
Limerick’s Taikichi to Galway’s Asian Teahouse and Dublin’s Faat Baat.
Some food businesses are started
for little more than the price of the
ingredients, but to get his sea salt
company up and running, Brian
Fitzpatrick and business partner
John Delaney had to raise
¤1 million and build a desalination
plant. Thankfully, and with the help
of angel investors, they did just
that, and Oriel Sea Salt was established in 2010.
Based at Clogherhead in Co
Louth, the company extracts salts
and minerals from the sea to sell
into a variety of sectors, from food
service to health supplements and
cosmetics.
Securing funding was a massive
achievement. “At first it seemed
like nobody wanted to touch us
because such a big capital expenditure was required up front,” says
Fitzpatrick.
These days people are queuing
up to use the company’s full
flavour, fine grain sea salt.
“Our sea salt is of such purity and
intensity that it elevates recipes
and food products, yet allows you
use up to 40 \