The Irish Presentations at Salone da Gusto

Vertical tastings of Barolo? How to cook with Parmiggiano-Reggiano? Forget all that stuff. The hot ticket on the first day of the Salone's tasting workshops was Sally Barnes, of West Cork's Woodcock Smokery, guiding a roomful of people through a tasting of Irish smoked wild salmon, with some rather fetching bubbly from Roederer to match. Five salmons were exhibited: Mrs Barnes' wild fish: Anthony Creswell's wild fish from Ummera Smokhouse; Frank Hederman's wild fish from Cobh in east Cork; Peter Curtin's farmed organic salmon from County Clare, and Jean-Jacques Boulineau's wild fish from Clifden, in Connemara. At this level, on could only be gobsmacked at the sheer quality both of the fish, and most especially of the skill of the fish smokers. Mrs Barnes discussion of the fish was superb.

On the last day, Seamus Sheridan, of Sheridan's Cheesemongers, presented washed rind cheeses with some of the exciting new Irish micro brews. Smoked Gubbeen and plain Gubbeen, Milleens, Ardrahan, Desmond, and Durrus, that mighty line-up of West Cork cheeses, were paired with the extraordinary O'Hara's Stout and Curim, from the Carlow Brewing Company, with Red Biddy, from the Biddy Early Brewery, with Revolution Red Ale from the Dublin Brewing Company. Sheridan proved a simple fact: these combinations of cheeses and beers are sensational, and Irish cheeses and Irish beers are amongst the finest in the entire world. And another thing: these guys didn't show a trace of nerves, in front of the choosiest audiences in the world! Cool, or what?

Turin Photos: Fingal Ferguson

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text © John & Sally McKenna
illustrations © Ken Buggy