I’ve just cooked up the smoked rashers that Catherine got in Urru during the week. They were gorgeous. I was surprised when I opened the pack to see that it did not contain a few thick rashers but lots of very thinly cut ones. This is exactly the way I like them - I’ve never been a fan of those thick cut things which often end up a chewy as old boots. They usually have the word “traditional” on them. If I see this word on Irish food products, my brain automatically replaces it with the word “shite”.
But back to the Ummera rashers. Tons and tons of fat which, as Anthony points out in the earlier post, is where the taste is. They cooked up and crisped up beautifully. I popped the first one in my gob. The main things I noticed were that they were not very salty (again a plus) and the smoke flavour was nice and subtle. Sometimes on smoked food you get the sense that they welly on the smoke to make up for low quality meat. Actually, I get the feeling that some products have smoke “flavour” out of a bottle rather than real smoke. Not the case here. Wonderfully tasty rashers. I rustled up a BLT in double quick time and ate the nicest one I’ve had in years.
OK, so they are pricey - over €4. But what would you prefer to spend your money on - a weekly mouthful of mass produced crap which costs you feck all but tastes of nothing or a less regular treat which costs a bit more but which you remember for days?
Tomorrow - Ummera Smoked Eel. Off to Clon now to see if I can find horseradish root and then on to Union Hall again to get my first ever lobster - unless I chicken out on the way.
The next posting will attempt to bring together Smoked Food products and The Cluetrain Manifesto. But I don’t know if my brain is up to it.
[tags]Ummera, Urru, Smoked bacon, rashers, Union Hall, Smoked Eel, Cluetrain Manifesto[/tags]
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