A Triumph of Optimism

My column for The Sunday Times, 4 August 2024

By kind permission of The Sunday Times Ireland

In many ways, gardening is the triumph of optimism over experience, and nowhere is this better illustrated than in two very large pots situated just outside our French windows. One contains the rather rare and decidedly tender Nicotiana silvestris, with its little, sweetly scented flowers and rank-smelling leaves; the other accommodates two cucumber plants bred for outdoor cultivation.

Both also represent the benefits of benign neglect. Had we lavished great care on the delicate rarity, I’ve no doubt it would have given up the ghost years ago. And until last week, the cucumbers were straggling along the ground having had no attention other than water since they were unceremoniously planted back in May.

A bit of heat last weekend produced a handful of bright yellow flowers that caught my attention and I found myself lavishing some care on these brave plants. In went a wigwam of bamboos and the stragglers were tied long them, now reaching for the sky rather than heading under a bench.

And the early indications are encouraging. I’m hand-pollinating and the pot has been moved into a more sheltered spot. It’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that we’ll have a cucumber grown outdoors in what passes for an Irish Summer.

There’s further reason for optimism with the indoor kind. One plant that seemed to have succumbed to the dreaded bacterial wilt, dying right back to the ground, has now re-sprouted luxuriantly from the base and is on the brink of flowering. I’m just glad that I was too lazy to discard it when it appeared to have lost the will to live.

We have been eating exceptionally well this week. This is partly due to an outbreak of reckless extravagance on a visit to O’Connell’s in the English Market where I’d gone in search of lobster to mark our significant wedding anniversary. Not only did I secure two fine crustaceans, I also happened to arrive at exactly the same time as a small consignment of wild salmon from the Blackwater in Co Waterford. Two thick slices were steamed and served with hollandaise – simple perfection and such a rare treat. Real salmon is far too good and delicate to be mucked about.

The lobster was cooked according to the advice of Rick Stein (whose Fish and Shellfish is probably the best book on the subject ever written). Having for years dispatched lobsters by driving a sharp knife into the back of the head – ugh! – I now pop them in the freezer for two hours before plunging in boiling water. This, Rick assures us, puts them to sleep; they certainly don’t struggle.

When cooked, you just need to remove the mouth parts, which are small and pretty obvious, and pull out the sand vein that runs up the creature’s back. Ours were consumed very simply with lemon juice and homemade mayonnaise but Johann cooked  some with butter, ginger, garlic and served it with soba noodles anointed with a little soya sauce and sesame oil. This was rapturously good.

The decadent eating continued with a trip to the uniquely lovely Kelly’s in Rosslare, one of my favourite places on the planet. We went for lunch to The Sea Rooms and ate looking out at the ocean on a day of rare sunshine. Chris Fullam’s cooking is exceptional, much of it infused with a touch of smoke from the wood-fired grill. Perfectly cooked halibut and a brilliantly intense pea risotto were followed by a roasted peach with mascarpone and one of the most decadent warm dark chocolate affairs I’ve ever tasted.

Kelly’s, of course, has one of the country’s greatest wine lists and, more importantly, one that offers astonishing value for money, especially in Burgundy and the Rhône (Bill Kelly’s brother-in-law is Vincent Avril of the great Clos du Papes). Not only are the prices designed to encourage exploration and adventure, many of the wines are pretty well impossible to buy elsewhere.

Bill retails many of his wines here and we took the opportunity to stock up on Burgundy, a Givry 1er Cru 2021 red from Michel Sarrazin and a Saint-Romain 2022 white from Alain Gras. For anyone who would like to avoid the angst of choosing, Bill has put together some great mixed cases. Delivery to anywhere in Ireland is €20 for orders under €400, and it’s free above that. My advice is to have a night at Kelly’s and collect your wine in person. You won’t regret it.

In the garden the other day I was trying to work out what veg I sow too little of, or too infrequently. I think I’ve cracked the salad crops for succession (which is not as easy as it sounds because their rate of growth varies throughout the growing season) but I never have enough spring onions or, bizarrely, new potatoes. And this year, spuds really are a luxury.

The carrots were sown in late June and should be enough to keep us going well into next year but they will be small, which is no harm. And the late sowing may help to deter the pesky carrot fly. I’ll try to get some baby beet in for the Autumn, perhaps some kohl rabi for eating very young and tender, and a few radishes for their peppery crunch. The great overwintering lettuce experiment starts now with a sowing of Winter Density. I want to get a couple of dozen plants to a reasonable size in the tunnel before the days get too short to support growth. Time will tell and optimism just might triumph.

Whenever I’m abroad, even just across the Irish sea, I tend to check out the supermarkets. I even popped into an ALDI when I was in England recently and found that one of current favourites, the Unearthed Custoza, is even more keenly priced here in Ireland where it retails for €9.99 as against £8.99 in the UK. Allowing for duty, VAT and currency, that’s a decent saving. It’s light and fresh and floral, weighing in at 12% abv, with just enough oomph to make it supremely food-friendly. If you like Gavi, by the way, you will love this. Great with pasta vongole, risotto Milanese or just as a palate-opener.