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TRAVELLER
BELFAST HAS LONG SAILED BELOW THE FOODIE RADAR, BUT A
PASSIONATE BAND OF CHEFS, MERCHANTS AND PRODUCERS ARE NOW
FORCING THE WORLD TO TAKE NOTICE WITH AWARD-WINNING FARE.
NEXT TIME YOU’RE IN TOWN, WE SUGGEST YOU PAY THEM A VISIT
P A T R I C K M c G U I G A N
A D A M P A T T E R S O N
NORTHERN IRISH FOOD
was thrust into the
limelight last year, when corned beef made by
fifth-generation butcher George McCartney beat over
7,000 of the UK’s best foods to be named Supreme
Champion at the 2011 Great Taste Awards. The
national media immediately jumped on the story,
taking delight in corned beef ’s retro image.
“I was told on the night that winning would
change my life forever and they weren’t wrong,” says
McCartney, who runs the business with his two
daughters and brother. At an age when most men
would be considering retirement, McCartney, 62, now
happily spends most days cranking out corned beef to
meet orders from Selfridges Foodhall, among others.
It’s an amazing achievement for a traditional village
butcher’s shop, which hasn’t changed its values since
McCartney’s great-great-grandfather founded the
business more than 140 years ago. Based in Moira,
a 20-minute drive from Belfast, jolly butchers preside
over counters heaving with sausages and aged beef
from local farms. Queues down the village high street
have been a common sight for generations.
McCartney’s corned-beef inspiration came
from a 100-year-old recipe discovered among his
grandfather’s possessions. “You can’t always invent
something brand new,” he says. “Sometimes you have
to go back in time to go forward.”
Made with aged silverside from local farms, the beef
is dry cured and cooked for 14 hours until it’s meltingly
soft. It’s as far removed from the cheap tinned stuff of
the 1970s as Champagne is from cooking sherry.
McCartney’s of Moira, 56-58 Main Street,
Moira, County Down; tel: +44 (0)28 9261 1422,
mccartneysofmoira.com
THE MASTER BUTCHER
George McCartney, McCartney’s of Moira
LOCAL
HEROES
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