I am delighted to be penning several  articles for the LCN Licensed & Catering News. First published in 1940, LCN magazine, as it has fondly become known, is regarded by many of its readers as the ‘Bible’ of the licensed and catering trade. The business newspaper for the hospitality industry, LCN is a firm favourite with publicans, hoteliers, restaurateurs and indeed everyone associated with this important industry. Second article above was about food costing, gross profits & the vital role that it plays in a profitable hospitality & catering business. Gross profit is a measure of how your business is performing. It is the profit made on food sales before any overheads are deducted. Your menu should work on an average food cost of thirty percent which will give you a gross profit percentage of seventy percent. Inadequate cost control is the number one factor contributing to food businesses failing. Look out for my next article in the May edition

The Start of the 2012 Wild Mushroom Season? A False start!

It was with great gusto last Sunday I went on my first wild mushroom forage of 2012 -ruck sack packed with my flask of hot coffee, a tub of borlotti bean salad & crusty bread ( you need sustenance for foraging & i don’t do slumming when it comes to foraging fuel!). Water proof gear to the hilt my thermal lined Donegal weather proof trousers & my trusty expert companions in tow ” Charlie the Stray & Sasha” – my two terriers!  My mushroom of choice on this forage was ” Morel” mushrooms – they are the jewel in the crown of culinary mushrooms. Ask any chef about these mushrooms & they go weak at the knees (with excitement) at the thought of cooking with them, equally restaurant owners go weak at the knees at the thought of buying them. Per kg fresh morels can cost upwards of €75 plus.  Morels grow over a very short season in these neck of the woods, around 3 weeks. I normally find them in woodlands in broad leaf & coniferous areas &  in solitary formations rather than in small groups. I rummaged around in the forest floor, strayed onto the adjoining fields & nearly went crossed eye straining to find my morels -  after 3 hours I called it quits! Not a morel to be had – the chill in the air & cold rain just isn’t the weather for morels. Weather & temperature permitting I will try this weekend. Also hope to find some ” St George” mushrooms from mid May onwards – watch this space

A briefing paper entitled “Reducing State Imposed Costs on the Tourism Industry:The Case for Better Regulation” by Failte Ireland makes for a great insight into regulation across the tourism sector. In general, tourism businesses are required to interact with at least 24 different public, statutory and other bodies in operating their business. The study’s findings were based on in-depth qualitative case studies with 20 businesses across the breath of the tourism industry. The case study group comprised off the following businesses:

 ·         Five hotels and two hotel chains

 ·         Four restaurants

 ·         Three coach operators

 ·         Three firms from the activities and attractions sector

 ·         Two self-catering group schemes

 ·         One B&B

 ·         One language school and one large commercial hostel.

Read the full briefing paper - Failte Ireland Paper

The West & The North West of Ireland

Artisan brewers & local produce make a great marriage. A great food marriage that is.  As a young chef working in London I learnt about the true values of food marriages. This revelation on flavours & ingredient parings started for me with  Nico Ladenis of Chez Nico. This was a 2 Michelin star restaurant with all the accolades & a fantastic reputation. There were  four Irish lads that formed about a quarter of the kitchen team which was  led by Paul Flynn. Nico had written book ” My Gastronomy”. One of the key things that stuck in my mind from the book was how the marriage of two food ingredients work together ie scallops & garlic. Simple flavours with no messing around. That was London in the early 1990′s In Ireland in 2012 putting food marriage on the menus of restaurants, bars, hotels in the west & north west  is alive & kicking in the Oarsman Restaurant & Harry’s . I wonder what Nico would have made of my food marriage of Galway Hooker Ale & Fresh Donegal Crab

As a young aspiring chef working with Gary Rhodes , I had high ambitions (working in Michelin star restaurants does that to you!) along with another chef from NI John Simpson who owns successful catering business in Swindon – Hospitality Services - I had recipe for success, inspired by Gary Rhodes & fantastic West Country ingredients I was a finalist in the Roux Brothers Scholarship  

As a business in hospitality & catering, whats your recipe for success? Do you have a recipe? Does the recipe include

• know your food cost
• Achieving a Gross Profit on food/ingredients of 70%
• Growing your business & foot fall = the bottom line
•  Managing food costs & not compromising quality
• An expert who delivers on the ” Goals & Objectives”

Have a look at some of the results that Hospitality Solutions Recipes have delivered for our Clients   Get in touch & improve your Recipe

Its In Season Now

 Well there’s still lots of lovely ingredients available to use in your business or at home.  Here’s some of my favourites & eating very nicely

Sardines, Mussels, Lemon Sole, Scallops, Monkfish, Prawns, Cod, Mackerel, Herring,
Beetroot, Radishes, Parsley, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Leeks Early Rhubarb.

 check out our new face book page to see what other ingredients  I used to make with the purple sprouting broccoli even tastier.

 face book Hospitality Solutions Ireland

On my working days treks & trails around Donegal & the North West. I get to work with lots of local businesses. Results for the clients are the essence of business. Results which leads to better business for them –it gets them more customers, attracts more attention to their service & converts to the profitability of the business

Times are tough for businesses, but out of these tough times opportunities arise. Some businesses ignore these opportunities others grab them & run with them. One such opportunity was seized by a group off 10 Donegal businesses. The result; Donegal Good Food Taverns a group of iconic restaurant-bars dotted throughout Donegal, each with our own wonderful history, style, traditions, charm and picturesque surroundings. Collectively, they aim to bring you a genuine taste of Donegal by sourcing the very best fresh, local ingredients and serving them with lashings of pride.

Some Worrying News For Scottish and Irish scallop producers under threat from EU regulations

Scottish and Irish suppliers of hand-dived scallops, used in fine dining restaurants across the country, are at risk of going out of business because of draconian EU regulations.

More on this at –  http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/26/01/2012/342043/Scottish-and-Irish-scallop-producers-under-threat-from-EU.htm

Good food safety with Hospitality Solutions; our food safety training is based on best practice  & is all risk assess based. Has common sense gone by the wayside in this approach by European legislators? See our food safety services

Working with the team at Hotel WestPort to bring the food to 1 AA rossette standard – which was awarded to the Hotel in October http://www.hotelwestport.ie/dining.html Well done to Declan, Stephen & all the team

The Oarsman winning the national award for Food Pub Of The Year 2011 at the Annual Good Food Ireland Awards. Ronan & Conor Maher are the brothers behind this gastro pub. Ronan & Conor are consummate professionals – every town should have an Oarsman Restaurant gastro pub!

And Finally Collecting Wild Mushrooms in Donegal

It’s been a bumper season – from June through to October when not working & advising my customers. I love collecting wild mushrooms. I’ve been ”hunting ” wild mushrooms for the past two decades from the west country in England to Richmond Park in London – from the Wicklow hills to the Fench Alps & now the Hills & forests of Donegal its been the best season yet! ( 30& kgs) Roll on June 2012

What’s in season now?

The flavours of October – no recipes this month, instead a list off ingredients to inspire you

Swiss chard (some cut from my own garden), apples, beetroot, borlotti beans, brill, butternut squash, cabbages, celeriac, chard, chestnuts, clams, cockles, cod, crabs, curly kale, Dover sole, duck, eel, fennel, figs, grey mullet, haddock, hake, halibut, hare, John Dory, kohlrabi, leeks, lemon sole, lobster, mackerel, monkfish, mussels, onions, oysters, parsnips, pears, plaice, plums, squash, quinces, red kale, salsify, scallops, sea bass, sea bream, skate, spinach, squid, swede, sweetcorn, thyme, turbot, turnips, watercress, winkles

And from the Wild Larder – October’s wild food
Apples, crab, grouse, hare, horseradish, mallard, nettles, partridge, rosehips, sea beet, sloes, teal, tufted duck, venison, wet walnuts, wigeon, wild mushrooms, woodcock, wood pigeon

Donegal Wild Mushroom 2011Season Highlights

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjQz1-mxn-w

Hefty food bills are here to stay, according to a report backed by the United Nations, which warns of another ten years of climbing prices.

The OECD’s forecast is that over the coming decade, real prices for cereals could average as much as 20pc higher and those for meats as much as 30pc higher, than between 2001 and 2010.

 Austerity menu for Autumn

What a great idea wish I had thought of that! – definitely some good ideas for your menus

this snap shot comes from Michael Raffael of catersearch.com –

Soupe de poisson, croutons and rouille

Classic bistro/brasserie recipe. Don’t use bones or flesh from oily fish, neither in the stock nor in the soup itself. Pollack, whiting and gurnards are ideal. Pounding saffron in a mortar with a splash of boiling water helps to extract its flavour. If you’ve boiled your own crabs for the white meat, add some of the brown meat for extra body.
Cost from 75p

Grilled lemon chicken
Start with the premise that you are going to buy a free-range chicken, not necessarily an organic one. Bone it out to obtain four pieces of breast and four of leg meat. Bat these out so the pieces are of similar thickness. Marinate them with lemon, oregano and grated onion. Serve grilled with gremolata: garlic, parsley, grated lemon zest and Maldon salt.
Cost £2.70, based on free-range chicken at £4.40 per kg

Cranachan
There are only five ingredients in this Scottish favourite: toasted oatmeal, crushed raspberries, honey, whipped double cream and malt whisky. To give it extra impact on the menu, highlight an ingredient, Blairgowrie raspberries or The Macallan whisky, for instance. Any extra cost will be worth it.
Cost about £1.70, based on malt whisky at £5 per 100ml

And Finally

Great Mushroom Hunting “near the twin towns” Donegal

I collected these fresh fabulous high prized Girolle mushrooms last week end in Donegal it’s been a great opening harvest! Last year we collected over 20 kilos of Ceps, Girolles, Chanterells, pied de mouton & trompet de mort! These babies below will normally cost you €15 a kilo from a supplier

This is what became of them; http://t.co/PNlSSUG