A Rebel City with Culinary Clout by Gillian Ivory

The Corkonians, dare I say it, are held to be the fastest speakers in Ireland, and for the sceptics out there - see how well the average foreigner, even those with fluent English, understands those with a true Cork accent. The intonation is instantly recognisable, a musical lilt setting the folk apart from any of their more flat-toned English-speaking brethren. Corkonians are also known for their sport. As a local informed me with not a shadow of self-doubt, they are kings when it comes to hurling. For the benefit of those not familiar with the game, it involves opposing teams of 15 fearless, reckless and normally pale-faced men bashing a rock-hard ball at breakneck speed with an oddly shaped stick. It may sound scary but it’s fun to watch.

Hailing in part myself from Summer Cove, a village on Kinsale Harbour in South Cork, my granduncles, like many locals in 1917, took their boats from the shore and rowed to the sinking Lusitania. En route from New York to Liverpool, it had been torpedoed by a German submarine. Some 1200 lives were lost within sight of land but testament to people of the region, and still in living memory, over 700 lives were saved. Today the ship lies in 300 feet of water and is a permanent fixture in the area’s dramatic history.

So with genetics in mind I wondered, would I have a natural affinity for the People’s Republic of Cork? It is the second capital of Ireland; some would say the real one and others the rebel city. Of course, the Irish are now sophisticated Europhiles and supposedly beyond what was once an inter-city rivalry, but the old competitive streak is still wont to rear its humorous head and is always a winner if stuck for conversation.

The word Cork derives from the Gaeilge ‘Corcagh Mor Mumhan’, or ‘The Great Marsh of Munster’, because of how it was built on islands surrounded by the river Lee, marshy and prone to episodes of flooding. Arriving in the city these days the marshy effect is nowhere to be seen - the city is now more of a mixture of the salubrious, the curious and the culinary. From the small terraced houses to the south, up over the hill of the wealthy Montenotte, there is a varied feel to the place.

While the region encompasses the best of culinary sophistication, it is also home to more traditional past times, holding the party of all parties when the annual folk festival in September hosts a huge ceili. In 2006, residents of Patrick Street witnessed an attempt to break the world record for the largest Irish dancing event. Organisers hoped to attract 10,000 participants, managing 8371, which reputedly was enough to break the previous record held by the town of Dublin in the USA.

Opting for luxury and style over the more basic options I stayed in the Hayfield Manor, a five star country house just outside the city centre by the university grounds. A recently built house on a period property, it is family owned and run. The décor, although not original, is classical, and rooms are welcoming with elegant Italian-tiled bathrooms. But it is the food that sets it apart from other hotels. I had heard that the hotel had been awarded the Good Food Ireland Hotel of the Year 2006, so I headed with my dining companion to The Orchids restaurant to see what it was about. The meal more than confirmed the good reputation of Head Chef Aidan Hickey.

To start, my companion’s carpaccio of beef was a better choice than my goat cheese quenelle, which was a little too much dairy in one small space for me. Pre and mid-course tasters of pan-fried foie gras and seared scallops were decadent. Both in a mariner mood, we ordered roast cod with truffle mash potatoes and John Dory with herb risotto and a temptingly named fish cappuccino. They were delicious, but it was the Hayfield house-dessert plate with its selection of dainty sized portions of the kitchen’s sweet treats that topped the pleasure stakes for the night. A reasonably priced bottle of Vegeval Plata Crianza 2002 from the menu’s recommended wine list was a good choice.

There are two restaurants in the hotel, the second being a more relaxed option, so on the following night we made a token effort to under-indulge after all the rich food and went for what in the end were calorie-laden salads with a cheese platter. According to the gang from Montenotte (Cork’s most salubrious suburb) afternoon tea in the drawing room at Hayfield is a must for any celebratory affair; where the orchard once stood, this room with its open fireplace is a suitable setting to while away a couple of hours over sweet and savoury bits.

Arguably one of the city’s biggest advantages is its proximity to some of the prettiest landscapes of the southern region, and a trip out to Kinsale was a must for a glimpse of the brightly painted cottages, the yacht-filled harbour and selection of restaurants. If Cork is the culinary capital of Ireland, Kinsale is the gourmet capital of Cork.

This is a town with a history with a capital ‘H’. Seized by the Spanish in 1601, blockaded by the English who in turn were blockaded by the Irish under Hugh O’Neill and O’Donnell, the Irish were eventually defeated. Add in the Flight of the Earls (the exodus of the Irish nobility) and King James the Second’s defeat at the Battle of the Boyne after which he sailed out of Kinsale Harbour, and you begin to see that this town is used to its fair share of drama.

If just reading about all that activity isn’t enough to exhaust you, imagine our surprise when, emerging from a leisurely lunch, we were met by military jeeps. These were replete with numerous combat-uniformed staff and their fairly large machine guns. Thankfully they weren’t there for us, but to check out the local bank. I wonder if it is something that is reserved for off-season, and if so, does that mean that Kinsale banks aren’t safe in the height of summer. Army trucks don’t exactly suit the quaint village atmosphere and would tend to intimidate any visually able tourist. Apparently things are normally a lot more sedate, and locals are more likely to talk of their prior claim to first prize in Ireland's Tidy Town Competition. From battles to flowerbeds, Kinsale has it all.

Not to neglect the all-important food issue, two restaurants worth visiting are Crackpots, tucked away in Market Place, and Fishy Fishy nearby. Crackpots has a working pottery, and the ochre-washed walls are adorned with its ceramics. Food is seasonal, to give the best of local produce. Fishy Fishy focuses on simple cooking, flavour takes precedent over presentation and, not serving meat at all, it is unashamedly for the fish-lover.

Not so much a rebel city as a modern mix of cultures, the People’s Republic continues to hold its own.