Irish dairy products, unlike those we encountered in Turkey, are all more-or-less familiar to us, and we have been really enjoying their permutations. Let’s start with the basics: grass and cows. Ireland’s dairy industry is enormous and growing. It’s focused mostly in the southwest, where the grasses are especially suitable. Irish cows are mostly Holstein or Friesian, with some Jerseys as well. Pretty much anywhere you drive in Ireland outside of cities, you will find cows. And these cows spend their days enjoying the Irish weather, eating grass and soaking up the nutrients that make their milk so good. (You’ll also find sheep and goats, but we’re not talking about them.)
Irish Butter
This is the stuff! Available in the US and UK most commonly as Kerrygold, we think Irish butter is among the finest around, and certainly the best you can buy in ordinary supermarkets. (It has 12% of European market share.) We have been eating enormous amounts of it here in Ireland. It is – our friends sometimes remind us – more expensive. Yes; it is. That’s because it tastes better! Butter in Europe has a higher fat content (82-90%, as opposed to 80% in the US). European butter also tends to taste like more, more grassy, more herby, more whatever the cows are eating. But the most noticeable difference, at least to the eye, is that European butter, this one included, tends to be yellower than those in the US are used to. That’s the carotene, which comes from the grass the cows eat (see above).
Irish Cheddar and Irish Blue
Again, chances are that you’ve heard of these: Irish cheddar is a lot like cheddar you have had from everywhere else in the world (we’re not talking about those dyed-orange ones). The Dubliner, made by our pals at Kerrygold, is a nutty and sharp cheddar. It makes what is possibly the world’s best grilled-cheese sandwich, on sourdough bread and with a bit of chutney.
Cashel Blue, Ireland’s most popular blue (and Ireland’s most famous cheese), is mild and semi-firm, an excellent choice for those who don’t like the overwhelming bluey-ness of strong blues. We love it on toasted soda-bread, so it gets near to melting.
Other
There are a ton of great Irish cheeses besides the typical, but we want to focus on just three, Gubbeen, St Killian’s, and Wicklow Blue. The first is a washed-rind cow’s milk cheese. It is semi-soft with a nutty flavour, excellent for dessert. If you allow it to get older, it becomes funky and strong. One of us likes that, the other doesn’t. St Killian’s, one of the oldest cheeses in Ireland, is a stunning camembert. And the Wicklow Blue is everything you could want in a cheese, being a brie that is also a blue.
That’s all for the post, but it’s really only the beginning of our eatings of Irish dairy products. We haven’t even started on goat’s and sheep’s cheeses – but we will!
