Cork’s most ethical, sustainable vegan eats you should try

AS World Vegan Day approaches, it’s time to reflect on how the movement has transitioned from the fringe into the mainstream and to consider what comes next for veganism.

Cork, with its long-standing foodie credentials, has often been the pioneer staging ground for new approaches to food in Ireland. From artisan food production to farm to fork, to Ireland’s first exclusively vegetarian restaurant in Paradiso; from foodie hot spots that ferment activism around social and food justice, to harvesting rainwater for closed-loop kefir production and turning would-be food waste into compost to grow yet more food.

There’s a far-sightedness that runs through Cork’s food scene that makes it quick to embrace the next new thing, but also gives it the confidence to say that things can evolve and become better. To me, that enshrines how Cork has embraced veganism.

Of course, there are cafes and restaurants that are ‘fully vegan’, but it’ll be a hard slog to find anywhere that can’t or won’t service the needs well for those who adhere to a plant-based diet. Vegans, vegetarians and omnivores looking to increase their quotient of plant-based food are spoiled for choice.

So, we are lucky. But is it wise to rest on laurels? What else needs to be done to ensure vegan equals wholesome, equals ethical and sustainable?

There are tropes revisited time and again when debate erupts about whether veganism is really planet-friendly. We point to avocados shipped in from Columbia and ask about its carbon footprint, or the ethics behind their production (drug-cartels allegedly cashing in on the global demand for avocados).

We eye intensive farming of soybeans for tofu and ask how is that less carbon-intensive than raising animals for food (soy is also grown for animal feed).

We see the cost of quinoa rising so fast that Peruvians find it hard to afford to buy their own indigenous food, while ground waters are drained to irrigate asparagus fields, ensuring pristine spears are available year-round in our supermarkets.

Challenges like these are what face the plant-based food movement in the current era. But it is also spurring on a new domestic response for lessening demand on food produced far away, realising that growing plants for food is easy in Ireland, and a new intensified focus on food that is grown ethically and sustainably.

Maybe that’s organic and chemical-free food production or adaptable growers experimenting with crops not grown commercially (e.g., melons produced by Food For Humans in Ballinspittle); those succeeding in growing pulses here, such as lentils, or farming heritage grains for flour for loaves of bread that are truly Irish – from grain to bake.

This wouldn’t be possible unless there was a ready market for food produced in this way. It requires a certain mindset to adhere to the conviction that for the food to be good, it must be good from the moment the seed is planted in the ground until the time it is presented on a plate – and everything in between.

Many of Cork’s vegan-friendly eateries are already in that mindset and responding to the wishes of their customers, a message that reaches beyond veganism. People are more conscious than ever of how their choices – particularly food choices – can be a positive force for good.

So, seek out the best places to spend your hard-earned money in Cork on World Vegan Day with my guide to Cork’s most ethical and sustainable vegan eats.

Sonflour, Castle Street

www.sonflour.ie

Innovative and creative Italian street food is what Sonflour does best. What’s even better is their holistic commitment to sustainable business. The restaurant’s foundation is its manifesto to sustainability which doesn’t shy away from the challenging complexities this presents.

“To reveal the origin and characteristics of raw materials is often overlooked yet essential,” they say. To that end, working with suppliers that share their ethos, friends and business partners Lorenzo and Eugenio, produce vegetarian and vegan feasts that are delicious, wholesome, sustainable and support their network of Irish growers and producers.

Their unique selling point lies in their commitment to only using Irish grown and milled flours and their knowledge and skill in turning it into delectable breads, savoury pizzas and silky pasta with devilishly moreish results.

See their recipe for Focaccia Pugliese below.

Quay Co-Op, Sullivan’s Quay

www.quaycoop.com

Established in 1982, Quay Co-Op celebrated 40 years as Cork’s original home for radical activism, later re-imagining itself as a workers’ co-operative and opening the vegetarian restaurant that continues to be a perennial favourite among Corkonians. Championing the ideals of wholefoods and plant-centric eating, catering to the growing numbers of plant-based customers was an easy switch up.

Quay Co-Op have “always tried to be ethically aware of what we serve to our followers, how it is sourced and how it is produced,” they say; and an important reason they have been in business four decades with a loyal following to boot: they are authentic in what they say by following it up in what they do.

The latest addition to the repertoire at ‘Upstairs at the Co-op’ is the launch of a new Vegetarian and Vegan Afternoon Tea. Guests will be treated to a mix of vegetarian and vegan savoury and sweet treats from 2.30pm to 5.00pm Wednesday to Saturday, alongside the all-day dining menu.

Paradiso, Lancaster Quay

www.paradiso.restaurant

In 2018, I interviewed Denis Cotter of Paradiso in celebration of 25 years in business. He said he was “very impressed with veganism” and that “there is a new generation of chefs coming through that are very good at cooking with plants”.

The success of Paradiso is many-layered, but above all it is rooted in a deep understanding of vegetables. Cotter and his Paradiso team have spent a lifetime understanding how to coax the best flavour from vegetables, and realising that how they are grown is key to achieving best flavour and texture.

His many years’ partnership with Cork growers Ultan and Lucy Walsh of Gort na Nain farm in Nohoval is testament to that and recognised on the international scene – in 2019 they were joint recipients of the Big Plate ‘Collaboration of the Year’ at the World Restaurant Awards. The partnership blends the best of ‘just in time’ seasonal veg with a well-rehearsed repertoire of much-loved dishes, while allowing creative room for both chef and grower – a uniquely transparent and sustainable partnership.

My Goodness, The English Market and Mahon Point Market

www.mygoodnessfood.com

Raw, vegan, gut-friendly and prebiotic it may be, but I just call it beautiful magic.

The wizards at My Goodness do things with plants most of us never thought possible, like taking potatoes, carrots and a bunch of other vegetables and turning them into their wholesome and mind-boggling delicious version of a Nacho Chee(z)e. Or harvesting rainwater and fermenting it into kefir and kombucha.

They make sauerkraut sexy and hot kimchi broth craveable. Their pickles and ferments are so good, and at festivals, there is a queue for their life-affirming food all day long.

My Goodness may have set up stall along ‘Meat Alley’ at The English Market, but that’s just the kind of challenge that adds fuel to the fire for Virginia and Donal, founders of this crazy food enterprise, who often find themselves serving up bowls of Vegan Chilli, Notchos and Raw Wraps to butchers because it tastes that good. What makes their brand of radicalism palatable is their openness to communicate and share ideals – everything is on the table, except meat, of course.

Latterly, their role in Cork Urban Soil Project (CUSP), has seen them get ever more serious about the vegetables that are essential to what they do. By collecting would-be-waste from Mahon Farmers’ Market and using a biodigester at the My Goodness production facility, they are transforming food waste into useable compost in which they grow yet more produce which goes back into creating more of their tasty food.

It may come under the banner of radical, but this way of taking action is an example to what should be truly meant when we talk about sustainable food production.

A RECIPE TO TRY...

Lorenzo and Eugenio of Sonflour have kindly shared this recipe for their Focaccia Pugliese, a very soft tasty dough typical of the south of Italy made with potatoes and mixed flours, topped with cherry tomatoes and oregano.

This is a simplified recipe everyone can try for a taste of Sonflour at home.

Ingredients

· 250g flour 00

· 250g semolina flour

· 150g potatoes (boiled and mashed)

· 15g dry yeast (apx 2x7g sachets) (dissolve in 100ml of warm water)

· 4 tbsp of extra virgin oil

· ½ tbsp salt

· 300ml water

· 250g cherry tomatoes

· Oregano, pinch

· Salt, pinch

· Extra virgin olive oil, enough for drizzling

Method:

In a large bowl mix the two flours, form a hole in the centre and add mashed boiled potatoes. Start kneading and add the dissolved yeast. Add oil, salt and gradually add the 300ml of water until the dough is soft and a little sticky.

Leave the dough to rest and rise for 6-8 hours by covering the bowl with a damp cloth.

Spread the dough in an oiled baking sheet (round or rectangular) and shape it with your hands until it is evenly distributed.

Cut tomatoes in half and place them on the surface of the focaccia with a little pressure on each tomato to make it adheres well.

Season with a pinch of oregano, coarse sea salt and a final drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and let it rise again for 30 minutes.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 25-30 minutes.

Allow to cool, then cut the Focaccia Pugliese into slices and serve.