Foraging for a treasure trove of nature's food nuggets

Anybody who grew up in and around the Irish countryside will probably have fond memories of picking blackberries, hunting for mushrooms and going on hazelnut hunts. It was simply part of growing up. Nowadays, that kind of rural pastime has been ‘poshed up’ and been given the title of foraging.

Foraging is extolled by chefs from those in the renowned Noma in Copenhagen to Aniar restaurant here in Galway City. But strip away the fashionable labels and it’s simply about doing what people have always done, according to Connemara chef, Jonathan Keane.

Jonathan, who grew up on a farm a mile from Kylemore Abbey, is a big believer in using what’s in his own back garden and most mornings at this time of year can be found in the woods of Cong, hunting for nettles, fuchsia, gorse and various wild herbs. These will be used in the kitchens of Lisloughrey House where recently took over as head chef.

The 32-year-old, who grew up on a farm, is a big believer in using ingredients from the West of Ireland – mostly from a 50-mile radius. And he’s even happier if they are from his own back yard.

“When I was a young lad I was into that whole thing. My dad is a farmer and good cook and we grew up close to the sea so we always got the best of stuff,” he explains, adding that “it was before all the EU regulations came in”.

“It was a way of life; it wasn’t a big deal.”

But, he says, while he was reared on locally produced food, it’s only in recent years he has come to realise its worth.

“When I go on holidays I eat in Michelin star restaurants, because that’s what I love,” he explains. “In nearly every restaurant in England the meat is from Scotland and Ireland.”

It’s time Irish people realised we have better quality stuff here than in many countries, he feels. It’s a notion we have been slow to grasp here in the West, even when it comes to produce like fish.

“You’d talk to fishermen and they’d tell you about all the razor fish and winkles – tonnes of it being exported and not being used locally. I get on my high horse about that because it’s the finest in the world.”Jonathan’s love affair with food was nurtured in his teen years when he got a job in Veldon’s Bar and Restaurant in Letterfrack, “washing pots and stacking shelves”.

“When I’d be washing, I’d be peering around the corner at the craic in the kitchen and there was so much action it really grabbed me,” he laughs. “It was a really high pressure game.”

He asked the chef to let him peel onions and was on his way!“If you start showing interest, chefs are usually happy to take you under their wing.”

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.