Renowned chef Mark Moriarty has been on a flavourful journey across Ireland, delving into the heart of Marks and Spencer’s (M&S) suppliers.
From luscious Co Dublin strawberries to succulent lamb from Kevin Feeney’s farm in Co. Mayo, the prime Irish beef reared by Emma Moran and family, crusty sourdough loaves from Aryzta Bakery in Dublin and uniquely grown chestnut mushrooms from Monaghan, Mark’s tour reveals the dedication and quality behind Marks & Spencer Select Farms Irish offerings. En route, he uncovered the stories, traditions, and meticulous processes that bring the finest Irish produce to your table.
Mark’s background is in fine dining and more recently he’s made a name for himself through sharing his high-end home cooking recipes on his TV show Off Duty Chef and through his bestselling cookbook Flavour. When Marks & Spencer (M&S) approached him about working as an ambassador to highlight their Irish suppliers, he says it was a perfect fit. “They want to showcase the best of Irish. It’s also about the quality M&S is known for and that really suits that sort of food and cooking that I’ve become known for.”
He covered about 500km traversing the nation on this investigative tour. One of the first stops was Keeling’s in north County Dublin, an Irish-owned, third-generation fruit grower that has been growing strawberries for Marks & Spencer for more than 20 years. Mark met assistant grower Zack Harold. “We talked about the beauty and the taste of the strawberry. They produce a unique variety for M&S that is left to ripen for longer to ensure they are super sweet and juicy. There’s colour analysis, and sugar analysis to find the perfect ripeness. Only then are they stem-picked by hand.”
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Over in the west Mark was glad he packed his boots for a visit to Co Mayo sheep farmer Kevin Feeney. “Even though it was lashing rain we had a brilliant two days there. I knew about lamb quality from a chef’s perspective, how the meat feels, the marbling, what it tastes like, but I’m not an expert on farming so it was cool to be able to ask Kevin what makes his lamb special.”
Our cold climate farming means the animals tend to have a good layer of fat that adds to its taste. Even the typical stone walls around the farm are part of the story. The sheep shelter by these walls and this increases the fat content in the ewes’ milk which is then passed on to the lambs. This gives really good quality, high flavoured meat with great texture and tenderness, he says.
“These details all feed into the calibre of the meat that eventually ends up on our plate,” he says. The meat is then dressed by the food hall’s butchers and given a French trim, so that it looks impressive when served on the plate. For this reason, when in season, he likes to serve it to friends when they’re invited for dinner.
Overnight success 20 years in the making
Another product that’s always on rotation in Mark’s kitchen is the food hall’s Irish chestnut mushrooms, grown exclusively for the brand by Monaghan Mushrooms in Tyholland, Co. Monaghan. The firm has been supplying M&S for more than twenty-five years.
While there, Mark discovered that the old Irish name for mushrooms is fás aon oíche. “It means growth of one night and they really do grow that fast,” he says. “A food that goes from spore to on the shelf in 24-48 hours is an amazing thing. You’ll be looking at a piece of soil in Tyholland and within 12 hours there will be fully-fledged mushrooms grown and the next day they’ll be on the shelf in a M&S store.”
The specific chestnut mushroom variety supplied to M&S, Mark says, are just a bit more interesting than your typical fungi. Infused with vitamin D and vitamin B6, it has four times more of the latter than regular mushrooms and more flavour when you caramelise them, he explains. He loves nothing more than serving them on a slice of Marks & Spencer San Francisco sourdough, for his signature crostini.
Daily bread the Californian way
The sourdough is made by Aryzta, a company that dates to the 19th century in Ireland. These days it has expanded internationally but still have a busy research and development team in Dublin, which is where Mark learned more about the bread. “They developed a specific San Francisco-style sourdough for M&S, that uses a thirty-year-old plus starter and is proved for thirty plus hours. It’s a long proving time, so it takes longer to produce each loaf.” This ensures a high-quality sourdough delivered fresh to stores every day, in pre-sliced and whole loaf options.
Mark’s journey ends back where he began, in Co Dublin with Emma Moran, who runs a family business supplying leading M&S stores with the best of Irish beef. “Quality starts at the very beginning of the growing and rearing processes It was a pleasure to spend some time seeing first-hand the passion and dedication that goes into producing such consistent high quality Irish beef.”
Visiting these producers and farmers Mark has learned a lot but also immersed himself in the culture and traditions of each province visited.
He says it’s been great to see there is still a traditional Irish connection to the land in the Marks & Spencer production line. “To see the relationships everybody has, from the very top of M&S to the people making the magic happen in the fields, bakeries and fruit farms, for me, that has been the best part. It also gives me so much inspiration to cook at home. Best of all is knowing that we’re supporting local producers when we shop in store.”
This season three new names, Monaghan mushrooms; Aryzta and Feeney’s lamb join Moran’s beef and Keeling’s as M&S Select Irish farms suppliers. To get more insights into the families behind the farms and the first-class produce they deliver to M&S food halls you can watch the videos of Mark Moriarty’s visits to M&S Select Irish farms here