What’s Eaten Where: County Cork

Ireland’s largest, most southerly county, Cork is possibly the most stunning region of the Emerald Isle. Boasting the world’s second largest natural harbour (after Sydney, of course), and the world-renowned Blarney Castle, Cork was once home to Europe’s very first Temperance Society. It was also the last port of call for the Titanic, and the very first place in the country to see a potato.

Whats Eaten Where2Today, of course, there’s much more to the cuisine than potatoes. Known as the food capital of Ireland, Cork is a culinary heaven, its dishes legendary. Tripe and drisheen, though not for the faint of heart, is perhaps the most iconic; drisheen being a sort of black pudding made with milk, salt, fat, breadcrumbs, and a mix of cow’s, pig’s or sheep’s blood which is all boiled, sieved, and then stuffed into pig or sheep intestine. Bacon and cabbage is another favourite, and is often enjoyed with white parsley sauce.

With more than 1,000km of exquisite coastline, seafood is also very much on the menu in this county. Fish and chips is considered an iconic local dish, and everything from mussels to crab is fresh off the boat and dripping with flavour.

But it’s not just the sea that yields amazing produce: Cork has acres of green pasture, and the local dairy industry is known for its spectacular cheeses. Local favourites include Gubbeen Smoked Cheese and Ardsallagh Goats Cheese, but you’ll also find any amount of artisanal cheeses across the county.

Finally, a culinary trip round the county wouldn’t be complete without a nod to the craft beer; local brewers like to be very different here in Cork! Eight Degrees’ Howling Gale, a pale ale described as “like blitzing down the Ballyhouras on a bike with an icy wind in your face” and Black’s India Pale Ale Rocketship, “an interplanetary taste adventure” are just two of the gloriously unique concoctions one can enjoy when one tires of mainstream brews.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.