A Taste of Southwest Ireland: Ireland’s New Culinary Culture

Ireland has a long history of beloved dairy products (especially butter), but West Cork is renowned for fresh and delicious local cheese. Durrus is one of the best-known, so tasting the semi-soft Durrus Farmhouse cheese is a must when in West Cork. Another regional favorite is Gubbeen cheese, a “farmhouse-style” cheddar. Sample smoked Gubbeen from the Mizen Peninsula, a mature cheese with smoky hints of oak and woody flavors. Other delectable regional cheeses are the slightly buttery and salty Coolea cheese, a Dutch-style Gouda from Mizen, and Knockatee cheddar—a mild and creamy cheese with hints of floral and nutty flavor.

Guinness may well be synonymous with Ireland, but there’s so much more to Irish beer. Craft beer is emerging from behind a Guinness-shaped shadow, and quirky regional microbreweries are fermenting some standouts. On your Ireland Bike Tour, try sipping pints at West Cork Brewing, Rising Sons Brewery, Eight Degrees, or Treaty City in Limerick—supposedly Limerick’s first new brewer in a century! Another tasty local option is West Kerry Brewery. Though many craft breweries are regional, you may have a chance to try other Irish craft beers like The White Hag (Sligo), Kinnegar (Donegal), or Mescan (Westport) depending on the beer list in any pub or restaurant.

Soda bread has become a symbol of Ireland, but many people mistake all Irish bread for soda bread. In fact, not even all brown bread is soda bread (nor is all soda bread brown bread). True Irish soda bread is leavened with bicarbonate of soda, while brown bread is leavened with a combination of baking powder and baking soda. Want to try your hand at kneading a bit of bread? DuVine’s cycling tour of Ireland includes a break from the bike for an Irish soda bread-making workshop.

Irish whiskey is well-known throughout the world, with labels like Old Bushmills, Jameson, and Tullamore. In southwest Ireland, Jameson Midleton Distillery, located near Cork, reigns supreme. But for a more local libation, head to Dingle Distillery on Kerry’s Dingle Peninsula. Many newer distilleries start with gin, since it doesn’t require as long to age. Surprised to learn there’s Irish gin? Wait until you encounter Irish potin, a strong, traditional spirit distilled in a pot still. Pub culture is alive and well, so enjoy your drink of choice in a cozy pub beside a roaring peat fire, all while enjoying lively traditional (trad) Irish music.

Ireland is an island, which ensures enticing seafood wherever you go in the country. But some parts of Ireland are seafood standouts—Dingle among them. Other stellar seafood locales include Kenmare, Kinsale, and Bantry Bay. From fresh catch-of-the-day platters to steaming seafood chowders, unbeatable fish-and-chips, overflowing bowls of mussels, just-caught lobsters, and hearty fish pies, southwest Ireland is superior when it comes to seafood.

While it might seem odd, seaweed isn’t just an amazing culinary secret—it’s a superfood. Sustainable and nutritious, seaweed is abundant along Ireland’s Atlantic coastline, which contains upwards of 625 seaweed species. Fat-free and rich in fiber and minerals, seaweed contains essential amounts of Omega-3s, proteins, iodine, iron, zinc, and Vitamin B. Chefs masterfully incorporate its appealing saltiness and briny flavor into breads, broths, and braised veggies. Seaweed foraging is also a great way to get to know this ingredients and a popular pastime in Kerry.

There’s no better ailment for a dreary Irish day than a hearty meal. By strict EU standards, Irish meat is excellent—and most is organic. With a rich heritage in rural agriculture, many of Ireland’s traditional dishes are hearty and meat-based. The recipe for Steak-and-Guinness pie may date as far back as Neolithic times: a beef stew made with a Guinness base, this dish is full of roasty, chocolatey notes that bring out the beef’s big, bold flavor . Lamb stew is another favorite: though lamb is served in fine dining restaurants around the world, it was once the food of the countrymen, and a hearty lamb stew with garden veggies is rich yet uncomplicated. Prefer pork? Bacon and cabbage is a traditional workman’s meal that holds up to any sophisticated palate.

Strawberries are produced in abundance in Wexford, located in Ireland’s southeast, but these sweet morsels are available across Ireland. During the summer, they are plentiful at roadside stands, boutique grocers, and mom-and-pop shops—and the flavor is vastly different from the container you pick up at your year-round supermarket. Blackberries, raspberries, and currants also grow wild and are the perfect trail snack. Apples, too, have a long history in Ireland stretching back thousands of years. In the north, County Armagh— nicknamed the “Orchard County”—is known for growing apples, while cider apples flourish in southeast Ireland.

While you’re riding across the Emerald Isle and devouring local experiences, a sweet treat is often the perfect boost to keep you pedaling. On DuVine’s bike trip in Ireland, you’ll meet a local French-born chocolatier for a lesson in the art of making chocolate. What could be better than pulling a sweet and delicious morsel that you made yourself out of your jersey pocket to push through the end of your last loop?

Markets have been a central part of the rural life in Ireland’s villages for centuries. While local farmers work harder than ever to compete with supermarkets, farmer’s markets continue to buzz with life, community, and the most beautiful farm-to-table ingredients. Find a year-round selection of fruits, colorful vegetables, local meat, artisan cheese, and fresh-caught seafood alongside purveyors of ready-to-eat delicacies like wood-fired pizzas, warming curries, or traditional meat pies. Happily, most of the food and drink on this list are readily available at local markets. While you’re tasting your way through the booths, you may also marvel at hand-woven wool, local art, carved wood, hand-thrown ceramics, and more—the perfect place to find a lovingly made keepsake or souvenir. DuVine’s Ireland Bike Tour always visits at least one Irish market!