Real Foodie - Real Money?

Can you be a real foodie and make real money?

This thought has crossed my mind several times recently. It usually occurs to me when I'm in a restaurant or cafe and think, I could make so much nicer at home. Now I'm no Cordon Bleu cook, but I love food and I buy and cook the best I can afford and sometimes what I can't afford!

When I lost my job, I had a lot more time to indulge my passion, but a lot less money. I began to realise that I was actually eating much better. Now I was time rich but cash poor. Before, I was coming home and just making what I could with what I had managed to buy, on a mad dash to the supermarket at lunchtime or on the way home. I always cooked but rarely bought anything more processed than a pizza on a Friday night when the kids were small.

But first I suppose you would have to define a "foodie". Apart from hating the word, is there a definitive definition? Wikipedia has this. At no point does it mention someone concerned with the origin and the production method of the food they are passionate about. To me - this is what a foodie is or should be. I'm not hugely concerned if it's not organic but I tend to prefer to buy it when I can. If a food is produced with minimal damage to the environment and with minimal cruelty to the animal concerned then I'm happy. 

During my research for this post and quite by coincidence an American friend posted this article on Facebook. I agree with most of it particularly that agriculture does not necessarily have to be organic. Before we started importing vast quantities of genetically modified grain to make cheap animal feed we had pretty much the best agriculture system in the world. At least for sheep and beef, pigs and chicken have always been less so.

I asked some people I know involved in food production (small passionate producers) can money be made without compromising your principles. I got some interesting replies.

A farmer I know producing top quality meat says restaurants have tried his meat, they love it, their customers love it but the price point is just too high. Restaurants, even high end ones have a budget to adhere to.

Another restaurant supplier told me that their customers will buy a top quality ingredient initially but then they squeeze the supplier, and buy trashy ingredients to supplement.

Another farmer told me you can make money if you have a "sh&t load" of land.

One restauranteur replied to my Twitter query that you can make money using good ingredients but not organic. 

The consensus from the smaller artisan producers was you can make a living (just about) but you can't make money.

I know when I worked in a high end bakery we used the best quality ingredients and the products were all hand made but we lost money hand over fist. It is very difficult to make money using butter, top quality chocolate, olive oil (not pomace), cream, real eggs (not liquid). Well you could if you charged a realistic price but how many restaurants and cafés would pay a realistic price?

How many times have I found what I think is a great product but then I look at the ingredient list. I gave up a long time ago buying "artisan" pesto. They skimp on the olive oil to begin with and if they use it at all you can be guaranteed it is pomace. There are so few ingredients in pesto but the quality of the oil is of paramount importance. I'm not that bothered. I just make my own. In fact I do this with so many different foods now. I never buy mayonnaise. Even if you could buy it made with raw organic eggs you would probably have to sign the official secrets act or whatever the equivalent is.

Money is almost always the bottom line no matter how passionate the producer or the consumer is. The producer has to justify the expense of using a top quality ingredient and will they get a return. The consumer depending on budget and passion has a price point too. Very often it is cheaper for me to make my own using top quality ingredients. But you do need the time.

I am obviously not talking about large food companies here. The likes of Glenisk and successful artisan cheese producers, particularly the ones using raw organic milk. For some reason the latter seem to be immune from this "price point". I love buying products like theirs. I love to glory in the fact that they are making what I would make myself at home. I can taste their passion.

In an ideal world we could all eat, buy, make real food without financial hardship. And we would need less of the meaningless adjectives - natural, handmade, hand tied, artisan, country fresh, gourmet etc. to describe it. And maybe we would have less obesity, diabetes, cardiac disease, cancer.

So can a real foodie make money?

Some can. Most make a living and many more make money where the foodie bit is a bit fuzzy. 

Soda Sliders

Don't you just love when a food becomes trendy? Sliders - well we have had cupcakes, pulled pork and cronuts already! Anyway it basically means a small sandwich. I didn't feel much like cooking but knew I had some crabmeat in the fridge. Home made mayonnaise takes minutes to make and is infinitely superior to any shop bought. Soda bread rolls can be made and baked in jig time too.

Soda bread rolls
2 cups of  coarse wholemeal flour
1 cup of white
1 teasp bicarbonate of soda
1 egg optional
buttermilk

I rarely weigh ingredients for this as throw it in by eye. In a bowl add the sieved soda and white flour to the coarse wholemeal. Add beaten egg and buttermilk until you have a wet consistency but can still gather it into a circular shape. Handle as little as possible. Use pastry cutters and cut 8-10 buns. Place on a flour dusted baking tray in a preheated oven at 190 deg for about 15 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack.

In meantime make the mayo. I would be very wary of using any eggs for this other than my own. If you have a good source of genuine free range eggs use it.

1 free range egg yolk
half a teasp of powdered mustard
2 teasp of cider vinegar
sunflower oil or a mixture of *olive and sunflower
pinch salt and pepper
crushed clove of garlic (optional)

Using a hand held whisk beat the egg yolk, salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar. Drizzle in the oil slowly to begin, with the whisk running. As it begins to thicken up you can speed up the flow. It has never split on me, but if yours does just add in another egg yolk. I use about a cup full of oil. When you have the texture and quantity you are happy with stop adding oil. Check seasoning and add garlic if you wish a garlic mayo. You can also add herbs of choice.



Store in a jar in fridge. Keeps for at least a week.

*Using all olive oil can make a very strong flavoured mayonnaise. 

Also delicious with some strawberry and rhubarb jam from previous post. A sweet slider for after.

Strawberry & Strawberry and Rhubarb Jam

It's strawberry season and rhubarb is just finishing off. It's no coincidence that these fruits (well okay fruit and vegetable) go magnificently well together. So make the most of both and either get crumbling or make jam.

I bought a 4kg box of jam strawberries from a grower just outside Gorey, Co. Wexford - Green's Berry Farm. If you are lucky enough to have access to a grower, this is the way to go. The strawberries are perfect but all shapes and sizes and not as cosmetic as supermarkets demand. (Why?)

My rhubarb is just about finished and this year I got three good crops from two plants. These last stems are slightly thin and a bit straggly but perfect for jam making or indeed crumble.

Strawberry Jam
I hate jam that is too sweet so I read a few recipes and then used considerably less sugar than any advised, including Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Darina Allen. Although it is low sugar and strawberries don't contain a lot of pectin it set easily. (Always use a combination of under ripe and ripe berries if possible).

1kg of strawberries hulled and lightly crushed
400g Sure Set sugar (jam sugar)
Juice of a lemon

Put the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a large heavy based pan. Simmer until the sugar is dissolved, then bring to a boil. Keep it at a rolling boil.
Put a couple of small plates into the fridge. Using a jam thermometer *test for a set as soon as the temperature gets close to "jam set" point marked on the thermometer. If you don't have a thermometer (and it is really worthwhile to buy one) this takes about 15-20 minutes. You do not want to boil the bejaysus out of it as the colour will go from that nice red pictured to a brown.

Meanwhile sterilise jam jars by putting some water into each jar and zapping in a microwave for three minutes. You can also do this in the oven. (no need to add water in oven).

Allow the jam to stand for about 15 minutes and then pour carefully using a pyrex jug into your hot, sterilised jars. Cool and cap.

This recipe made a litre of jam.

Strawberry and Rhubarb Jam

500g rhubarb washed and chopped into small pieces
500g hulled strawberries
350g sugar
150g Sure Set sugar

Put the rhubarb, strawberries and sugar in a pan. Use method above. It may take slightly longer to soften the rhubarb and allow this in the time before bringing to a rolling boil. It reaches setting point faster however.

This quantity made just under 1.5 litres of jam.








*To test for a set - put a blob of jam on a cold plate and pop back in fridge for a few minutes. Run your finger through the blob and if it has reached setting point it will wrinkle slightly.


Jam keeps well in a warm, dry cupboard but once opened store in the fridge. It should keep unopened for a year. If there is any mould when you open it, just scoop it out. You can reboil it but a bit of mould never did me any harm.

In the depths of winter is there anything nicer than a big scoop of strawberry jam on a fresh scone?