FishWives – A Fish Recipe Book

Posted On June 27 Dee Sewell Leave a comment

Walt Disney once said “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing”. This is exactly what I decide to do a few weeks ago when I opened yet another fish recipe book that did not include Rainbow trout in its index. I felt it was time to stop moaning about it and do something once and for all. Yes folks, I have decided to edit a fish recipe book featuring almost nothing except Trout recipes! This will however, be a fish recipe book with a difference.

Hospice Africa Uganda

All profits will go to an amazing charity Hospice Africa Uganda. My connection is that my sister, journalist Miriam Donohoe, has been working with the charity in Kampala as a volunteer since January 2016. The mission of Hospice Africa Uganda is to end pain and suffering faced by thousands in Africa due to poor health services and to ensure that seriously ill people die pain free, in peace, comfort and dignity.

Fish Recipe Cook Book

The cookery book is to be called “Fishwives”, with a selection of what I hope are mainly trout recipes from women in Ireland and Uganda from diverse backgrounds and professions. But if it’s not a trout recipe that’s okay – you could still be a fishwife!

Goatsbridge Trout is funding the entire cost of designing and producing the book. Proceeds from sales will go to Hospice Africa Uganda. The book will cost €20 and I am printing 3,000 copies, €15 from each sale will go to Hospice Africa Uganda. The other €5 is the print cost. I have an ambitious target to raise €40,000 for Hospice Africa Uganda, to be channeled through Hospice Africa Ireland, a board which fund raises and supports Hospice Africa Uganda.

Have a read of one of the many articles written by my sister Miriam since she arrived in Uganda. It will give you a great account of the work of hospice and the huge need.

So here is my ask. Would you contribute your favourite trout or fish recipe for the book? What I need is:

A fish recipe plus a digital picture of the recipe – a basic photo is fine as we will be reproducing the picture after testing the recipe.
A short biography, not more than 125 words.
A high resolution profile picture of yourself. If you don’t have one at hand I can arrange for one to be taken at your convenience.

The deadline for submission is 31st July 2016.

Fish Wives - A Fish Recipe Cookery Book from Goatsbridge Trout

See example Fish Wives sample cook book page from Caroline Hennessy

I have a book designer in Slater design and a printer sourced and commissioned for the project. The plan is to launch the book at The Savour Kilkenny Food Festival on Friday 28th October 2016. Why not put your thinking hats on and send me on your favourite trout recipe along with your details to goatsbridge@gmail.com. We have a limit on the number of recipes but who knows, we may publish a second book!

Where to buy the Book?

The Fishwives – A Cookbook by Goatsbridge book can be purchased from:

Here on our website
Book Centre Waterford
Kilkenny Book Centre
Loughboy SuperValu Kilkenny
Arkeen Store Waterford
Butler’s Pantry Dublin
Supervalu Thomastown
Amazon Online

As an old friend of mine once said

“We are here to do good to others. What the others are here for I do not know”!!

Lessons in Business from a 13 year old

Posted On April 4 Dee Sewell Leave a comment

Desire is the key to motivation, but it is determination and commitment that will enable you to attain success.

A few weeks ago at the school Leinster finals in Santry, Co. Dublin, along with her running team mates form Loreto College, our 13 year old achieved that success. They then went on to win in the All Ireland Cross Country final in the under 14 category in Sligo.

Nothing in this world can take the place of desire, dedication, determination, concentration and the will to win, not even talent.

There are lots of things happening in Goatsbridge right now and I cannot help but compare our girl’s success with the success we are trying to achieve here in our business. The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we succeed or not, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand. Goatsbridge were delighted to come out on top in the Regional Finals of the Enterprise Awards last week and will now go on to represent Kilkenny in the National Finals in June this year .

Funnily enough Aine did tell me after the race,that I was not to attempt to put any pictures on Facebook of her. She told me she was not cocky like her mother and mimicked me with a rye smile saying “my trout is wonderful “. I had to put her in her place and informed her it was not cockiness I was displaying but an absolute belief in our product and the work we are doing here at Goatsbridge. You see I have to believe with all my heart that our trout are wonderful. How else could I do my job?

More than anything else Aine loves running in the team events, running for each other, and the fun they have especially when they come out on top. She is lucky enough to have hit upon a very good group of girls in Kilkenny and it looks as if they have a bright future ahead.

Although Aine came out on top at the Leinster finals she was not quite as successful in Sligo. For some unknown reason, she had to pull up a few hundred metres into the race and to my horror she got physically sick, three times in fact. Disaster beckoned but to my great surprise she got up again and began to run, passing out runners one by one to eventually finish 13^th overall.

That placing helped the team make history to become the first team in that age category in Loreto to come home with a Gold All Ireland Medal. Sometimes failure is not a bad thing because success is sweet and sweeter if long delayed and gotten through many struggles and defeats. Aine is one of the gutsiest and unassuming people I know and this is what makes me so proud. She is like the many successful lovely unassuming business people I have had the pleasure to meet and admire over the years.

I firmly believe we in Goatsbridge must realise it is not about the individual but about the team, a team I have been working hard to build. A team of people better than ourselves bringing skills to the table and skills we could never hope to have otherwise.

We are just about to embark upon the next phase of our business development, I have no doubt it will not be an easy run, it will be full of undulations and uphill struggles. But I will take that look of determination from Aines face with me every day and together we will get there, eventually.

Celebrating Strong Women

Posted On February 26 Dee Sewell Leave a comment

Kitty 80, Martin 53, Miriam 52, Mag 50, Louise 49, Edmond 47, Cathy 44, Joanne 41, Mike 37, Jim 34

My Mother

Mother’s day is almost upon us and I’m sitting here in my office reflecting on the life of my own mother, as well as my role as a mother in the Kirwan family.

My mother (Kitty) is a walking miracle.

She was widowed at the age of 42 when she was seven months pregnant with her 10th child. She had nine other children under the age of 14 to feed and educate.

Another tragedy stuck the family two years later when my little brother and buddy Jack, died of measles at the age of 10.

A few years after that my mother survived a very serious car crash and spent months in hospital having broken every bone in her body. She lived to tell the tale and even suggests her scars make her more interesting! How did she cope one could ask? Eleanor Roosevelt once said

“A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.”

This proved so true in the case of my mother.

My mother spent her life growing the family business of marketing horses. Goresbridge Horse Sales, now run by my brother Martin, is thriving. Kitty is a very young 80 year old still actively working alongside him.

What I admire most of all about my mother was her ability to let go and allow us to make our own decisions and ultimately mistakes from time to time. I remember vividly not having to ask permission to go out once I reached my 18th birthday. So many parents never let go and succession can be a big issue in many family businesses.

All that I am or hope to be I owe to my mother.

My mother taught me about perseverance and courage and she raised us with strength and a passion that I wish could be bottled. She taught by example and has always encouraged me in my own life as a mother to be good to myself and not to try and be a hero. I stop in my track sometimes when I hear my mother in my voice as I engage with my own kids. I do not think they fear me as we feared our mother when she told us she would “cut the snot off us”!!! She always knew, and still does, where each of us are at any one moment in time and you dare not tell her you have not been to mass.

I am sure if all mothers could meet around the world there would be no more war.

So here is a thought to strong women; may we know them, support them, raise them and ultimately be them .

Bobby – New years resolution 2016

Posted On January 16 Dee Sewell Leave a comment

New Year is a time to reflect and take stock of what worked well last year and what is needed to happen differently for the year ahead.

I always take out an A4 page after Christmas and physically write down my objectives. I hate the term New Year’s resolution perhaps because I always feel resolutions are hard to keep and objective are something to be attained.

Yesterday I sat in my office and began to write. I lay out my objectives to gain more market share for our range of products, to add one more product to that range, to improve fish yield by 1 % and so on. I then talked about digitizing and streamlining everything possible to reduce the time, expense, and waste, continuing to foster and build a more robust company culture encouraging personal development among staff. I suggested concentrating my energy into fewer things and I even committed to continuing the family forum sessions we begum after Christmas as a result of something I read in Orla Carmody’ s new book “Perform as a Leader “.

I was then kicked back into reality when I received a beautiful text reply from my fellow Kilkenny businessman and friend Bobby Kerr. It stopped me in my tracks as I was engrossed in my plans.

Bobby, as you probably all know by now, was diagnosed with head and neck cancer a number of months ago. He came out quite publically to tell the nation of his plight, but a plight that befalls approximately 35,000 people in Ireland every year so he is not alone. The fact that Bobby is a much loved public figure meant that his honesty and openness just may have helped many people, especially men in Ireland, to take action and look after themselves better, something that men seem to be very reluctant to do for some reason .

So I do not want to take this opportunity to detail my objectives for the business, but to talk about what is truly important, something that has hit home for Bobby as a result of the harrowing times he has experienced over the last three months.

Bobby Kerr’s lessons in life:

Life goes on without you.
People are fundamentally decent.
Life is short and for living.
Only three things in life matter health, family, and good friends…

“So get out there, get yourself checked, Love and be loved and enjoy life to the fullest because none of us know how long we have left on this wonderful planet.”

And besides…

Photo header: (license)

Christmas at Goatsbridge Trout Farm… it’s coming!

Posted On December 11 Dee Sewell Leave a comment

No one knows what anticipation is nowadays as everything is so immediate. Anticipation is the electricity of childhood. I can distinctly remember one year as a ten year old asking my mother how many days left till Christmas. I then spent the next 252 days counting down until the day arrived.

I can still feel that anticipation for the hope of Christmas as I felt the presents rustling at the end of my bed at four in the morning, much to my mother’s horror. Christmas was always a long day of tinned sweets, card playing and an excess that rarely happened in our house with nine brothers and sisters. When Christmas Day comes there is still that same warm feeling that enfolded our hearts, as we had as children.

I somehow remember the year after my father died and my mother telling me we were going to have a great day regardless because Christmas was compulsory. And guess what! Santa still came and brought his usual apple or orange which we always thought very strange. I guess it was symbolic for my mother of her Christmases long ago when an orange was a luxury and she just wanted to make her case. We did not mind as long as we did not get anything too practical like clothes as there is nothing as mean as giving a child something useful for Christmas don’t you agree?

How times have changed for me over the following 40 years. Now I spend my time obsessing as I try and persuade everyone to consider using Goatsbridge trout as part of their festive celebrations. We will find any excuse to promote our trout recipes, encourage online trout sales and insist on support for our delicious home-grown smoked fish over the holiday period.

But somehow my kids kick me back into reality and I am catapulted back to my childhood as I read my youngest daughters Christmas letter to Santa. I think Santa should also throw in a spelling book!

So let’s compromise and make Christmas the keeping-place for memories of our innocence but also Goatsbridge trout!

I will live to flog another Goatsbridge Trout!!!

Posted On October 30 Dee Sewell 4 Comments

It’s been nine days since that fateful day in October when I had, what I can only describe as, my Near Death Experience.

The day started out like any normal day. A day packed with the expectation of any other day as I prepared to head to Dublin to do a live TV3 program for Goatsbridge Trout on The 7 O’Clock Show.

The last conversation I remember having in my home town was with my local grocer’s daughters as I collected some dry cleaning. We discussed the funeral of a friend James McHale, an American who facing death, did not want a traditional ceremony but something meaningful to his life, times and beliefs. It was the loveliest funeral at Woodbrook Natural Burial Ground in County Wexford. James received a glorious send-off with no priestly palaver – just a harmonica, a bodhrán and the soughing of the wind in the trees.

He was a writer and wrote the following which I will never forget:

I love my friends neither with my heart nor with my mind.

Just in case…

Heart might stop.

Mind can forget.

I love them with my soul….

As I left the shop I told the girls that if I died I would like to be remembered just as James was remembered; they were to have a big party, quote poetry and laugh.

Little did I think two hours later as I drove up the M7 motorway, my life almost changed forever. I hit a car from behind that had experienced engine failure and had slowed down suddenly. I had cruise control on and for some reason I did not react fast enough. The car went hurdling into the air, tumbled three times before coming to a standstill.

What did I think about? How did I feel?

I remember telling myself to go with the flow, not to fight it. I felt an inner peace, calmness. Once the car stopped I knew I was still alive but I waited for something to crash into my car as I thought I had landed on the opposite side of the motorway.

Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and we will call it fate. I was fated to live.

Beyond that time that innate fear of death we all seem to be born with just vanished. I really believe fear doesn’t stop death but it will stop life. Perhaps all of life is a near death experience.

As I was stretchered away I hurriedly passed the bag of trout goodies I was briging to the TV station for tastings to the lovely young nurse who was by my side as the paramedics removed me from the car. I then made her promise to use trout on her wedding menu early next year in Wexford .

I smiled to myself and thought of an expression I once heard … “Only the good die young”

I guess my job is not done.

Eat Trout

Photo credit: Aquarium I via photopin (license)

Ploughing Championships 2015

Posted On September 26 mag 2 Comments

ploughing

#Tastekilkenny made its first appearance last week at the Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Co Laois.

We are a group of food producers from kilkenny working with SuperValu on its food academy program. Food Academy works with and nurtures small businesses through their journey from start up to getting their products on the shelves of SuperValu.

You see Kilkenny is not only the home of good hurling but also the home of good food!
kilkenny cat
What a week and what a collection of food and producers.

Costello’s Beer

Gerard and Gabrielle have a passion and a vision to build a business piggy backing on the long standing success of Smithwicks in the heart of Kilkenny city. They have plans to build the first artesan brewery in Kilkenny not far from the city centre giving them a place to tell their story and extend their offering to the masses. We certainly enjoyed a few Costello’s after the long week on Friday night.

The Devils Menu

The Devils Menu is run by husband and wife team John and Elora Whelan. Marshmallows made to perfection and beautifully packaged I know this innovative product will be a success but perhaps not reaching their target at The Ploughing Champsionships. Make sure to drop by and purchase some at the craft fair in the RDS this year. I would like the caramel flavour!

Mooncoin Home Grown Pickled Beetroot

Next up is the very formidable Helen Murphy and her delicious Beetroot Chutney and Relish. I was delighted to be placed beside her because our products completely complicated each other and we were able to up sell as a result. Helen is such a pro and it was obvious to me for the beginning she would do well with her quaint persuasive manner and rye sense of humour. Not sure I found her jokes as funny after 1000 times hearing it by day 3!!!

Beetroot relish

Bernie’s Sherry Triffle

Across the way were the former banker and baker supreme Bernie who mothered every man in sight while subtly selling them her amazing and very intoxicating sherry trifle. Unlike The Devils Menu Bernie had the full attention of every middle aged farmer and nostalgic housewife remembering the very traditional desert at a time when marshmallows were not even heard of.

Bernie wished all her customers the blessing of God and thanked each and every one of them for their business.

Mosses Wholemeal

A well-established company new to the retail sector and their new zip seal bags of flour mixes went down a storm especially when the bread was tasted with our delicious smoked trout pate . Another food collaboration and cooperative selling opportunity. Rob will be the wiser on his next outing to make the bread from his flour and flog it to the passing trade as his bags were a little too heavy to carry around those mucky roadways back to the car . As we both agreed PR is great but you still have to pay the bill and it is important to maximise the experience for the customer to help ingrain our product offering in the brain forever.

mossses

Inistioge Food Company

One of the most creative people I know is Anneliese from The Inistioge Food Company, a company she runs with her husband Denis. It was her creative genius that helped construct the incredible stand using nothing but vision and old pallets. All you have to do is examine her beautiful standout packaging and you know for sure the product must taste as good as it looks. But what was really clever is the fact that we can now use this over and over again so you can expect to see us pop up anywhere in the world. Have stand, will travel!

inistioge food company

Highbank Orchards

Tucked in the corner were the very classy couple from Highbank, a company that had achieved all the awards possible in the business. They tasted their new apple brandy and gin but only to those serious about a purchase. Funny how experience pays off and there is no trick in the book Rod does not know about. Now that I think about it I never got a taste all week.
Highbank
So’long to the farmers and a big thank you to Fiona Deegan and all at our local Enterprise Board for all their support.
And watch out for us in every food academy shelf space throughout the country. And if you are lucky enough to meet the lovey Bernie make sure she gives you that special blessing because you know what I think, it just might be real.

Speechless

Posted On May 12 mag Leave a comment

Turning 50 and speechless.

I have heard it all.

Today is the oldest you have ever been and the youngest you will ever be again!

Age is an issue of mind over matter and if you don’t mind it doesn’t matter!

It’s not the years in your life that matter but the life in the years.

It has finally happened and I was left speechless the other night as I walk into a room full of friends for my surprise 50th birthday party. I think that was first time in my 50 years on this planet that I was left speechless.

I scanned the room and saw my four sisters remembering all the good time we had growing up in the sunny south East. I remember the memories and support only sister can give and thank my lucky stars for my family. I see some of my oldest friends that I went to primary school with, then on to secondary school and finally college. We laughed at my sister Louise who took her usual turn cooking Sunday dinner in that grotty flat in Dublin and forgot to remove the innards of the chicken. It nearly killed us but not as deadly as the home brew we made to wash it down. As I walked around the table my life flashed before me. I see my new friends who have become part and parcel of my everyday life here in Thomastown. I see my neighbour who would go to the ends of the earth to help in time of need. I see my latest neighbour who moved in a year ago and finally called round last week to say hello. There she was for the evening getting a crash course on the life and times of Mag Kirwan.

I look back on it today on the eve of my 50th. The girls were premature last Friday but I did not want to burst their bubble. I feel like a young person in an ever aging body. Unfortunately age is like an airplane flying through a storm. Once you are aboard there is nothing you can do. As long as I can keep old age in my minds and prevent it form creeping down my body I will survive.

Thanks to all my friends for a wonderful evening.

Now here’s to another great 50 years !

Bord Bia Marketplace 2015

Posted On March 28 mag Leave a comment

good things happen

Good things come to those who wait or to those who work their asses off and never give up! Discuss!

Board Bia Marketplace 2015 took place this week where 400 potential customers, including 300 pre-screened international buyers came to meet with Irish food and drink producer’s intent on doing business. Key decision makers from Ireland, the UK, Europe and International markets attended the event with the hope of writing new business. Goatsbridge had personally requested the presence of a number of potential customers we had meet over the past number of years while travelling abroad.

Bord Bia Marketplace 2015

After 22 meetings and at approximately 5.35 pm in the Convention Centre an exhausted German arrived at our booth for his last and final meeting. We were also talked out of it after a very intensive day of negotiation. Otto just wanted to talk about our Smoked tinned trout having heard lots of positive things about Goatsbridge as he toured the country in the lead up to the event. He tasted the product and looked in our direction and said it was his last meeting but his most inspiring one . It was “incredible” he said. A little flattery will support a man through great fatigue.

Great way to end the day. Good things come to those who wait?

Time will tell!

India at a Glimpse

Posted On February 22 mag Leave a comment

street resized

We in Goatsbridge are blessed to have the opportunity to experience the world through food .

In January this year we went to India with a group of like-minded food producers to experience all that India has to offer . These are my thoughts day three.

A comfortable journey on the brand new Expressway by taxi brought us to a moment I remember very little of 25 years ago. I travelled around the world and was heading back to Ireland to see my family and my now husband of 24 years. This time it was different and I shared that first glimpse of The Taj Mahal with my husband Ger and The Bord Bia inspiration team. Unfortunately the winter weather conditions brought with it fog which never really dissipated throughout the day but did not dampen our spirits.

Breath-taking.

Taj resized

Nestled in the heart of Agra it is in contrast to a city that is surprisingly as poor as Delhi itself. It felt like an assault on all senses. A city devoid of industry as the government is making every attempt to protect its prized monument which is one of the 7 wonders of the world. This temple built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1632 in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal and was completed in 1653 at the cost of 220 million rupees! It is a white Marble mausoleum and is 171 metres (561 ft.) high.

It is not only a symbol of love but also a symbol of possibility.

George Eliot once said the world is full of hopeful analogies and handsome, dubious eggs, called possibilities and remember the only limits to the possibilities in your life tomorrow are the buts you use today.

inspiration group resized

Indian cuisine is historically global so we head to Dasaprakash in downtown Agra for lunch to sample some South Indian food. As we make our way through the narrow streets lined with dirt and squalor we notice a community where everyone seems to have a role. A man may have a job holding a rope tied to a lawn mower being pulled by another man, his business partner! Two hands are better that one. I see a man painting the local road signs with a tiny paint brush where thousands are waiting along the road in expectations to be brought back to life. Will it be complete in time for The Obama State Visit next week to celebrate India day.

monkeys

I ask myself are these people happy. I imagine my life here and cannot help thinking that these people are in fact rich. Rich with things that money cannot buy because they certainly have none of that. These people are very proud of their nationality. Remember Indian economic Liberalisation is only 60 years old and with such a short time under their belts to get this county back on its feet what can you expect. The federal system of governance seems to be the only way forward and is working well in the USA. All they need is time. Some day they will be a superpower just like China as long as they can contol the corruption. Just watch this space and watch out Britain!

We arrive at our lunch destination and get another informative talk about what we are about to consume. Orio explains the multifaceted food culture and melting pot that is Indian cuisine and how south India cuisine is a much different taste and texture that the food we had being exposed to from the north. The food is less stodgy, fresher and more flavoursome. Like the entire country Indian food is very much linked to its religion. In fact they go hand in hand and South Indians are primarily vegetarian.

We samples many dishes and tried A Thali for the first time. It is basically a food format or vessel that can constitute an entire meal that represents many flavours and textures of the region. Not sure the boys were entirely satisfied without their quota of meat!

grub bean salade

We moved on to see the Marble skills of the craftsmen who build the Taj as it is called locally. Tom from Bord Bia gave it a go and was a dab hand in fairness .

Tom At work web

Having listened and watch the demonstration of how each piece was carved out painstakingly by hand I understand why it took so long. However I was less that impressed with the fact that the people in the shop tried to part us with our money having ushered us into a room full of some incredible pieces They eventually decided we were not going to purchase in that room and miraculously opened a false door to reveal another room with a less prized pieces to purchase. Do they not understand that The Irish are a genuine people and we did not appreciate this blatant intimidation? Needless to say we did not purchase.

While we were there we did get to try the Tea from the Kullad .

Kullad tea

It is basically a handle-free terracotta cup who is an Eco-friendly terracotta utensil, one of the oldest inventions of ancient India. And is a loving artefact of ancient times. I noticed the tea mingles gently with the terracotta giving it a complexity of fragrance and taste, similarity like whiskey draws it its flavours from sherry caskets

We leave to Town after another day of intrigue. It was the little moments seeing a number of monkeys reputed to be carrying aids on the rooftop of the local temple that I remember. Also remember the father and man of the house bringing his entire family by bike to the market with his wife, his 2 sons, his daughter and baby girls plus the family dog. Funny enough no one is hungry here least of all the many dogs you see wondering the streets and motorways day and night.

dog resized

Back in Delhi we go to the hipster part of town. We have no problem indulging in the luxuries the rich of Delhi have on offer. It seems this divide between rich and poor is very much accepted. They has a sense of fate based again in religion, you we either fated to be rich or fated to be poor and such is life.

And so our journey continues.