According to my personal experience with Irish food, being Irish and being served my mother's one Irish dish-- stew: Boiled potatoes, carrots, and beef, in MAYBE a beef stock, (sorry, mom) I was not particularly excited about eating on my upcoming trip to visit a friend living in Cork. Oh, contrairghe. (See how I made up that word, there? Every Gailic word is spelled some Gailic way that has no foundation in pronunciation, and so reading is nearly impossible- case in point, my invented French-Irish word). ANYHOO...
Upon being in Cork for merely a day, my monkey (I'll explain later), Laura, told me about, and brought me to the English Market.
Did you see that? The "Food Capital of Ireland"? I mean, did it just so happen that Laura moved to Cork, of all places, and just failed to mention that it's the FOOD CAPITAL! Now, I have to admit, even seeing it in big bold letters on that sign didn't remove my skepticism. I mean, Ireland, really? But, after meeting some locals, I learned that the influx of international imports (people AND food) in the past 10 years has brought a veritable food revolution to Ireland, and Cork, having a Port, has experienced the best of it! Now, I'm not trying to outpace Dublin in this review, but, speaking from experience, Cork fit my bill- full.
So, to show you how popular this eatery in the English market is, we waited in this line (if you don't get here before 11:30am, you will wait).
The well-worthwhile wait was for ...... BANOFFI! "What is Banoffi?" you ask. Well, allow me to show you, instead.
Oh, yeah, that's right. Graham cracker crust, dulce de leche caramel, banana disks, and pudding-like whipped cream, drizzled with chocolate. Can you taste it? Here, let me help you envision.
You could say I like it, but that would be a delicious understatement.
One bite, and I couldn't stand the fork being in the way any longer...
So, with breakfast under our belts, literally, we took off to see the rest of what the city has to offer. Stay tuned for the next post, to see more art, architecture, food, thrifting, and food, from Cork, Ireland.
Mangia the Emerald Isle!
