The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Big surprise as Allo’s Restaurant serves a treat from childhood
IMAGINE Sharon Noonan’s surprise: she’s having dinner with her family at a west Limerick restaurant, and what does she find on the menu but a candy that she hadn’t encountered since leaving her native County Antrim – and one that’s entrenched in her family’s history!
It’s this occurrence that inspired the West Limerick 102fm presenter to make the radio documentary ‘Devlin’s Yellow Man – A Taste of Childhood’, and Kerry chef John Fitzmaurice, who’s been serving the toffee since his time at Allo’s in Listowel, is at the heart of the story, as she explains:
“I was at the Mustard Seed in Ballingarry, where Kerryman John Fitzmaurice, son of poet Gabriel, was chef. I saw “Yellow Man” on the petits fours menu, and because of my links with it, I had to give it a try.”
“I didn’t know what to expect. It’s something that my family has been making for years using their own secret recipe – what I would know as honeycomb. I was given our secret recipe by my grandmother and great aunt, so that’ll tell you how entwined it is with our family’s fabric.”
“We serve our unique take on the candy every year at Lammas fair in Ballycastle, Co Antrim. I simply had to have a word with the chef, John Fitzmaurice, and he explained to me how he’d encountered Yellow Man.”
John, who now plates up at Moloughney’s in Dublin, speaks in the documentary, and tells listeners that it was Armel Whyte who first introduced him to Yellow Man during his time in Listowel:
“It was a Wednesday night, and our menu was always based on a specific theme on Wednesdays at Allo’s. On this particular evening was “Irish night”. Yellow Man was one of the candies we were serving, and Armel explained how it’s synonymous with the North.”
“I encountered it again in college, and ever since I’ve been putting it on my menus. I think my version is a little bit different from what Sharon would have grown up with, it’s probably one of those foods that people have their own twist on.”
“This documentary is important because we should celebrate our food culture. Irish people think that our dishes don’t go beyond bacon and cabbage, but that isn’t the case at all.”
The documentary charts Yellow Man’s colourful history. Chef Noel McMeel, who served Yellow Man to Barack Obama at the 2013 G8 summit in Fermanagh, makes an appearance, and explains how the US President kept getting the dessert stuck in his teeth!
It also features Sharon’s father, Tony, who, along with his wife Elizabeth, is synonymous with the fruit industry in the Saffron county.
But will Sharon finally reveal the delicious secret recipe that’s made her family famous? You can find out by tuning in to West Limerick 102fm on Sunday, August 27, at 2pm.
If you simply can’t wait, John’s recipe will keep you ticking over for now. You’ll need: 200g brown sugar 100ml liquid glucose 40g Honey 10 ml malt vinegar 150ml of water 18g bread soda
Place all the ingredients except for the bread soda in a very large saucepan and heat to 150c. Add in the bread soda carefully as it will foam up - hence the requirement for the large saucepan. Don’t stir. Cook for 10 seconds and then tip out on to a tray lined with parchment paper. Leave to set and don’t be tempted to taste unless you want a scalded tongue! Once cool, break into pieces and enjoy!