Beat a path to Bastible to find the perfect balance
House, headed by Gráinne O’Keeffe. Barry himself is now back in the kitchen at Bastible.
Our dinner kicked off with superb sourdough bread, well remembered from my last visit to the restaurant, a bread with the kind of cohesion that’s the opposite of crumbly, a bread that’s reassuringly hard to tear apart. Add the restaurant’s own cultured butter and this is a course in itself. Seriously.
A first starter of treacle-cured sea trout was firm-fleshed, balanced between salty and sweet, its richness cut brilliantly by fermented gooseberry, the earthiness framed by smoked yoghurt. And, yes, that was a first for me, but I can report that smoked yoghurt is now definitely ‘a thing’ for me. Little triangles of pickled winter radish added crunch.
Our other starter comprised crisp croquettes with a creamy melting interior of fine cauliflower cheese, rich in a dairy sense and counterbalanced by bread and butter pickles. I had to look them up - it’s a cucumber pickle with the perfect balance of sweet and sour. They got their name during the Great Depression when they were often the only thing to eat with bread and butter.
Then came our main course of confit Skeaghanore duck leg with savoy cabbage and a smoked quince purée. The duck was meaty, tender and predictably rich, properly ducky as is the Skeaghanore way; the quince purée, sharp and smoky,
BASTIBLE has one of the most interesting and eclectic wine selections in Dublin and it’s clear that a great deal of work goes into it. Some wines are available to have with your meal box and it’s best to check when ordering. Indeed, I’d be very happy to let the restaurant choose for me. But, looking at the broader picture, I think the starters we had would go well with the Riesling that I feature on the next page. For the duck, I’d suggest the juicy 100% Gamay La Burgondie Côteaux Bourgignons (€15, from Tesco, just across the road) or perhaps the great value Maretti Langhe Rosso (€18, from Green Man Wines in Terenure), if you’re heading that way).
€10.99, LIDL
LIDL’S French wine sale is back and here’s a fine example of an often misunderstood grape, Riesling. This is a bone dry wine with crisp acidity, like biting into a green apple, plus a classic mineral tang. Good with pork chops and a creamy mustard sauce.
I ONLY discovered coddle when I was in my 20s but it’s a very happy memory from many a Dublin childhood. Traditionally served on a Saturday night, after pints of Guinness – like many of the world’s most delicious dishes – in olden days it was considered the food of the poor. It is very simple to make if you have the right raw materials – the sausages, in particular, need to be really good, don’t consider anything less than 80% pork. I favour chicken stock for this and would add that coddle is never an attractive dish to look at. No true coddle enthusiast would dream of browning the sausages – that would be sacrilege! Anyway, just get stuck in. It’s absolutely delicious.
SERVES 4 - 6