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Hello 

You have been spared an Ummera Newsletter for a couple of months now, so time to update you with some happenings.

Our organic Salmon have been coming from the organic salmon farm at Gearhies on the southern shores of Bantry Bay for the last few weeks. We will be back up to Clare Island in Co. Mayo in late August as supplies from Bantry Bay cease for a couple of months.

So our Smoked Organic Salmon is currently  truly a West Cork product!

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Farm to Fork Discovery Days

Next Thursday is the first of two West Cork Food Trails, a guided tour of various West Cork producers, sampling of wares, country walks, riverside picnics, cookery demonstration and a summer supper with wine, in fact, a real culinary experience to be learned from and enjoyed.

Organised by Ruth Healy of Urru Culinary Store in Bandon, they promise to be fun but interesting days. Full details here.

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Parlez-vous français?

Désormais vous pouvez visiter le site Internet d'Ummera en anglais ou en français!

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A little bit of bread to go with your .....

At a tasting that we did at the Aga Shop in Cork in June, I met up with Mary Sowan who, with her sisters and husband, makes a superb Organic Traditional Brown Bread Mix with Sunflower Seeds.

I took a packet home and my girls helped me bake the bread! The first attempt by all of us and - it worked! Just add some milk, stir it up, pop it the oven and 60 minutes later - hey presto! 

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It's the eel deal.....

Delighted to read about our smoked eel in Dominic Kemp's column in The Irish Times  in June.

Not sure where the comment about "fishing for them out in the Sargasso where Lord knows what might happen to you in the Bermuda triangle" but we can whole heartedly agree with the start of that sentence:"To enjoy the delicacy of smoked eel, I highly recommend buying a pack of smoked eel fillets from Ummera smokehouse, in Co Cork."

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Food Culture West Cork

Ivan McCutcheon writes some very thoughtful food posts on his blog and his June is no exception; Entitled "Can we feed ourselves?" he explores some interesting concepts, one of much interest was the comment that 

96% of our farmland in Ireland is devoted to feeding animals not people – 80% is under grass and 16% produces fodder crops. 

Admittedly we do eat the meat and drink the mlk, but that doesn't constitute 96% of our diet surely.

Ivan also quotes the Minister for Food, Trevor Sergant, in relation to the tactics employed by major supermarkets to force producers to lower their prices.

Read the comments as well, and do contribute your own.

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Discover West Cork

On June 15th, the Irish Times published an excellent supplement on West Cork; if you missed it, or can't get, then it is available on their Digital Edition page; click on the right side tab, Free Supplements; click on Show All, then select Discover West Cork.

Marie Claire Digby's "A fine food odyssey" on pages 10 and 11 takes a leisurely three day journey from Cork to Bantry exploring some of the finest that West Cork provides. 

For those on Twitter and want to keep in touch with West Cork you must follow @WestCork Fuchsia.

And you can also follow us on Twitter: @ummera

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Wine Merchant bubbles forth....

At the Aga tasting in June, we ran a last minute competition on Twitter asking for the meaning of the name "AGA". Julian of Bubblebrothers was the first back with the answer and won a fabulous Aga Kettle!

As a result Bubblebrothers are now holding a series of wine tastings at the Aga Shop. You can read Julian's comments on the Bubblebrothers Blog and learn more about the tastings.

Ummera also took part in the Midsummers Market in Cork City which culminated with the GrowBakeCook awards at Cork Coffee Roasters' Cafe  in Cork. Julian recorded this event again on the Bubblebrothers Blog.

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