Egon Hinze — Mush Love Connemara
When Egon Hinze rocked up in Connemara in 1999, little could he have known the impact he'd have on Connemara's food culture.
Twenty-seven years and four beautiful children later, the special mind behind Mush Love Connemara is here to stay — and we're all the richer for it.
Over time, Egon's offering has expanded from pickled seaweed to wild garlic salts, fresh lion's mane mushrooms and turkey tail tinctures. These last two mushroom types are the backbone of Mush Love Connemara.
After his set-up was blown away in Storm Éowyn, he went all out on a proper grow house with controls for temperature, humidity and light — a delicate balancing act and a fascinating process.
His latest amazing invention is grow-it-yourself mushroom bags. Just pierce a hole, spritz once a day, and in a couple of weeks you'll find "pin heads" peeping out. Over the next few days, they keep doubling in size. Whenever you like, you simply snip off what you need and cook. Even if you're not a huge mushroom fan, these are different — not rubbery but fresh and silky, just sautéed in a pan with a little garlic and butter.
"Last season," Egon says, "the local hotels and restaurants we supply were creating some very tasty and memorable dishes from our versatile oyster mushroom."
"As I'm getting ready for my third season, I'm now aiming to introduce even more restaurants and people to these beautiful gourmet mushrooms."
Egon on Instagram: @Mush_Love_Connemara
Lewis Mathews — Shanbolard Farm
I first tasted Lewis's vegetables at the Sea Hare in Cleggan. Chef Jeni Glasgow prepared them raw like a parcel to be unwrapped at the table and eaten with a simple herby mayo, brave and celebratory. When you've got good produce, add nothing, take nothing away.
At Shanbolard Farm near Moyard, Lewis and his family understand the land and sustainability — growing a wide range of fruit and veg organically, caring for the soil, and working with nature, not against it.
When Lewis has a glut of seasonal produce, be it maincrop spuds or heirloom cucumbers, a variety of restaurants, cafes and organic stores are waiting with open arms.
Lewis is always up to something new — travelling, cooking, shearing sheep, or smoking pork. Damage from Storm Éowyn has now opened an opportunity to update farm infrastructure while developing a commercial kitchen and processing space.
All of this is with the aim of eventually establishing a farmhouse brand with a regenerative-agriculture model at its core.
A life-long grower who has in the past worked in restaurants and kitchens, Lewis is excited about the next chapter in the Shanbolard story. It won't be easy, he says, but nothing worthwhile in life is.
"Every job is easy until you start it," he laughs. "We're still playing catch-up after Storm Éowyn. It's all about baby steps."
Find Lewis on Instagram @ShanbolardFarmFoods