Recommendations

At the Annascaul Black Pudding Co. we are grateful for feedback from our customers. It enables us to tweak our products and encourages us to continually look for new ideas, recipes, product additions etc. Reviews from food writers and restaurateurs are also important guides for us on how we are doing and may be useful for you, the customer, in deciding if our products might be to your liking. Take a look at some of these reviews.......

Georgina Cambell's Jameson Guide, Ireland 2003

"...a superb speciality starter of Annascaul black pudding.."

The Bridgestone Guide 2003

"..don't miss this at the Charthouse Restaurant, Dingle: Annascaul is one of the very best black puddings you can eat.."

New Zealand's Peta Mathias samples Annascaul Black Pudding for her NZ Top Ten television cookery programme

Celebrity New Zealand chef and author of "How to eat, dance and sing your way around Ireland", filmed an hour long television programme on speciality Irish food producers in July 2003. The programme was transmitted on NZ television on St. Patrick's day 2004. Among those featured on the programme were Myrtle and Darina Allen of Ballymaloe and Denis Cotter of Cafe Paradiso. Annascaul Black Pudding was highly recommended to Peta as an artisan, hand-made Irish speciality food. Peta and her film crew featured the production and cooking of Annascaul Black Pudding.

The Bridgestone Irish Food Guide 2005

"..and buy some of the best, Kerry-style black pudding you will find. Cinnamonony and spicy, dense and quite delicious, this is a relic of past tastes and textures and one of the signature foods of the peninsula. Then head on down to Dingle and order it as a starter in The Charthouse. These Kerry style puddings.. are valuable foods, as they exemplify local culinary characteristics and individualities, and it is vital that they should be respected and protected, and enjoyed".

Sunday Independent LIFE 23 APRIL 2006

Brendan O'Connor, Brendan Bites, "Annascaul pudding made in Kerry by Ashe's is legendary. I've seen men take 20 mile detours to buy it in Kerry on holidays".

National Craft Butcher's of Ireland National Finals 2006

The National Craft Butcher's of Ireland National finals were held in Portlaoise in June. Annascaul Black Pudding, Annascaul White Pudding and Annascaul Sausages each won Silver in their category at these finals.

National Craft Butcher's of Ireland Munster Finals 2007

The National Craft Butcher's of Ireland Munster Finals 2007 were held in Limerick in March. Annascaul Pudding and Sausages won gold at these finals.

National Craft Butcher's of Ireland National Finals 2007

The National Craft Butcher's of Ireland National Finals 2007 were held on June 7th 2007. Annascaul Black pudding won silver and Annascaul Sausages won Gold at the finals.

The Bridgestone Irish Food Guide 2007

"....and there is no finer pudding made in either Kerry or Ireland today... A superb, extremely rare and precious artisan Irish food."

Sunday Independent LIFE 1 July 2007

"You can't have been in the Kingdom without picking up a slab of the real stuff."

Sunday Business Post, Agenda, Nov 11th, 2007
Annascaul Black Pudding

This curious pudding remains a firm favourite among aficionados. Unlike other black puddings, it is cooked in a cake shape and sliced into squares rather than circles. The texture is smoother and more pate like than the traditional black pudding. The Ashe family have been making it by hand since 1916; Thomas Ashe is the third generation of his family to produce this magical black stuff on the Dingle Peninsula in Kerry.

Clodagh McKenna's Television series, "Fresh from the Farmer's Market", featured Annascaul Black and White Puddings and Sausages on RTE 1 on May 14th, 2008

Clodagh McKenna featured the making and cooking of Annascaul Black and White Puddings and Sausages on "Fresh from the Farmer's Market", on May 14th 2008. Clodagh was very impressed with the level of wholesome, local ingredients used. She particularly applauded the black pudding for being one of the very few black puddings still using fresh blood.

RTE Guide, May 10-16, 2008

"This woman who really knows her food, enthuses about the three or four brave souls producing fresh blood pudding in this country.

Most of the black puddings you get now can be gritty to the taste because they use dried blood. In this opening programme, we see the pudding emerging from the oven to be cut up just like a cake."

The taste is just out of this world.

The Bridgestone Irish Food Guide 2009

Thomas Ashe has made a formidable reputation with his famous black pudding - the pudding of choice of many restaurateurs - but he is only beginning, as a new white pudding and fine pork sausages prove. The sausages are a classic example of peppery porky perfection, the spicing subtle, the texture firm, and the highest compliment we can pay them is to say that they compare to the best sausages made by butchers in Northern Ireland. The white pudding has a much softer texture than the black - back bacon and cooked gammon ends are used in place of blood - but again it's quixotic, interesting and hugely enjoyable. Just remember to pack that freezer bag when it's time to visit Tom Crean's old stomping ground of Annascaul, for you will want to bring home a haul of these hand-made beauties.

The Bridgestone 100 Best Restaurants in Ireland 2010

The Charthouse, Dingle - Chef Noel Enright...."his classic of Annascaul Black pudding in filo with hollandaise - the Annascaul black pudding is one of Ireland's greatest artisan foods.... there is no pudding like the Annascaul".

Irish Tatler, Jan / Feb 2011
Corinna Hardgrave reviews the Chop House in Dublin 4.

"The stand out starter is the salad of Annascaul black pudding served with a nicely tart apple puree and fine crisps of potato, it sounds simple, but is a lesson in flavour and texture."

The Irish Times Gloss Magazine - May 2011

Clodagh McKenna - A Foodie Kingdom.
Can't leave Kerry without...

Annascaul Black Pudding - one of the few butchers left in the country making fresh blood black pudding.

Sunday Business Post - Agenda, October 30 2011

"A drop of the black stuff"
Down in Kerry on the Dingle Peninsula, you'll find a different pudding in the Annascaul Black Pudding. An artisan product too, this is made into large cakes and then served in slices. The sooth texture is unique, rich and pate-like.

The Ashe family have been hand-making it since 1916 and Thomas Ashe is the third generation to produce Ireland's other black stuff. This has all been good news for chefs as the more produce we have to work with, the more creative we can be.

See recipe section for Richard's recipe suggestions

The Farmer's Journal - Country Living Supplement - Oct 8th 2011

The very best of Irish produce
At the recent 2011 Dingle Penisula Food and Wine festival, we participated in the Taste Trail. It is a fantastic weekend of excellent Irish artisan food and craic. Maria Moyihan of "Country Living" had this to say...

Country Living's (very unofficial) food awards:
Best Atmosphere: Trad music and a fry showcasing Ashe's Annascaul black pudding in the iconic Foxy John's pub topped the Taste Trail.

2011 Dingle Penisula Food and Wine Festival

A very successful feature of the festival is the food demonstrations. Chefs from the penisula created and displayed their favourite dishes utilisng local produce.

"Dan Browne, Lecturer of HCT, Institute of Technology Tralee, (I.T.T.) was one of the headline demonstrators and he created an amazing display of Annascaul Black & White Pudding and local Seafood dishes, which wowed the audience and allowed those present to understand the simplicity of using fresh, local produce." www.ittralee.ie


Send your feedback and recommendation to Annascaul Black Pudding Co.