Delightful detail

Maura Foley is mistress of the small things

Maura Foley is mistress of the small things. Her cooking has increasingly simplified over the years, and has now reached a point where any sense of grandeur or profoundness - and her cooking in Packie's, her bistro in Kenmare, is both grand and profound - is to be discovered in the detail of her dishes.

There is the little slather of perfectly tart mayonnaise and tomato dressing under some crab claws which partner crab-meat salad with tabbouleh; the note of ginger and orange zest in a dish of pureed carrots; the incredible subtlety of a curry sabayon with some split prawns; the alert and vigorous baby salad leaves which you pick up with your fingers to eat; the sweet note in the breads; the delight of vanilla bean ice cream and its beautiful caramel sauce. All of this is understated. None of it ever raises its profile to say: look at me! All it does is whisper to you of a cook who chases the purity of flavours in a way which only female chefs understand. And Maura Foley has been chasing those flavours for many years now, from as far back as 1961 when she opened a cake shop in Kenmare, following it with periods over the years when she ran and cooked in The Purple Heather and then, from 1984, in The Lime Tree, just around the corner from where Packie's operates today.

Five years ago, she decided she wanted to simplify her food and service, and so the smaller, more intimate Packie's was created. Since then, her cooking has revolved around several key elements. The freshest fish and shellfish landed at Castletownbere, often cooked in the most classical style, such as the eternal sole meuniere, or salmon with hollandaise, or crab cakes with tartare sauce; a style of making root vegetable purees which is inimitable; and an increasing exploration of strongly-flavoured notes brought in from ethnic cuisines; chermoula served with brill; monkfish with sweet and sour aubergine, or perhaps with a chilli dipping sauce.

But behind all this is the gospel of taste and simplicity, with these ambitions always challenging Foley's ability to correct and balance ingredients as they change and vary throughout the year, in order to show them at their best.

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The elements of simplicity and suitable tastes are shown in a starter dish of artichoke with vinaigrette, where the fine big head of artichoke comes with three dipping sauces; an intensely reduced balsamic vinegar, which intriguingly revealed a deep orange flavour note; a classic French dressing; and a simple little bowl of extra virgin olive oil. Dipping the leaves and then the pieces of the heart into the sauces means that one enjoys constantly changing tastes, and the artichoke was perfectly cooked. This is restaurant food of considerable modesty, for all the kitchen had done was let the dish speak for itself, thereby creating a perfect plate for a June dinner.

My starter of crab salad with tabbouleh had two crab claws resting in the zippy tomato and mayonnaise dressing, and a timbale of cracking fresh crab meat sitting on top of some delicate tabbouleh. There were also some salad leaves on the plate, and it is impossible to imagine anything else the dish could have needed, it was so complete and logical, and resoundingly delicious.

But it was in the main courses that we found the philosophical mettle and experience of Maura Foley. Split prawns in the shell with a curry sabayon was an amazement of sweet, soulful flavours, the shellfish perfectly cooked, the sauce so light and effervescently pleasing it knocked us out. The key to the success of the dish was the decisive but perfectly controlled note of curry in the sabayon, adding an exciting edge to the flavours.

My own dish of wild salmon with a nettle and sorrel sauce was serene and composed, the fish a glorious fillet, the sauce light and refreshing thanks to the green and lemony contributions of the nettle and sorrel. Here, we see Maura Foley's love of the classic, wild flavours of Irish foods, the yin to the yang of her modern explorations. Each main course was as good as it could be, nothing less.

The perfect, baby-finger-thin fries which are served separately were the sort to render us all gluttonous, and a little bowl of carrot puree was delightful, the notes of ginger and orange expanding on the sweet vegetables. Cooking dishes like this has alway been one of Maura Foley's specialities: nothing is ever too humble not to attract her expertise, so I should warn you that if you eat here and there is a puree of turnips on the menu, don't miss it, for my wife still talks about the first time she ever ate Maura Foley's turnips. And that was in 1991.

My wife also still talks about the vanilla ice cream she ate that time, and I can tell you at it is as fine as ever, the flavour rich and uncompromising, the caramel sauce light and lickable. A little pot of chocolate was bittersweet and light, and once again the flavours were perfectly aligned and composed, with no jarring or gratuitous elements.

But then there are no jarring or gratuitous elements anywhere in Packie's. The waiting staff, led by Vivienne and Eileen, are only brilliant, the room is simple and spot-on, and for such accomplished food the prices are almost giveaway: starters are all around a fiver, main courses are priced between £11 and £17, with desserts between £3 and £4, and wines are good value also. Every detail, no matter how small, is perfectly attended to, which means that Packie's is one of the great places to eat in Ireland, one of the definitive contemporary restaurants.

Packie's, Henry Street, Kenmare, Co Kerry, tel: 064 41508. Open 5.30 p.m.- 11 p.m. Tues-Sat. Major cards. Booking adviseable.