When one of our food heroes, Enda McEvoy of Galway's Aniar restaurant, served the new Goatsbridge Irish Trout Caviar on a crisp biscuit of dried blood, well my mind started ticking over to see if we could come up with a combination that would serve this exciting new food so well.
Traditionally, caviar is served very simply, straight from the tin, which sits on a bed of crushed ice. It is served with blinis, with crackers, or lightly toasted bread, and nothing else. All our partnering options seemed like gilding the lily. Like Enda's solution, it had to be simple.
So, this is what we came up with. It's a Sheridan's brown bread cracker, with a bite-sized sliver of Irish kelp (just boiled and use the liquid for dashi), topped with the caviar. And the pièce de résistance: a glass of dandelion vodka to drink with it.
500ml vodka
2 cups dandelion petals
1 cup sugar (or to taste, which could mean none at all)
Remove the petals from the dandelions, simply by pulling - they should come out in one go. Place in a jar with the vodka and sugar and leave in a dark place, shaking a little, about once a day, or every time you pass. Let infuse for approximately two weeks. Sieve, freeze and serve straight from the freezer.
This vodka also makes a great base for a dandelion martini, or a dandelion Bloody Mary.
Finally something to do with the dandelion flowers, that is more interesting than fry them, or make wine. This plant is one of Mother's Nature greatest gift, my heart bleeds when I watch people destroying them for the sake of a green lawn, lawn ought to be outlawed unless you need it to feed your pets
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