Ireland Has 18 Michelin Stars. Why Is the Tomato in Your Trolley Dutch?

Irish food is having a moment. This February, the Michelin guide held its awards ceremony in Dublin for the first time. The Republic now has 18 one-star and 5 two-star restaurants. Then you reach the supermarket and the tomatoes are from the Netherlands and very little fruit and vegetables on offer is nationally produced.

We have plenty of pride in Irish food but our trolley that doesn't always match. June 27th was MSME Day, the United Nations day for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. In plain terms, that means most of the local butchers, fishmongers, grocers and farm shops you actually buy from. And that got us thinking:

How can you support local food suppliers without breaking the bank?

The short version: buy whole ingredients, waste less of them, and learn enough in the kitchen to make a smaller, better shop go further. Buying Irish isn't only about paying more for a label.

There's no use pretending otherwise. Irish-grown and Irish-reared produce from local businesses can cost more than the imported version beside it, and in a tight money-month that difference is enough to move a hand from one option to the other. Irish food pride can be loud online and quiet at the till.

The price tag isn't the whole story, though. A whole chicken costs less per kilo than the same bird sold as fillets, and it can give you a second meal and a pot of delicious stock. A side of fish from someone who can tell you what landed that morning beats a shrink-wrapped tray flown in days ago.

The saving comes from buying less, using all of it, and cooking it well enough that none of it ends up in the bin.

Shop the edges of the supermarket: the local butcher, the fishmonger, the market stall, and the small producers you'll find at food fairs and farmers’ markets. They sell whole ingredients rather than assembled convenience, and whole ingredients work out cheaper per portion once you know what to do with them.

A few habits keep local food costs down:

• Buy the cuts nobody asks for. A butcher will sell you flat-iron or picanha beef for a fraction of the price of fillet, and will tell you how to cook them.
• Ask the fishmonger what's plentiful. Whatever was landed in quantity — mackerel, pollock, whiting — is fresher and cheaper than the cod or salmon everyone reaches for - and more sustainable too.
• Shop vegetables in season. Irish veg costs least at its peak, so build the week around what's cheap rather than paying over the odds for what's not.
• Cook from scratch and use the lot - this kind of meal usually undercuts the chilled ready version, and bones, trimmings and leftovers stretch one shop across several meals.

That's whole-food cooking. It's what turns "buy more Irish" from a good intention into practical use.

If you want to taste how close to home this gets, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown has just launched a Coastal Food Trail of food spots you can reach by DART. The school sits on that map, roughly 20 minutes from the city centre.

The cheapest way to eat local is the veg aisle, where a bag of in-season Irish vegetables costs less than almost anything else in the shop and travels the shortest distance to your plate.

• How can I support local food suppliers without breaking the bank?
• Buy whole ingredients from the people who sell them: the butcher, the fishmonger, the greengrocer, and your local food market. A few good habits will help keep costs down. Choose the cuts nobody asks for at a butcher's (a flat-iron or picanha cut costs less than fillet), ask the fishmonger what's plentiful that day, and shop most of your vegetables in season. Try and use everything, from bones to trimmings. Cooking from scratch usually comes in less costly than the chilled ready version too. Dublin Cookery School's hands-on classes in Blackrock, from €95, teach exactly these skills, using small Irish suppliers like fishmonger Scott Smullen and master butcher Keith Grant.
• What is whole-food cooking?
• Whole-food cooking means starting with ingredients in their whole, unprocessed form — a whole fish, a side of beef, vegetables with the dirt still on them — rather than pre-portioned or ready-assembled products. It's usually cheaper per portion, it wastes less, and it tends to taste better because you control how it's cooked. It also makes shopping local easier, since small Irish suppliers tend to sell whole produce. Dublin Cookery School will give you the skills built around this approach, and caters for all level of cooks.
• Where is Dublin Cookery School, do I need experience, and can you cater for allergies?
• We're at 2 Brookfield Terrace, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, A94 C9Y5, about 20 minutes from the city centre by DART or bus, and are featured on the new DLR Coastal Food Trail. Classes suit all levels, with the minimum age to attend alone being 16. If you have a severe allergy, contact us before booking to ensure that the course you are considering is suitable.
• What are some of the classes you have coming up?
• Modern Vegetarian (€190, full day) builds its menu around a varied selection of vegetables and pulses. Our seafood classes, Sensational Seafood (€95, evening) and the Fish & Shellfish Workshop (€190, one day), are taught alongside fishmonger Scott Smullen and built around fresh Irish fish and shellfish. Steaks, Sauces & Sides (from €105, evening) opens at the counter with master butcher Keith Grant. The Summer BBQ Feast (€195, full day) is cooked on customised BBQ grills built by Wexford's Smokin' Soul. Each one turns buying great produce into a skill you'll use at home.
• Is eating 'local' cheaper than buying imported food?
• Item for item, not necessarily. Irish-grown and Irish-reared produce may carry a higher price than the imported version beside it. The cost works out differently once you account for waste and convenience. A whole chicken or a whole fish costs less per kilo than the pre-cut version and stretches across more than one meal, and a meal cooked from scratch usually costs less than its chilled ready-made equivalent. Supporting our Irish farmers is crucially important for their survival and our agricultural legacy.