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Pat is 'Supreme' Butcher

by Declan Bogue, Fermanagh Herald, 1st March 2000

Enniskillen butcher Pat O'Doherty is currently enjoying the celebrity afforded to him after collecting the highest accolade - 'The Supreme Award' - in the seventh Ballygowan Irish Food Writers Guild Food Award.

A family business based in Enniskillen since his father James took it over in 1957, O'Doherty's Butchers have received numerous awards for its sausages, and is famed for its Aberdeen Angus beef, venison and game.

It is worth remembering, however, that in todays age of supermarkets gobbling up the smaller specialised family businesses such as these, it takes initiative and customer care to keep ahead of the game.

By developing and pioneering 'Fermanagh Black Bacon™', Pat keeps his trade steady, and gains his acclaim.

As a respected family butcher, Pat set out to reverse trends and recreate the bacon of yesteryear. It starts, as all good bacon should, with the careful selection of pigs. Working closely with the farmers he knows, they increase the production of breeds such as saddlebacks, which are renowned for producing excellent bacon.

The pork is cured using ancient methods and natural ingredients, dry cured and allowed to season naturally until it reaches maturity. It is not injected with water or phosphates and does not ooze white phosphate residue as it cooks, ensuring an excellent texture and flavour. Black Bacon™, a slight variation on their standard dry-cured product, is made to a secret recipe that makes it look and taste different. It can be bought with or without rind, in the piece or as rashers, and as fat, medium or lean bacon.

Speaking about the awards, Pat said: "It was a great achievement even to be nominated for the award, I mean, the first thing I even knew about it was six months ago, when the judging panel arrived for a tasting session. It took about three or four judging sessions before they whittled the contestants down to the last few. The results were announced last Wednesday in St Stephen's Green, Dublin, and I was very pleased to be recognised.

"Basically I'm indebted to everyone who works in the place, it was a real team effort. Fermanagh Black Bacon™ has been six years in development, from consulting farmers to developing our own flavouring for it. We like to deep our produce local to this part of the world also, it is a community we're in, so you have to support your local farmer. Really it's great to see that there are farmers out there developing pork, that we can work alongside".

O'Doherty Butchers are located in Belmore Street, Enniskillen, but Fermanagh Black Bacon™ travels further than this. It can be bought at a number of independent butchers, (North and South) and by mail-order nation-wide.