Keeping it simple the way top chef Jim celebrates arrival of the first crop of Comber Earlies

Top chef Jim Mulholland is teaming up with potato growers and other artisan producers around the Strangford Lough next week to celebrate the arrival of the first crop of Comber Earlies.

Chef/owner of the 14 at the Georgian House restaurant in Comber, Jim and his team are creating a number of original dishes featuring the early season potatoes, which have EU protected status, as the region is holding a community festival next Saturday.

The annual Comber Earlies Food Festival will take place next Saturday and is billed as a free event that offers “a wonderful day out filled with family fun, cookery demos in the Festival Kitchen and activities that celebrate the first of this season’s new potatoes”.

The event will have artisan food stalls, chef demos using local food from Paula McIntyre and entertainment for children.

Locally sourced food, as well as the potatoes from Strangford growers such as William Orr and Sons, will also underpin the menus at Jim’s restaurant.

“The best way to cook the Comber Earlies is to keep it simple, nothing fancy,” Jim advises. “I scrub and wash the potatoes, boil in salted water for 20-25 minutes or until tender, then drain and keep warm. Serve them with a dollop of good NI butter.

“William Orr is among our suppliers for potatoes and vegetables. We’ll be serving the potatoes with other local food such as ham from Stonebridge Farm in Crossgar, beef from Downpatrick and fresh fish from Kilkeel.”

The restaurant, in a striking townhouse dating back to 1722, specialises in local fish, seafood and shellfish including langoustines from Strangford and Kilkeel lobsters. It also features oysters from the Republic.

A native of Lisburn, Jim (55) is among our most talented and experienced chefs. He left his role as head chef at the prestigious Jean Christophe Novelli restaurant in Belfast’s high-end AC Hotel to transform the Comber house into a premium eatery.

The restaurant, a significant development for the busy town and wider community on the Ards Peninsula, opened around five years ago and has quickly proved to be a popular venue for gourmet food lovers from the local area and from further afield.

A devotee of local food, Jim says NI boasts sensational food especially meat, cured meats, fish and seafood, vegetables, fruit, cheese and other dairy products.

“What we are doing in the restaurant is to harness this local treasure trove of premium food and drink in the creation of delicious and affordable dishes that everyone can enjoy,” he adds.

He brought to the restaurant a wealth of experience here and five years in Guernsey, where he developed a passion for French cuisine. Chef posts held here included stints at the old White Gables in Hillsborough, with Paul Rankin at the famed Roscoff in Belfast, as head chef at the Ballyrobin Hotel, near Belfast International Airport and the Jean Christophe Novelli restaurant at the AC Hotel.

He’s quick to praise the dedication of local growers who have produced “a crop of great tasting new season potatoes that are also now turning up in supermarkets and other grocery stores”.

“This year’s Combers are really tasty and fluffy when served warm with a dollop of good butter. Now is the time to enjoy them with meals and snacks."

The potatoes are grown around Comber by a small group of farmers and are harvested between early May and late July by the Mourne Mountains and Ards Peninsula. They have a distinctive sweet, nutty flavour.

Richard Orr of William Orr and Sons, one of leading farm growers in the Strangford area, which has a sheltered and largely frost-free climate, agrees.

“The season was a bit topsy-turvy with the rain and dry spell. The outcome, however, is a healthy crop with excellent eating quality.

Lewis Cunningham, managing director of Wilson’s Country in Craigavon, another major processor of Comber Earlies, adds that the potatoes have “distinct eating characteristics”.

“Comber Earlies have a unique flavour. They can be quickly boiled in their skins and enjoyed as part of a main course or included in salads,” he adds.