Pat O'Neill's dry cured bacon is widely sought after in the South-East and no wonder. This excellent product is cured by hand for three weeks "using our unique family recipe with natural sea salt".
Nevertheless, the salt content is much lower than in most bacon - they say that they use 30% less salt than average - and, unlike the vast majority of bacon products, no water is added, so no phosphates are needed. The difference is plain to see in the cooking - no white gunge in the pan and very little shrinkage - and the taste.
Recognition for this beautiful product includes an Irish Food Writers' Guild Award in 2011.
Available from the factory (phone for details), Sugar & Spice in Bunclody (the other O'Neill business), and specialist shops such as Ardkeen Quality Food Store in Waterford, Nolan's of Clontarf and Donnybrook Fair in Dublin; check website for full supplier list.
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