AN IRISH CULINARY ODYSSEY

DUBLIN, Ireland -- I`m just back, bemused, from an odyssey -- a culinary odyssey with side explorations into pottery, housing developments in Dublin and Irish antique glass. My Odysseus is Seamus Sheridan, a young Irishman with an Oscar Wilde hairstyle and the native gift of eloquence.

It is 8:30 dawn by local standards, and the elegant streets of downtown Dublin are deserted as we search for the first cappuccino of the day. We are setting out for the open market founded by Seamus and friends, where he sells the farmhouse cheeses for which he and his brother, Kevin, are famous.

But the road to becoming Ireland`s most famous cheese merchant turns out to be tortuous. ``I had a stall in Galway market, then my wife and I, we started a little restaurant. Best place in Ireland it was for a bowl of soup.`` He first cooked with grandmama Harriet, ``no training at all she has, but she knows the cooking,`` then trained under a French chef ``a lovely man, he showed me how to use every ingredient, how to keep a clean kitchen.`` It was in Edinburgh that he met the legendary Ian Mellis, food purveyor extraordinaire: ``I could see from him how to run a food business -- you must be obsessed with food.``

Now, only a dozen years later, the Sheridan brothers are renowned. Kevin`s book ``Guide to the Farmer`s Cheeses of Ireland`` has just been published.

Cheesemaking in Ireland dates back at least to the 4th century AD and the warrior Queen Meabh, who is said to have been killed by a lump of hard cheese, catapulted by her jealous nephew. In the 18th century, production declined and it was not until the 1970s that the revolution in cheese making began. ``It was the women,`` says Seamus, ``Gianna Ferguson, for instance, who developed Gubbeen, and Veronica Steele with Milleens. Both of these are semisoft cow cheeses, in the French monastery tradition, but now there are many more.``

Don`t forget we are in Ireland, and I`m gathering this information on the run -- literally. Suddenly Seamus jumps up from his coffee. I see him fleeing up the street, shirt tails flapping. Fifteen minutes later he retrieves me -- it appears that he`d been talking so hard he`d forgotten to open the shop. We walk along to Sheridan Cheesemongers at 11 South Anne Street, and the heady, pungent aroma of ripening cheese hits my nose. This is the real thing. No pasteurized nonsense here. We browse among the blues -- Cashel is creamy, with a backing of spice, while Chetwynd is firmer and more crumbling. The hard paste cheeses, Gabriel and Desmond, relate closely to Gruyere and are a favorite of Seamus` in mashed potatoes with butter, olive oil and cream; St. Killian resembles Camembert; and a handful of goat cheeses includes Croghan, Ballingeary and the blue Rathgore. ``I add loads of goat cheese to everything,`` remarks Seamus, ``the only time I eat it neat is with a good drink at the end of dinner.`` Today Seamus buys 100 different cheeses from 30 farms, mainly in the south west, saying ``the makers are so generous, so open, they teach me all they know.``

With reluctance we depart, and seconds later Seamus plunges into a neighbor`s store, the finest silver merchant in Dublin. We discuss the chances of finding some antique glass (zero), bypass through the state of business generally (not bad) and real estate in particular (booming), then continue our exploration, blinking in the brilliant, un-Irish, sunlight.

This is James Joyce territory, and McDaid`s, his habitual pub owned by his mistress Nora Barnacle, is just across the street. Seamus pauses outside the doors of his main competitor: ``Go in, go in,`` he urges ``let me know what you think.``

At last we arrive at the open market, the stalls sheltered in a courtyard of Temple Bar, one of Dublin`s most atmospheric areas. ``We had a lot of trouble finding a location,`` says Seamus, ``people think a market will be noisy and dirty. But now we`re doing fine.`` He stops at a fish stall ``Will you have an oyster for breakfast? They left County Clare (on the west coast) at 4 this morning, so you can be sure they came in with the last tide.`` There are many breakfast offerings: plump homemade sausages which burst with a bang unless pricked with a fork; fresh waffles topped with thick cream and homemade strawberry jam; breads ranging from brioche to the famous dark Irish soda bread, this country version slashed in the symbolic Celtic cross. I ask if the produce is organic and he shakes his head sadly. ``All that organic innocence disappeared 10 years ago or more.``

The colorful array of berries -- raspberries, several colors of gooseberry and currant -- look good, though. So do the potatoes, parked beside a special cast iron roaster called a Pickwick. Not surprisingly, I`ve noticed potatoes everywhere; ``spuds`` come with every meal and I recall being asked if I`d like potatoes with my chips (French fries), as if they were a different vegetable.

We finish where we began, with cheese. Silke Cropp has been making her Corleggy cow and goat cheeses for 14 years now. An art teacher, she began with a cheese or two for friends, then acquired five goats and had to take them seriously. ``I only had books for learning, and I made some revolting cheeses when I first began.`` she laughs. Now business is so good that she buys milk from other producers and can afford to give up the teaching. ``It`s a big step.``

It is partly thanks to Seamus and his brother`s efforts (``Kevin is a workaholic, I`m lucky,`` remarks Seamus) that small producers like Silke can prosper. Seamus travels to Italy and Spain selling his cheeses ``I have a wonderful job,`` he remarks. The doyen of London cheese purveyors, Paxton and Whitfield, stock Sheridan cheeses, and a handful of Irish cheeses are now available in the U.S. to be found in markets such as Dean and Deluca, and on the internet at or www.idealcheese.com.

``Export is bold,`` declares Seamus, ``it uses the surplus of natural resources, it`s good for everyone.`` The benefits in this small Dublin market are clear to behold.

BROCCOLI SOUP WITH PARMESAN

``Seamus adds Parmesan cheese, a great lump of it, to everything,`` says his girlfriend Miriam. ``And cream, lots of cream.``

1 carrot, peeled and sliced

2 cups coarsely chopped trimmings from spinach, cabbage or lettuce

1 medium tomato, chopped

2 unpeeled cloves garlic, crushed

Bouquet garni of thyme, bay leaf and parsley stems

2 whole cloves

1 teaspoon peppercorns

Salt

Pepper

2 quarts water

1 pound broccoli, including stems

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, sliced

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 lemon or lime for vegetable stock

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

To prepare stock, combine carrot, spinach, tomato, garlic, bouquet garni, cloves, peppercorns, salt and pepper to taste and water in pot. Bring to boil and simmer 30 to 40 minutes. Strain, then boil stock if necessary until reduced to 1 quart. Taste and adjust seasonings

Trim broccoli, thinly slice stems and cut heads into small florets. Add florets to boiling stock and simmer until scarcely tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Lift out florets with draining spoon, rinse with cold water to set color and reserve.

Add broccoli stems to stock and simmer until tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile heat butter in small pan, stir in onion and saute until very tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir onion into stock with broccoli florets, reserving half dozen for garnish. Simmer 2 to 3 minutes, then let soup cool 5 to 10 minutes.

Puree mixture in blender. If pureeing in food processor, soup must also be strained. Return soup to pan, stir in cream, juice of 1/2 lemon and 3 to 4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese. Bring soup just to boil, taste and adjust seasonings, adding more cheese if needed.

Broccoli soup can be prepared ahead to this point and refrigerated.

To finish, bring soup just to boil and cut remaining half lemon into wedges. Serve soup in bowls, topped with lemon wedges and broccoli florets, with remaining grated cheese separately. Makes 6 servings.

(Anne Willan`s new book ``From My Chateau Kitchen`` is published by Clarkson Potter, 2000.)

(c) 2000, Anne Willan. Distributed by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate.

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Author: Anne Willan