Cork snaps up 15 tonnes of spiced beef for Christmas

AS much as 15 tonnes of spiced beef will be sold this Christmas by Tom Durcan in the English Market.

The trader has reported huge demand for the product in the weeks leading to the festive period, with demand coming from as far away as Hong Kong.

Mr Durcan said they were selling colossal amounts of the product with people flocking to his stall for the very special taste.

As well as the 15 tonnes of spiced beef that will be bought and taken home to be cooked, Mr Durcan said he has also sold a tonne of cooked spiced beef.

“For a lot of people, it is the smell of home at Christmas to cook up some spiced beef,” Mr Durcan said.

“We have people from all over the world buying our spiced beef this Christmas. We had our biggest online sales ever this year, with people in France, Italy, Hong Kong and Croatia buying our products.

“It seems to be mostly expats who want the taste of home.”

As well as this, Mr Durcan said the market is full of familiar faces as return customers come back for more.

“We see the same faces every year. We just had a fella from Waterford come in and buy three massive slabs of spiced beef. He said it is his annual visit to Cork, he just comes down for the spiced beef.”

Mr Durcan said It is not just spiced beef that is flying off the shelves.

“Our turkeys sold out with three days to Christmas, but we are okay on ham and all the auxiliary stuff we still have.”

Mr Durcan said the English Market is the place to be around Christmas with a lively atmosphere and a real sense of Christmas.

“There is a fantastic happy atmosphere we have in the market at the moment, the economy seems to be picking up and going a bit better. People have a few quid to spend on Christmas and they are in good form."