I am not fanatical about my diet but in the main I try to eat in a healthy fashion so I aim to fill my shopping basket mostly with wholesome foods. There are certain items that I buy on repeat but I am willing to experiment.
A couple of weeks ago when I was food shopping, in The Delgany Grocer, I spotted a display of a food range that I hadn’t heard of before called Dr Coy’s Health Foods. I was attracted to the display by the simple and aesthetically agreeable packaging and when I had a closer look I was pleased to see much of the range is organic. One of the products was organic coconut flour (no gluten and high in fibre) and as I had never used it before I bought a pack.
I assumed an agent was importing the Dr Coy’s range but when I got my flour home and examined the pack I found that Dr Coy’s Health Foods is an Irish company and what is more they have a base a stone’s throw away from where I used to live until I moved last year.
I discovered via their Facebook page that Dr Coy’s Health Foods were holding a tasting, the weekend before last, at Select Stores in Dalkey which is a short drive from where I live now. So, off I went and there I bought vegetable bouillon (just sea salt with organic veggies, herbs and spices) and stevia erylite (a natural sweetener which doesn’t contain maltodextrin, has zero calories, and can be used as a sugar replacement at a 1:1 ratio) to add to my Dr Coy’s collection. At the tasting I talked to Alison Stroh from Dr Coy’s and she kindly agreed to meet up with me to tell me a little about her company.
Alison, a graduate of Trinity College Dublin whose area of expertise is international marketing, worked and lived abroad, mainly in Germany but also in New York, for a several years. She returned to Ireland three years ago with her German husband and two small children. She is passionate about eating in a nourishing and wholesome way and is keen to make sure that her children’s diets are as healthy as possible and in particular that they are not eating sugar-laced foods. Back in her native land she found it difficult to source some of the products she used to buy in Germany and thus the idea of a business centered on importing, rebranding, selling and soon to be manufacturing Dr Coy’s foods (more about Dr Coy shortly) products took root.
Lemon risotto, made with Dr Coy’s veggie bullion, and topped with roasted asparagus
She set up Dr Coy’s Health Foods last year with her brother Aaron O’Donohue a graduate of University College Dublin with a keen interest in cycling, endurance sports and nutrition. He was an accidental recruit to the business as at the time of the company’s inception he was recovering from a major injury. When Alison visited him she often asked for his help with something or other and slowly he became part of the fabric of the fledgling company that he now runs with her.
Dr Coy is a real person, one Dr Johannes Coy, who worked for thirteen years at the German Cancer Institute in Heidelberg and has written a book called: ‘The Anti-Cancer Diet’. I haven’t read the book and I won’t pretend, given that I don’t have even half a scientific brain cell in my head, to understand what I have read on the web about the pros and cons of his work.
Victoria sponge made with coconut flour and stevia erylite (slightly crumbly as I failed to follow all of Alison’s tips for baking with coconut flour)
But what I do believe is that Dr Coy’s Health Foods, with their focus on low glycemic (GI), non-blood sugar spiking preventative sugars, are a welcome addition to the Irish market especially given the World Health Organization recently advised that we halve our sugar intake from their previous recommendation of ten per cent of calorific intake to five per cent. So, it seems I can have my cake and eat it. And chocolate too as Dr Coy’s Health Foods is adding a guilt-free low GI chocolate to the range in June
Dr Coy’s Health Foods on Facebook here. and their website
http://www.drcoys.ie goes live shortly.
Photo Credit: Image of Aaron and Alison by Sarah Mayer
Just Add Attitude 
The products and the results of your cooking and baking look delicious. We have something similar happening here in Christchurch, with coconut. http://www.discovercoconut.co.nz/ I like coconut oil for cooking and bread making but most of all I like the way that this renewed interest in coconut has benefitted our Pacific Island neighbours.
Thank you so much. I clicked that link and found the video about the benefits of coconut oil very informative. It’s good to hear that the interest in coconut oil has the knock on effect of benefiting the economies of your Pacific Island neighbours. 😉
Yes, I think so. The copra/coconut industry used to be so important for the Pacific region when I was young, and to have coconut making a comeback is really exciting. Do you know the source for Dr Coy’s coconut?
I don’t know the source, I didn’t buy any as I have an almost full jar of another brand of coconut oil at home, so I cannot check the label, but I will try to find out. 😉
I would like the idea of Pacific coconut oil in your neighbourhood.
I will let you know when I find out. Happy Easter! 😉
And to you too.
Thanks. 😉
Hi Gallivanta, yes it really is a superfood. Our cold pressed virgin coconut oil is sourced from the Philippines.
I am happy to know that this resurgence of interest in the coconut is benefitting the Philippines, too.
😉
do you know if the products can be found anywhere else except dalkey area? at the moment i have a strong “relationship” with tilda’s wholegrain basmati rice which is not only healthy but very tasty.
I have just had a quick look at their facebook page and it appears the products are available in: Avoca, Kilmacanogue; The Happy Pear Greystones; Cavistons, Glasthule as well as the shops I mentioned in the post. There may be other stores that stock the product if I find out I will let you know.
Wholegrain basmati rice sounds very healthy I must seek out the Tilda pack of it.
it’s the purple one 😉
Thanks. 😉
I’m like you, not fanatic about diet, but conscious of eating well (and definitely conscious of the glycemic index, making sure I don’t overdo the sugars because blood sugar swings are stressful, and any stress will exacerbate my health problems).
Our PBS television station has recently started showing Kevin Dundon’s Modern Irish Food–we like his style (fresh food!).
Oh–and the packaging of Dr. Coy’s is marvelous!
Totally agree, it was the packing that first attracted me to the range, I think it’s spot on … 😉
I am glad to hear Kevin Dundon’s cookery show is being shown on your PBS station. There are some pretty good food things happening here and it’s great that they are being showcased in America.
I believe it’s good not to be too precious about food, I don’t think the odd ‘treat’ hurts so long as the underlying diet is mostly good. 😉
I was struck first by the packaging, it’s simple and clean and I really like it. So nice it’s local and healthful it sounds like a wonderful company and I am sure you will be adding to your collection of products. The risotto and cake both look delicious, can’t tell the cake is crumbly at all from the photo.
It was the packaging that first caught my attention and I agree it’s simple and clean. I will add to my collection of products, especially when the chocolate arrives. I love chocolate and chocolate-y deserts so I look forward to indulging without worrying about the sugar content.
Thanks for the compliment on the risotto and the cake. 😉
It seems that many people are paying more attention to how they eat. I hope that’s a trend that continues.
I think that can only be a very good thing. So yes I hope it continues and I am optimistic that it will. 😉
I’m intrigued by the vegetable bouillon. Some weeks I’m just too lazy to make broth and settle for the store bought kind. I’m always dismayed because it’s packed with sodium and other ingredients I can’t pronounce. I’d be interested to give this brand a try!
I hope you find that elusive vegetable bullion without all those added unpronounceable ingredients. There are plans afoot to export the Dr Coy’s range but I am not sure when. Happy Easter! 😉
I would love to try coconut flour. I saw it in Australia just before I left and will look for it when I get back. I have almost no chance of finding it in Italy.
I am a big fan of coconut water…anything to do with coconut really.
I haven’t tried coconut water – yet. I am big fan of coconut oil and I have been using it for years. This was my first attempt at baking with coconut flour, you need to add extra eggs and/or other liquid and reduce the quantity of flour as it absorbs liquid quite dramatically. I didn’t get the proportions exactly right but it still tasted fine.
such a beautiful discovery of yours.
I love coconut flour, and as gluten-free food isn’t just a fad with me, rather a crude necessity, it has helped save many a fave recipe.
speaking of recipes…
…do share the sponge cake one PUUUHLEEEASE!
Hello there,
I am happy to share the recipe altho it was a rather crumbly cake and please excuse the fact that I weighted everything in ounces. Here are the quantities I used:
Six ounces of butter and six ounces of stevia eyrlite beaten with an electric whisk until creamy, then add four eggs (one at a time) and beat after each addition, then fold in 2oz of sifted coconut flour plus two teaspoons of baking powder and lastly stir in a couple of tablespoons of milk ( I used soya milk) and bake as you would a normal Victoria sponge.
I know the advice is to add much more liquid with coconut flour and as my cake was crumbly I don’t think I added enough, so next time I would add an extra egg and/or some more milk.
The mix was curdled but baked out fine. Also the next time I will try the all in one method of putting all the ingredients into a food processor at once and blending until smooth (the butter needs to be soft for this to work).
All the very best for the Easter Weekend, I hope it’s a restful and enjoyable time for you. 😉
Oops! I realized after I wrote my original reply that eggs and butter are no-no’s for vegans and I am sorry that I temporarily forgot you eat a vegan diet. I don’t know if the recipe would work if you substitute coconut oil for the butter and I am not sure what the vegan alternatives are for eggs. 😉
oh don’t worry! thank you so much.
it’s really good to see the original recipe in order to try and veganise it 😉
how long have you baked it? and at what temperature?
I cooked it at 180 degrees, I cannot recall for how long around twenty minute I think – I took it out when it looked done and when it was coming away from the edges of the cake tin. Hope that helps! 😉
yes, it does 🙂
thank you!
Good and you are welcome. 😉
This is really interesting – I’ll take a closer look at their site. I’ve been using coconut oil for a while now. Risotto looks tasty 🙂
The risotto was good. I too have been using coconut oil for a while. Hope you are enjoying the Easter bank holiday weekend. 😉
Great reporting about this company and the food really looks delicious!
Thanks Meg, on both counts.
Hi Just Add Attitude, thank you so much for the lovely post, it reads beautifully.
Hats off to AMP Visual for their lovely design work.
Avoca in Suffolk St. are now carrying Dr.Coy’s so handier for folk in the city centre.
Thank you Aaron and Alison at Dr Coy’s Health Foods for your comment.
Hats off indeed to AMP Visual for their design work, the packing is simple but visually striking and also memorable.
I wish you both every conceivable success with the company.
All the very best from B at Just Add Attitude
The food looks scrumptious. It’s great that people are becoming more health-conscious and promoting food that’s actually good for us.
Totally agree, there is so much food that’s not good for our us out there, so it’s great that healthier options are more widely available.
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