Articles

A sense of discovery for Darina this month, as she recounts a wonderful Slow Food trip to Northern Ireland. If you’ve never taken the train from Dublin to Belfast put it on your ‘must do’ list immediately; it’s certainly one of the loveliest train journeys I have ever experienced, all along the North Dublin coast into Dundalk.
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On the countdown to the second LitFest at Ballymaloe, Darina lets us in on some of the hot tickets - and also the free events to be enjoyed by all. The excitement is really mounting, it’s just a week to this year’s Lit Fest at Ballymaloe , 16th -18th May. We’re particularly delighted that Kerrygold has come on board as our festival sponsors so the event has been renamed Kerrygold Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine.
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This month Darina shares some of the culinary highlights from Lucknow, a place that turned out to be full of surprises on a recent visit to India
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This month Darina reminds us of the importance of the small shops that we so often value only when it is too late - and her favourite new recipes include a variation on the classic scone and a delicious way to cook that much maligned vegetable, the Brussels sprout.
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This month Darina Allen comments on the food trends that are sweeping the world. IT’S a hugely exciting time to be in food. Farmers are more optimistic about the future than they have been in years and a high percentage of start-up businesses are food related.
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This month Darina takes a very long journey to the far north of Sweden - and it's rewarded with a very big treat
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Christmas Recipes and Tips - and Good News about Real Butter! The shops are brimming with tempting trinkets and baubles and canny shoppers are taking advantage of pre-Christmas bargains, and ticking off their lists. How good it feels to be organised, but more and more it’s a challenge for so many who are trying to balance both time and budget.
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This month Darina writes about an aspect of 'cheap' food production that is rarely discussed - the human cost. And says it is time to ask questions. I was totally shocked by an article by George Arbuthnott in the Sunday Times Magazine recently on the human cost of our food...
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Darina reflects on what the 12 Week Certificate Course means to the students who complete it - and proudly announces that both she and her brother Rory O’Connell have finally moved into the 21st century and have (very active) Facebook pages!
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In the US something very interesting is happening, it’s virtually a grass roots revolution. However, it’s not just in the US, in cities all over the world people seem to feel a deep need to produce food locally once again. It would seem to be an international phenomenon – an eerie almost primeval reaction as if deep down people sense that there may be a shortage of food before too long.
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