Articles

There’s never a bad time to think about the quality of staple food, but this is one of the best when it comes to bread and baking.
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Since Michael Kelly’s famous ‘Eureka’ moment - when confronted by garlic all the way from China in his local supermarket - there’s been a strangely emotive connotation to the provenance of garlic in Ireland. In his case, it inspired him to start up the phenomenally successful GIY movement, while others see potential in the product itself.
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A gorgeous display of marrows in the window of the Ward family’s superb shop and café, Country Choice, in Nenagh, Co Tipperary has reminded me that we hear plenty about other, more exotic, members of the Cucurbita (gourd) family - which includes squash and pumpkin - but very little about the whopper marrows that I remember from my childhood.
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This month Georgina reviews All in the Cooking by (O’Brien Press, €16.99 hardback 256pp; some diagrams, no photographs.)
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Summer by the seaside means lots of fresh fish and seafood - and fortunately the best way to treat good seafood is simply, so these recipes are perfect for those summer evenings when you just want something easy and tasty.
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Not exactly ‘in season’ of course, but the crunchy sweet, Yellow Man, is unique to Northern Ireland and - although it is also found on stalls at other country fairs and, nowadays, in the shops - this traditional toffee-like sweet is firmly associated with Lammas Fair, which is held at Ballycastle, Co Antrim, in late August and marks the end of the summer (24-25th August 2015).
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This month Georgina reviews three titles:

It's The Little Things - Francis Brennan’s Guide to Life

The Hooker in the Lobby by Paul Treyvaud

A Taste Of Love by Theodora FitzGibbon
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Bord Bia has been very supportive of cheesemakers, and of small producers generally, and through the EU-funded Discover Farmhouse Cheese programme, they are currently encouraging us to make handmade cheeses part of our everyday shopping, both for raw or ‘cheeseboard’ use, and to use in cooking.
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Neven Maguire’s Complete Baby & Toddler Cookbook.

Every parent wants to give their child the best possible start in life and, just as a good breakfast is the best start to each day, good nutrition in the early stages is the best foundation for health throughout life. And who better to advise than Ireland’s best loved chef and father of 3-year old twins, Neven Maguire?
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Following an apparently unstoppable onslaught by the multiples and their promise of convenience and low prices, the family butchers shop has undergone a remarkable renaissance in recent years - greatly helped by the support of quality, fair price and local provenance driven groups such as Euro-Toques Ireland...
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