Articles

The festive season is in full swing and Christmas offers an escape from the everyday state of doom and gloom, so many establishments and companies have suggested ideas to help us make the most of it and enjoy every minute. Some hotels have come up with ingenious offerings...
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The short days of November and December are brightened by festivals, and also the abundance of wonderful seasonal produce that we have at our disposal – fruit, vegetables and foraged foods, also game to add to our usual range of meats.
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If you enjoy the traditional Christmas preparations and haven’t got started yet, it’s time to think about the puddings and cakes – although the long maturing time favoured by our grandmothers isn’t strictly necessary, anything with dried fruit in it benefits from a month or two in a cool dark place before the big day.
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Handsome is as handsome does, and there is no doubting that the TASTE Council lived up to its name (and then some) at the first National Food Symposium - or Summer School - on ‘the current and future contribution of the artisan and speciality food sector to the Irish economy’.
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Full on kitchen gardening has been a new experience for thousands of allotment virgins this last couple of years, and it’s a fair bet that a good few are wondering what on earth to do with all this sudden abundance of food. There are quite a few things you can do with excess fruit and vegetables, and some of them could make you money.
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Gardens are really beautiful at the moment and, as the days are getting noticeably shorter, this is the time to celebrate late summer with a tea party to remember. Pick a lazy sunny afternoon and invite family or special friends to enjoy a treat that they will remember with pleasure when the autumn starts to bite.
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New season vegetables make healthy eating a pleasure, and they’re quick and easy to cook too, in simple dishes that allow their fresh flavours to take centre stage. The food that Ireland is associated with throughout the world is of course the potato and the varieties grown commercially range from...
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In recent times, new season spring lamb has become traditional at Easter in Ireland, but it is a much better buy in summer when it has had more time to grow larger (making it more suitable for family meals) and to develop more flavour. Bord Bia recently launched a series of interactive video demonstrations featuring top chef Neven Maguire, and a also new range of tasty Irish lamb recipes...
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As Lucy Madden mentions in this month’s Insider View, the magnificent Great Western Greenway in Co Mayo opened in 2010. The longest off-road walking and cycling trail in Ireland, it meanders 17.5km along the line of the famous Newport/Mulranny Railway, which closed in 1937...
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Homegrown talent, quality & integrity were honoured at the 2011 Irish Food Writers’ Guild Food Awards - highlighting the vital work of small, independent Irish food producers, at a time when supporting home-grown industry is of the utmost importance. Those awarded for standards of excellence and for their exceptional contribution to Ireland’s reputation as a top food producing country were...
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