Articles

When presenting their annual Food Awards at Dublin’s Bang Café in November, chefs group Euro-toques Ireland the called on the government to establish a ‘safety net’ support system to ensure the survival of indigenous food businesses. “What we are talking about are simple, but effective measures to defend artisan production and encourage rural enterprise”, said Chef Feargal O’Donnell, Commissioner-General of Euro-toques Ireland. “At the moment the regulatory requirements and compliance costs are making many businesses uncompetitive, deterring new food enterprises and wiping out many existing ones. In many cases producers are being asked to invest in facilities that they will never recoup the cost of. Many of these people wish to remain small and just to supply locally. We believe a different approach is needed”.
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Tradition usually rules at Christmas if you’re cooking for a large number (see our main cookery feature for the traditional Christmas feast ) – and, if you’re lucky, there will be plenty of leftovers to ease demand on the cook for a day or two afterward. You may find the following suggestions from more of the season’s best cookery books appealing throughout the Christmas/New Year holiday.
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The image of “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…” pretty much sums up the best and cosiest of winter activities, especially the sociability of the festive season. Not to be confused with the unrelated and inedible horse chestnuts which grow prolifically in Ireland, the European sweet chestnut, Castanea sativa, is actually a cousin of the beech.
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Lucy Madden ponders, among other things, the increasingly prolific (and obscure categories of) hospitality awards... We are told, and no surprises here, that airbrushed stars in magazines leave young girls stressed and wanting to drink. It's the same effect that the annual round of hospitality awards have on me, especially when we haven't received one, or even been shortlisted. They swish around, these awards, and the categories become ever more obscure. Soon there may be an award for the receptionist with the best teeth. At a stage in life when the onlv accolade I am likely to receive is a cuddly grandmother cup at the local fête, I gnash my teeth (I still have them) at pictures of the beaming recipients and sometimes wonder, in sour and bitter mood, how the hell did they get that?
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The “Just Ask!” Restaurant of the Month winner for November is West restaurant, at The Twelve Hotel in Barna, just west of Galway city. A former winner of our annual Wine Award, this contemporary hotel has had quality food at its heart from the outset and their motto “True to The Region, True to The Season” sums up the philosophy which can be seen at work in every aspect of the operation, including their excellent bar food as well as the fine dining restaurant, West.
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It’s an exceptionally good year for cookery books so, for a lot of gift lists, that could be Christmas pretty much sorted. The only question is, which ones suit your nearest and dearest best? The season’s crop breaks down roughly into three groups – first there are the heavyweights (serious books that you’ll want to keep for life), secondly the chef cookbooks (which, ironically, mainly focus on home cooking this year) – and then (don’t laugh), many of the others seem to major in cupcakes…
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Christmas is coming and there’s nothing a good cook likes better than the orderly preparations that begin with making the puddings and rich fruit cakes – once they’re made and stored, there’s a sense of things being under control…This month’s recipes tie in with the new season cookbooks (see Book Reviews). Recipes include Roly's Christmas Pudding from Roly's Café & Bakery Bookbook; Edward Hayden’s Christmas cake from Edward Entertains and Bûche de Noel from Julie Duff's Cakes Around the World.
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Home made sweets and little treats are always welcome gifts - and perfect for these recessionista times. The following article contains recipes that have been taken from some of the wonderful cookbooks that have been reviewed by us and include Turkish Delight from Rachel Allen's Home Cooking, MacNean Mint Chocolate Truffles from Neven Maguire's Home Chef and Sugar Cookies from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.
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My son likes to remind his prurient mother that she once, when driving through Gloucester, suggested making a detour to see the house where murderers Fred and Rosemary West carried out their foul deeds. I can't remember this, but it is possible. I admit to a fascination with gruesome venues. I also like to see places where famous people have lived and died; cemeteries are irresistible...
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Autumn and winter bring many treats to the kitchen and, for many people, wild game is one of the most exciting. What fun it used to be walking down past Sawyers in Chatham Street, when all the feathered and furred game was hung up on display, the beautiful pheasants with their tail feathers on and a kaleidoscope of colours gleaming in the winter sun – as good a reason for going in Dublin as there could be, yet all that is banned now. But that hasn’t quite spelt the end of wild game, which is supplied oven-ready in season to good specialist shops and supermarkets by, for example, the Wicklow company, Wild Irish Game.
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