Articles

Not only do eggs come in the neatest and most beautiful of packaging, but ‘Nature’s convenience food’ is also one of the versatile ingredients in any cook’s armoury – and highlighting that simple fact was the main aim of the recent Bord Bia/Irish Egg Association ‘Eggs For Anytime’ recipe competition, which asked chefs to share a dish based on Bord Bia Quality Assured eggs that could feature on their restaurant menu, outside of the more usual breakfast and brunch offerings.
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This month Darina talks about one of her many highly successful past students, Abra Berens
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Ireland’s greatest food hero, Myrtle Allen, died on June 13th 2018 at the age of 94. While she is sorely missed and we will remember her especially on her anniversary, it is wonderful to see the value that is now being placed on her lifetime’s work.
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Darina gives some very timely statistics on food production and sustainability, which are shocking but not surprising, and advocates a return to mixed farming. But, now that the current situation is at least being acknowledged as a crisis, she senses that we’re on the cusp of change- and shares some ways in which we can all be part of the solution.
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Mindful that Ireland has recently become only the second country in the world to declare a climate and biodiversity emergency, the Grow It Yourself movement has even more relevance now.
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Dinner in France: When Euro-Toques chef Martin Dwyer and his wife Sile sold their eponymous restaurant in Waterford and moved to France to run a Chambre d’Hote in France they soon discovered that there were a lot of differences in the practices in the two countries.
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Our “Just Ask!” Restaurant of the Month winner for MAY is Dunmore House Hotel, County Cork
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Our “Just Ask!” Restaurant of the Month winner for April is Black Cat, Salthill, Galway
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I delivered a course on growing tomatoes at GROW HQ recently, and though I was ostensibly ‘at work’, it didn’t really feel like work to be teaching about growing tomatoes (don’t tell anyone though).
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Chocolate seems to have taken over everything at Easter, including cakes, and the traditional Simnel Cake has become an endangered species - but it’s one of my favourite cakes and anyone who likes almond paste (marzipan) will probably agree. A tradition well worth bringing back!
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