Articles

A timely piece from Lucy Madden about the ideal level of 'friendliness' in restaurants - just when we are concentrating our own efforts on addressing complaints from many of our assessors about staff who fail to engage with customers. Pleasing everyone may not be an option, in Lucy’s view.
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Under rated for decades, root vegetables - broadly categorised as plants with edible underground parts, but most often referring to those with tap roots and tuberous roots such as carrots, parsnips and potatoes - have been the mainstay of traditional northern European diets for many centuries.
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This month Marilyn Bright talks to Michael O'Meara, chef-proprietor of Oscar's Seafood Bistro, Galway. Michael O'Meara is a chef who literally immerses himself in his work and in the process has been named BIM’s Seafood Chef of the Year. Swapping chef's whites for a wet suit, Michael explores Galway Bay's rich sea life and gathers research for a book featuring the award winning fish and sea vegetable dishes he serves up in Oscar's Seafood Bistro.
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Some alternative recipes for Christmas or any other special dinner. Vegetarians can also visit www.veggiechristmas.org for the Vegetarian Society’s range of appealing meat-free dishes from around the world.
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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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New artisan cheeses have been coming onto the Irish market in a pleasingly steady flow in recent years and, every now and then, something really unusual comes along. That can certainly be said of the latest cheese made by Helen Finnegan at the family farm in Stoneyford, Co Kilkenny, where the famous Knockdrinna range is produced.
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They came to the beautiful Lough Inagh Lodge Hotel in their hundreds to enjoy the December launch of Mairin Ui Chomain’s new book, as they had done to Sallynne & Derry Clarke’s iconic restaurant L’Ecrivain for the Dublin launch in November.
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In the latest of a series which shows how to get the best from particular food and beer pairings, our expert columnist and food blogger KRISTIN JENSEN gives her tips on matching beer and beef - the ultimate ‘dude food’ combo
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This month Lucy Madden enlists Santa’s help to make our green and pleasant land can become a more attractive place to live and to visit
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This month Martin recounts their first proper holiday since they set up business in France - A Fortnight in Italy. When we moved to France and therefore onto the Continent of Europe I imagined that we would be popping into the car every weekend we had free and tripping down the road to Italy, or Germany or Switzerland...
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