Articles

Apples grow well in many parts of Ireland and the limestone-rich soil of Co Kilkenny, where Rod and Julie Calder-Potts have farmed since1969 (organically since 1994), is particularly suitable. Beginning with farm-gate sales of surplus apples, they produced fresh apple juice and apple concentrates to make wine - a product that attracted the interest of poteen-makers.
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It’s generally a quiet time of year for new books but, in any case, everything else can go on the back burner this month as the big news in the Irish foodie world is the much anticipated arrival of Biddy White Lennon and Evan Doyle’s foraging book, Wild Food - Nature’s Harvest: How to Gather Cook & Preserve (O’Brien Press, hardback €16.99).
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This month Marilyn Bright talks to Myles O’Brien of The Tavern Bar & Restaurant at Murrisk, Co Mayo, where local seafood is emphatically the star of the show
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With its weekly farmers’ market (one of Ireland’s best) and an enviable range of shops and restaurants catering to all tastes, Midleton has become a favourite destination for food lovers - a growing number of whom have been beating a path through the gated archway off the long main street that leads to The Courtyard and then to chef Kevin Aherne’s Sage Restaurant which, although in a beautifully renovated stone building (and influenced by the best of traditional values), is modern through and through.
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This time of year is always deceptive, the days are getting longer and everybody starts talking about spring but it’s often the coldest time of all. What’s needed in the kitchen is recipes for some fine big meals with plenty of good Irish meat and vegetables to keep out the cold.
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In the second of a series which shows how to get the best from some specific food and beer pairings, our expert columnist and food blogger Kristin Jensen gives her tips on matching beer and chocolate. Prepare to be surprised!
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The year’s new arrivals have begun at Castlefarm. We arrived back from our annual holidays on 2nd of February to nine calves that had been born early. Needless to say, Andrew who works with us full time on the farm was delighted to see us back. Although we started out the month milking 18 cows, each day brings at least one fresh calver that adds to the milking total.
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As we make the first tentative sowings of 2013, the 2012 growing season, for the moment, keeps on giving. Last weekend I got out in the veg patch in frost and brilliant sunshine to do some jobs which should have been done ages ago, and primary among them was to lift the remaining celeriac and parsnips from the ground.
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Rachel Gaffney, the famous foodie who’s flying the flag for Ireland in Texas, travels to Austin for what turns out to be a very interesting foodie weekend
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Euro-Toques chef Martin Dwyer, much missed in Ireland since he and his wife Sile sold their eponymous restaurant in Waterford and moved to France. They now live in the Languedoc, where they take guests - and feed them very well. Here’s his Day in the Life of a Maison d’Hote...
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