Articles

One of the most incredible things about children is their innocence – they have (thankfully) almost none of the hang-ups that us adults are burdened with. They approach life with a wide-eyed enthusiasm, devoid of cynicism or skepticism. They bring these same qualities with them when it comes to growing their own food.
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As the winter vegetables near the end of their season and the new season outdoor crops are far from maturity, food grown under protection comes into focus. And what more reliable or useful allies could we have in the kitchen than mushrooms, in all their variety.
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Dorling Kindersley are famous for the quality of their reference books and one of their latest kitchen bibles is focused on the sea: the DK FISH COOKBOOK, How to buy, prepare and cook the best sustainable fish and seafood from around the world (Dorling Kindersley £20/€25). This lavishly illustrated book does what it says on the cover and is crammed with information on all aspects of fish and seafood...
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Just outside Longford Town, this beautiful Georgian house dates back to 1740 and was taken on as a labour of love by the current owners, James and Beryl Kearney, in the 1980s. Since then, they have gradually worked on the house and developed its magnificent gardens, and there was always a plan to open a restaurant...
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The countdown to Easter begins on 21st February, which is Shrove Tuesday or, in the cooks’ lexicon, Pancake Day. As it’s the day before the first day of Lent (Ash Wednesday), it was traditionally a day for using up the foods that weren’t allowed during the fasting period of Lent, notably eggs.
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Slow Food has taken me to many remote places around the globe in search of ancient cultures and indigenous foods. On one memorable occasion I found myself in Sápmi (Samiland) in northern Sweden – the land of the midnight sun; it was bright almost all night.
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The other evening I was going through some notes from a course on soil fertility I attended a few years back with Jim Cronin on his smallholding in Bridgetown, Co Clare. Jim is a rare breed – a wise sage who wears his considerable wisdom lightly. The two greatest materials for returning fertility to soil, he says, are seaweed and homemade compost.
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Since I was a child carrots have appeared on my dinner plate several times a week. My mum used to tell us that they helped us see better in the dark – and she wasn’t too far from the truth. Carrots are energising and are a great antiseptic, as well as having anti oxidant qualities. Did you know that a single carrot will supply all your vitamin A needs for the whole day. My children often snack on raw carrots, and I use them not just as a veggie but also in baking, muffins and delicious carrot cake.
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A lot of things about Natasha Czopor’s ‘Natasha's Living Food’ are out of the ordinary, beginning with Natasha herself, who is representative of Ireland’s energetic and enterprising young cosmopolitan population - and she makes her products by hand in Stoneybatter, Dublin 7, which is near the Phoenix Park and not generally known as a manufacturing area of the city.
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Jenny Young and the team at Castlefarm are busy preparing for spring – and watching TV in bed...The arrival of February sees the birth of lots of calves (approx 70) at Castlefarm. All our cows are indoors full time. The herd is split into two, the milkers and the calvers.
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