Articles

Well deserved recipient of the 2015 Irish Food Writers Guild ‘Notable Contribution to Irish Food Award’, Birgitta Curtin is not only dedicated to maintaining the highest standards for her own famous smoked salmon - much of which is organically produced by Clare Island Salmon, off the rugged coast of Co Mayo - and other equally carefully sourced products at the Burren Smokehouse and Visitor Centre
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This month Eunice shares her recipe for this gorgeous cake to celebrate the arrival of spring
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KRISTIN JENSEN - co-author of Slainte! The complete Guide To Irish Craft Beers and Ciders - introduces us to Metalman Pale Ale, from the first Irish microbrewery to can their beer instead of bottling it
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This month Martin enjoys a blast from the past and the story of how a new dish was born: Scallops Torrades
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A brace of books this month, all about the humble tuber that has become our national vegetable: the potato. Lucy Madden's The Potato Year, 300 Classic Recipes (Mercier Press, hardback; 350pp; €14.99) and Eveleen Coyle's The Irish Pocket Potato Recipe Book (G&M, hardback; colour photography throughout, 256pp; €4.99)
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A few months ago, I was giving a talk about growing things (as you do) to a GIY group and was discussing the growing of spuds when a woman put up her hand to comment. She told us about a tradition in her family when the first new spuds of the season were being harvested. Her grandmother would always take a small batch of new spuds and put them in a biscuit tin, throw in a small covering of soil, put a lid on top and then bury the tin in the garden.
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What it means to be an organic farmer in Ireland today … Jenny Young writes about life and work on an organic mixed farm in Co Kildare - and selling its produce
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The common Stinging Nettle, Urtica dioica, was for many generations an important traditional food in Ireland, providing a free and tasty ingredient for soups, purées and sauces in the spring.
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This is the Year of Irish Design and, continuing her fascinating series on the opportunities that good design can bring to Irish food and tourism businesses, Aileesh Carew focuses on a very famous - and illuminating - example.
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A double bill of festivals in April means you won’t be stuck for things to see and do and taste, writes Dee Laffan. Festival season well and truly ignited this month, with the fourth annual Galway Food Festival kicking things off last weekend, next on the calendar, we travel south east to the coastal town of Dungarvan and surrounding countryside for the West Waterford Festival of Food, taking place from Thursday 9th to Sunday 12th April and celebrating eight successive years. The final festival in April takes us back to the capital for the inaugural Dublin Wine Fest from Monday 20th to Sunday 25th April.
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