Articles

This month Martin shares a very special recipe with us: Tranche St Remy. Last year I had a special dinner on my terrace for twelve people and I decided I wanted to produce a killer starter. I had a memory of an extremely delicious hors d’oeuvre which we used to produce in The Wife of Bath in Kent where I worked in the seventies under chef Michael Waterfield.
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It’s hard to believe that this time last year, we were basking in 20 degrees heat and headed for the beach over the Easter holidays. This year it’s a case of wrapping up well and trying to endure persistent freezing temperatures. It does all seem rather unnatural, particularly since it feels like it should be spring now that we’ve planted the potatoes.
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Wild herbs and edible flowers are a great addition to any kitchen and Biddy White Lennon and Evan Doyle devote a chapter of ‘Wild Food’ to these charmingly pretty and colourful foods. Wild Primrose (Primula vulgaris *Irish sabhaircin) and Wild Sweet Violet & (Viola odorata * Irish sail-chuach chumhra) are low-growing, common and easily found in woodland, hedgerows, and banks in spring and summer time. Violet leaves are almost evergreen while the primrose dies back after flowering.
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At last our cows are grazing outside full time. This means less time feeding silage and bedding the sheds with straw. The expense of dairy ration has also been cut out of their diet. Now it is AI season. For six weeks any cow that comes into heat will be artificially inseminated.
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It may seem a long time to some, but to me it seems as if Blazing Salads has always been there gracing Dubin with its wholesome presence, yet they only opened in 2000 and their first book came out in 2004. And it’s great to see another one, a hardback this time..
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When the news reached our house that the G8 talks were to be held this year in Enniskillen, my initial reaction – joy that such an auspicious gathering would be on our doorstep – was replaced by a worry about décor. The chosen hotel has a fine site on the edge of the largest inland waterway in these islands, a championship golf course and no doubt has passed all the checks necessary to host the world’s great and good. I
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This month Marilyn Bright talks to Christine & Eric Thèze of La Bohème Restaurant in Waterford City, where seafood is an increasingly important item on the menu
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Complete with 16th century armoury, huge open fires, massive chandeliers and many quirky features, this castle just outside Ballina makes an unusual small hotel. It’s a wacky place for those who enjoy something out of the ordinary and it would be great fun for a group get together.
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Trust has become one of the most important ingredients in food production in Ireland today, according to the Irish Food Writers’ Guild (IFWG). “If we can’t have full faith in what is on the label, the reputation of the food sector in Ireland could be seriously jeopardised,” said Chairperson of the IFWG Myles McWeeney, who was speaking at the Guild’s annual Food Awards which took place recently, in Dublin.
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A warming bowl of stew, a chunky soup or chowder or a golden, steaming pot pie all beg for a beer to be served alongside them. And if they can be enjoyed together while sitting in front of a fire in the pub on a cold, rainy March day, then so much the better.
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