We had an impromtu dinner in Oficina in Dundrum Town Centre this evening and it was really fantastic! The restaurant is part of the Dunne and Crescenzi group of restaurants, so I should have known really…
To start we shared a very tasty and garlicky bruschetta, at a lovely little table near the lake. The tomatoes were full of flavour and not too squishy, as is often the case.
Then Boyfriend had a seafood risotto, which he liked, although the seafoody flavour was quite strong.  Continue reading »

I am old enough to have sat laughing uproariously at the telly when Geoff Read appeared on the Late Late Show in 1984 talking about his plans to launch bottled water on the Irish market. I thought it was a hoot but obviously doomed to failure, which shows how much I know when it comes…  Continue reading »

39 listed events thus far from Sligo to Kerry, from tasting and farm open days to full foodie festivals
for more, click on this link: clicky
got more events to add? Are you happier with this year’s week than last year’s?  Continue reading »

Well, that’s it folks. Search no more. I’ve found the ultimate farmer’s market. And it’s not in America. It’s in Canada. Montreal to be specific. It’s called Atwater Market and it’s everything any food lover could hope for.

Imagine a place with outdoor and indoor market space with rows of fresh baked bread, just-picked fruits and vegetables bursting with bright colors, French pastries by the dozen, meat markets, florist stalls and maple syrup!  Continue reading »

I’ve been reading Michael Pollan’s An Eater’s Manifesto, and it’s brilliant stuff. He takes a basic rule: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants“, and expands on it to explain why these things need saying, before breaking down each of those to come up with a list of applicable rules that can be followed fairly easily.  Continue reading »

The pressure is on – only four days to go to this year’s Mallow Food Festival – and we’re hoping for sunshine! Last year, it was a glorious day, apparently, amidst the damp gloom that was the summer of 2007 (not very different at all from summer 2008) and the kids are due back to school so the weather is bound to perk up.  Continue reading »

 I’m just back in Dingle after a long night at the Rose of Tralee. Congrats to all the Roses and especially Aoife Kelly, the Tipperary Rose, who was the bookie’s favourite and was indeed crowned the Rose on the night.
We were there selling ice cream, with proceeds going to the festival, and I have to say my favourite roses were our own three (photo below), who moved a mountain of ice cream with smiles and good cheer. And just look at their classy headgear!  Continue reading »

The line up of events for national organic week (15th-21th sept) has been announced. While there is the odd notable omission from the official list thus far (e.g . the one we flagged here a weeks ago – erin brokovitch speaking in Dublin on behalf of Glenisk!) there is, nonetheless, an interesting array of events. Including lots of chocolate tastings, it seems.
(Nearly) Full details are available here: yummy!  Continue reading »

I’ve always loved pizza. It’s just one of those foods that is just plain good. I like to think I’m not alone in this, that everyone has a kind of pizza they like because to me, it’s just that kind of food. It can be made so many different ways. For me, I like how the gooiness of the cheese, the flavor of the sauce, and the irresistible crust meld together to form the perfect and most universal harmony I’ve ever seen in food.  Continue reading »

I have always been a bit wary of trying battered fish as I had visions of a blazing chip pan inferno and fire engines carrying uniformed, sweaty, powerful men to help hose down your ikea kitchen cabinets, rescue your kitty from the next door neighbours tree etc. etc. (well every cloud has a sliver lining). I opened this months Good Food magazine and spied Golden beer battered fish with chips and plucked up the courage to give it a go.  Continue reading »

Hi there boys and girls out in blogland!
A little bird paid me a visit today; apparently she is looking for good amateur cooks to contribute to a series that RTE are making in the very near future. If anyone is interested in making it to the living rooms of the nation please read the letter below and let me know what the outcome of it all is…
Just look at what popped up in my in box…
Hello Polly,
My name is Aisling and I am a researcher with RTE Cork.  Continue reading »

We didn’t have very many new potatoes this year so those that made it into the pot were treated like gold. We planted them, as normal, on 17 March – the traditional time in Ireland for planting the spuds, as far as I know, especially when they’re earlies – but the weather was nasty after that so I think more than a few simply rotted in the ground.  Continue reading »

Lynn from Lynn’s Cooking Blog who I met at Enjoy a Taste of Scotland has tagged me for a meme. (Thanks Lynn)
Tag Rules:
Link to the person who tagged you. Post the rules on the blog. Write six random things about yourself. Tag six people at the end of your post. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.
6 random facts about me:1.  Continue reading »

Eat Drink Live
What to match with The Prodigal Spear (an asparagus recipe)? Asparagus is a very difficult food to match wine with and it’s out of season here (though M&S fly it in from Peru).
I’m going to go with a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. NZ Sauvignon Blanc has a very distinctive aroma and flavour, so distinctive that New Zealand have pretty much claimed Sauvignon Blanc as their own.  Continue reading »

You can safely add the Elm Tree to your list of lunch venues on the eastern side of the city. It is just beyond Glounthaune on the old Cork Midleton Road and can be easily found if you exit the current new motorway via the Cobh sign but instead of going to Cobh on the first roundabout after the exit, turn back left (1st exit) in the Glounthaune direction.
I was there today. Service is by way of carvery. There is a choice of about six main courses.  Continue reading »

What with having so much time on our hands for idle mooching through the forest of new-fangled ways of doing things, you can now, if you’ve a mind to, follow Bubble Brothers via Twitter (precisely, @bubblebrothers).  We are one of a select but growing gang of Irish businesses drawing attention to themselves in this way.  Damien Mulley recently posted a round-up.  Continue reading »

At this time of year we get parents coming into Organico looking to boost their child’s immune system, prevent the scourge of headlice or help calm their children down, as the return to school can cause anxiety levels to go through the roof!
As an immune system boost, we would recommend a liquid tonic such as Kindervital, which is made from all natural fruits, vegetables and herbs with vitamins added in case the school-day diet is lacking.  Continue reading »

Our last wine tasting was a blast with 14 people attending. We had a tasting of Shiraz wines and it was amazing how different the quality and taste of the wines were.  Continue reading »

I’ve heard people complain that while Lidl cheese is cheap, there isn’t a big selection and it’s not uniformly good. There is some truth in this – sadly you won’t find any of the fabulous farmhouse cheeses being made in Ireland and there are not many speciality continental cheeses either.
Some of the real bargain basement…  Continue reading »

It’s funny that the co-incidence of me breaking a chef’s knife should coincide with JD’s excellent post on knife technique.
Just to set the scene, lette and I have moved into a new house (full of new things), some nice new things and some not-so-nice. One of the things I’ve neglected to bring from my old house was my old chef’s knife. It was unbranded but it had a straight through tang and always felt spot on to use.  Continue reading »