Organic food sales are under pressure in our biggest market, the UK.

In most of the rest of Europe, organic markets are growing, and Irish export focus has increasingly shifted over to the mainland of the EU.

(Pic: Nic Lampkin one of the stalwarts of organic farming
research since his seminal 1990 publication Organic Farming)

Nevertheless the UK remains an important export avenue for Irish organic produce.  Continue reading »

The Good Food Ireland
Conference and Awards Ceremony will take place Tuesday, November 22nd
2011 in The Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin.
Amy White of GFI has been in touch with the news that food lovers can vote, not just in the Presidential election, but in a new Food Lover’s Award:
 ”We are excited to announce for the first time ever we have created a specific award dedicated to you called the “.  Continue reading »

International Master Bartender Fearghus McCormack who scooped the award in Prague earlier this month.

First there was the Irish Masterchef, now there’s the Irish Master Bartender – one for beer and drink lovers this.
Dubliner, Fearghus McCormack, a third generation barman in the family run Merrion Inn, Dublin, has beaten stiff competition from across the globe to carry off the title of Pilsner Urquell International Master Bartender 2011.  Continue reading »

Mmmmm. Brownies and so forth.

Barnardos are running a huge fundraising campaign this week – the RTÉ 2fm Dress Up for Barnardos -  to raise badly needed money for their valuable work.  We’ve thought up a way that we (and you!) can help.  We’re organising a charity cake sale this weekend in Dublin city centre, and are calling on food bloggers and keen bakers to donate a little bit of their time to bake something for it.  Continue reading »

In a house with four young children it goes without saying that day to day life can be pretty hectic. As usual I have plenty in store for the coming week, something I am really looking forward to is Savour Kilkenny’s Food Camp on Friday. They have a fantastic line up of speakers that are dedicated to promoting good food. There are so many amazing foodie events happening around the country, if only there was time to get to them all!!  Continue reading »

In the shops of Dublin right now you’ll find plenty of kale. In a few weeks you may not be so lucky. Kale availability surges in October for the Halloween tradition of eating colcannon. But there’s more to kale than colcannon. Loads more. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of…  Continue reading »

A.  Continue reading »

Getting a high cholesterol reading from your GP can be a bit of a shock but if you have been advised to reduce your cholesterol there are lots of natural things you can to help. This month i have researched a few natural tips which you can apply either alongside prescription medication or before you are recommended to take it.  Continue reading »

In a house with four young children it goes without saying that day to day life can be pretty hectic. As usual I have plenty in store for the coming week, something I am really looking forward to is Savour Kilkenny’s Food Camp on Friday. They have a fantastic line up of speakers that are dedicated to promoting good food. There are so many amazing foodie events happening around the country, if only there was time to get to them all!!  Continue reading »

The fact that I live a stone’s throw from Glendalough made it easy to persuade some English friends to make a long-overdue visit to Ireland.  Glendalough was not the only attraction.  Continue reading »

DILLON’S RESTAURANT
Of
Timoleague
In Timoleague, where stands the substantial ruins of a 13th century abbey, there is a restaurant called Dillon’s, run for the last couple of years by Julie and John Finn. This was an old bar and shop and that kind of atmosphere still remains as the bright spot is still a great place for social interaction, groups gathering for a chat and a coffee and.  Continue reading »

Yes, today is National Food Day! For the first time in over 30 years, the day is being celebrated on the national level. This is a day to put focus on sustainable resources, food policies and food laws. Keep reading to learn more about food in the news and recipes that will celebrate food that is good and more importantly – good for you!
One way you can support Food Day is to support local food and those who provide it!  Continue reading »

From Monday 24th to Sunday 30th October, Dublin City Business Improvement District (BID) in association with the Restaurant Association of Ireland (RAI) present Dine in Dublin – Restaurant Week.  Continue reading »

When I have foreign friends over for supper, I always want to show them what’s best about Ireland. We have such amazing natural produce that it’s very easy to create a tasty dish out of just a few ingredients. This simple fish pie really shows off the wonderful food we have readily available in Ireland.

Some people are often surprised to hear that I don’t eat meat. Living on such a beautiful island makes being a pescitarian very easy.  Continue reading »

So chuffed were we for the people of New Zealand, we’re celebrating the All Blacks’ magnificent Rugby World Cup 2011 triumph yesterday in Auckland with a FREE bottle of The Ned Sauvignon Blanc with every 12 bottle purchase between now and 31st October!

That’s the brand new 2011 vintage and our top selling wine this year, totally free with every mixed case, and on top of the 20% already off all New Zealand wines* until the end of the month!  Continue reading »

Last Friday night saw the much anticipated visit of Samuel Guibert of Mas de Daumas Gassac to Ballymaloe’s magnificent Grainstore, for an evening of talk, tales and tasting as we sampled across the Gassac range with around 90 enthusiastic guests.  Continue reading »

Welsh natives: the sheep do outnumber the humans here by quite some measure

Today finds me still in Wales, land of castles, sheep, occasionally dodgy internet connections (hence the spud-sunday-on-a-monday-again, oops!) and of long and hard-to-pronounce place names, like this one:

This translates as (deep breath now):‘the church of Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near the fierce whirlpool and the church of Tysilio by the red cave’…or words to that effect

The Welsh word for potato – tatw (pronounced ta-tu) – is, luckily for me, much less of a mouthful.  Continue reading »

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Today’s Pricewatch in The Irish Times features a comprehensive article on Ireland’s best cheap eats, with recommendations on the best deals in Dublin, Galway, Cork, Limerick, and Athlone. It’s written by our very own Peter, he of this website.
We all know about early bird options, but Peter’s article covers lunches and dinners that stretch into the night, so it’s more about good value than early bird options. Head on over and have a look.  Continue reading »

It’s part superhero, part Victorian-industrial: I do like the Malheur logo. These two Flemish beers have been on sale in Messrs Maguire for the last year or so but I’ve been slow getting around to them.
Malheur 12 was the first I tried, and I wasn’t impressed. It’s incredibly heavy and boozy with bucket-loads of brown sugar flavour, but not much else. Concentrate and there’s a layer of ripe bananas, reminding me of Kwak, only not as good.  Continue reading »