This weekend sees the start of the 10th annual Food Month at The Irish Times. From Saturday and throughout November, you’ll find a wide range of food news and features across all sections of the newspaper, and online at irishtimes.com. There will also be a programme of reader events and competitions.
Gráinne O’Keefe, head chef and owner of Mae restaurant in Dublin 4, joins the food writing team in the Irish Times Magazine, and will write a weekly recipe column. Her first contribution includes three brunch recipes perfectly pitched for the bank holiday weekend. In her writing, O’Keefe aims to share “really simple, tasty recipes”, while also making some more complicated dishes accessible to home cooks. “I have a way of being able to make meals very quickly, but they’re tasty, and they look good. I hope to be able to pass that on in the column and show people how to do it.”
Recipe of the day
In addition, there will be a recipe of the day online at irishtimes.com, at 6am on weekdays throughout November. “Frugal Feasts: Delicious dinners for under €10″ will address rising food and energy costs and provide culinary inspiration for meals to share. First up, on Tuesday, is a slow-cooker beef-and-bacon stew by Caz Mooney, who shares budgeting advice on social media as @irishbudgeting.
On Friday, November 4th, the Irish Times Winter Food + Drink magazine will be distributed with the newspaper and will include an invaluable guide to 100 Great Value Places to Eat in Ireland, as selected by Corinna Hardgrave and Joanne Cronin. Former LA Times food editor Russ Parsons writes about what he has learned from three years of shopping and cooking while living in Waterford. Musician Paul Harrington may have earned five stars on his appearance on the TV show The Restaurant, but now his cooking is designed for his three-year-old daughter Molly. There are also recipes, and features on gourmet travel, pairing winter food and drinks, kitchen tips from the professionals and shopping for culinary gifts.
Irresistible: Why We Can’t Stop Eating – how the food industry cracked the code and made us all eat more
Eating disorders in later life: Some of my peers have had teenage weight levels for decades
‘I honestly have no idea how I’m going to save my restaurant from going under’
‘Leave inhibitions outside’: Why Chinese coffee is having an It Girl moment
Fantastic prizes
We have some great prizes to be won too, including an opportunity to become part of the wine team at The K Club in Co Kildare in 2023. The prize includes a trip for two to Bordeaux to visit Barton & Guestier’s Château Magnol, an opportunity to accompany K Club sommelier Lisa O’Doherty to a professional wine tasting, and an invitation for the winner and their guest to a six-course tasting event at The K Club, in partnership with The Marbella Club, with an overnight stay.
Reader events include a Meet the Chef dinner with Gráinne O’Keefe at her Mae restaurant in Dublin 4, where she will be in conversation with Irish Times restaurant critic Corinna Hardgrave; and a Chinese cooking masterclass at Asia Market in Dublin 2 with Suzie Lee, presenter of Home Cook Hero on BBC One. Tickets for both are on sale at Eventbrite.ie. There will also be an opportunity to dine with Leinster Rugby at Saba restaurant in Dublin 2 and hear about how the players maintain their nutrition programme at home and what they cook to stay match fit. For more details of Food Month events, see irishtimes.com/events.
If you would like to join the Irish Times Food & Drink Club, you can do so here. You can also follow us on Facebook here, and on Twitter here.
To keep up to date with all of the Food Month activity and articles, see irishtimes.com/food and follow the hashtag #ITFoodMonth
