MARIE-CLAIRE DIGBYdiscusses food matters
Destination Donegal . . . or Dingle
Donegal is staking a claim to becoming the food capital of Ireland, with two interesting events in the next fortnight. Next Sunday, four of the county’s culinary hotspots – Rathmullan House, Harry’s Restaurant, An Bonnán Buí and Beach House – are joining forces to stage The Food Coast Harvest Feast at the historic Battery in Rathmullan, on the shores of Lough Swilly. Local food producers have been invited to have their produce included in the feast, which will be served at communal tables between 2pm and 4pm (adults €25; children €15).
Lough Eske Castle, on the outskirts of Donegal town, has no fewer than seven international chefs, with four Michelin stars between them, signed up for a three-day Food Wine Festival beginning on Saturday, October 2nd. Belfast chef Michael Deane opens the festival with a five-course dinner, with wines from William Tindal wine merchant (€89). The following night there will be a Champagne Taittinger dinner (€99), with resident executive chef Philipp Ferber running the kitchen and Vittali Taittinger introducing wines from his family’s private collection. On the final day, the visiting chefs will take guests on a journey around the castle, serving 12 dishes in different locations, to a jazz music backdrop (€109). The three dinners can be booked separately, and there is an overnight room rate of €150, including breakfast. If you really want to spoil someone, the complete package, including three nights’ accommodation and all three gala dinners, is priced at €499.50. Details on the hotel’s website, solislougheskecastle.ie.
If Dingle is more in your neck of the woods, the fourth annual Blas na hÉireann awards and food and wine festival is also on over the first weekend in October. Dinglefood.com.
Allegrini wine dinner
On Tuesday, September 28th, Silvia Allegrini will present a selection of Allegrini wines at a dinner in the Michelin-starred restaurant in the Cliff House Hotel in Ardmore, Co Waterford. These will include wines from Allegrini's estate in Veneto, as well as from Poggio San Polo in Montalcino and Poggio Al Tesoro in Bolgheri. Martijn Kajuiter will create a special menu to match these wines. The Cliff House is offering a package for this event, of dinner (including wine) and BB accommodation for two people sharing for €390. To book, tel: 024-87800 or email info@thecliffhousehotel.com.
Pots of style
The lids on the Original Pro Collection pots from German manufacturer Fissler, new at Brown Thomas homewares, have a depression in their centre, which ensures that rising steam drips back into the pot, meaning you can cook with very little water. An ice cube placed in the hollow magnifies the effect, and you can apparently cook vegetables with only the water that adheres to them after rinsing, which is good news on both the taste and nutrition fronts. The bad news? They’re pricey, with a 16-centimetre pot costing €140.
They've got it in the bag
School lunch-box competitiveness is rumoured to be rampant among junior schoolers (or perhaps it’s the mothers of junior schoolers), and you can ramp up your “green” credentials by packing the little darling’s sandwiches (home-made, wholemeal, naturally) in environmentally friendly, re-usable paper bags.
Shauna Walsh, pictured above with her children Abbie, Ava, Gavin and Simon, is already in the packaging business, as managing director of Walsh Packaging in Roscrea, Co Tipperary, and she identified a gap in the market for an alternative to plastic wrap and tinfoil.
“With nothing available in the market and schools pushing children to become more ecologically aware through the Green Flag Scheme, I decided to develop Paper Lunch Bags. Once my kid’s friends and their mums saw them, they wanted their own. It was because of this interest and enthusiasm that we decided to bring them to market.”
Paper Lunch Bags come in packs of 50 and are on sale in Superquinn, Tesco and SuperValu branches nationwide with a recommended retail price of €2.49.
Good lunch Choice
The organic free-range pork which will be served at the Blas an Fhómhair harvest lunch at Country Choice deli in Nenagh, Co Tipperary tomorrow will be roasted in both Irish and Italian styles, in honour of a group of visiting Tuscan butchers and Slow Food black pudding experts. The butchers will be taking part in a pig carcass preparation workshop today at 3pm at the Crowe family’s farm in Dundrum, Co Tipperary. Jack McCarthy of Kanturk and Nora Egan of Inch House will be flying the flag for Irish pudding makers. The workshop costs €20. It’s not suitable for children – a bit gory, perhaps. Take them to lunch tomorrow instead. Tickets, €15, or €40 for two adults and two children, from Country Choice, tel: 067-32596. Lunch will be served from 3pm to 4pm.
