Food File: Alice themed teas and feasts in the streets

TAKING THE FEAST TO THE STREETS: This year's Street Feast, on Sunday, June 12th, is part of the Ireland 2016 centenary programme. The aim is to encourage neighbours and communities to get together at noon and host a lunch on their street, in their gardens or wherever they can find a space to get together.

A Street Feast templates to create posters, flyers and invitations to distribute are available online at streetfeast.ie. You can also register to receive a party pack with balloons, party hats and bunting.

Cork is also planning a street feast as part of its Midsummer Festival (June 17th-26th), but the 400 tickets for the outdoor banquet spanning the length of Oliver Plunkett Street on June 26th are already sold out. It was the first of the arts festivals many events to put the houses full sign up. Twelve restaurants in the city will provide the food for the event: dress code white (photograph of 2015 included).

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Alice Through the Looking Glass has inspired Dublin’s Shelbourne and Westin hotels to offer Alice-themed afternoon teas.

However, there will be plenty of space to spread your picnic blanket on the grass at Picnic in the Park on Sunday, June 19th (noon-5pm). You can bring your own feast or purchase food from market vendors in Fitzgerald’s Park, and there will be entertainment and music all day. In addition, Féasta Festival markets at Emmet Place will sell food and crafts throughout the festival (11am-5pm).

TIME FOR TEA: Nobody needs an excuse to eat cake, but the release in cinemas this weekend of Alice Through the Looking Glass has inspired Dublin's Shelbourne and Westin hotels to offer Alice-themed afternoon teas.

At the Shelbourne, finger sandwiches and scones are joined on the cake stand by patisserie, including a salted caramel macaroon disguised as a pocket watch, a mushroom made of meringue, lemon curd, crème Chantilly and berry compote, a Queen of Hearts yoghurt vanilla mousse, and a potion labelled “Drink Me”, which is nothing more dangerous than a kir royale. There is also a special children’s version of the tea. The adult version costs €45 (€57 with Champagne) and the kids’ tea is €20. It’s available until September 4th, booked 24 hours in advance.

At the Westin, in-house milliner Laura Kinsella, who is available to hotel guests by appointment for consultations, has created an Alice-inspired headpiece that will be on display in the hotel. This themed Mad Hatter's afternoon tea (€49.50) is only available for group bookings (minimum 18), so perhaps suitable for hen parties or club outings.

SAUCES IN BLOOM: If you're visiting Bloom in Phoenix Park next weekend, look out for a new product being launched there by Janet Drew of Janet's Country Fayre. Drew, who started out making a red pepper relish (2,500 kg of which she will supply in June to Freshways in Finglas for a British Airways contract they have secured), now produces a range of condiments, as well as pasta and pizza sauces.

The sauces are made without added salt or sugar – “I use carrot puree as a natural sweetener instead,” Drew says. New additions to the pizza sauce range are curry and barbecue flavours. They are on sale in SuperValu, and you can pick them up in the Food Village at Bloom on special offer at €4 for two.

SPUD GETS PRIDE OF PLACE: The Comber Early potato, one of a handful of Irish products that has been granted PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) status by the EU, is a celebrated variety that can only come from a particular area in Co Down. The Comber Earlies Food Festival takes place on Comber Square on Saturday, June 25th. There will be cookery demonstrations, an Ulster Scots Highland Games (fuelled, of course, by lots of spuds), and potato-themed children's workshops. It's free to attend and is a chance to meet growers keeping this important variety in production.