Tapping into tapas
Thursday, June 15th, is World Tapas Day, and clams with ham and a glass of sherry for a tenner, or a platter of three tapas, a dessert and a glass of sangria for €15 are among the good value deals Irish restaurants will have on offer on the day.
You can try those almejas con jamon and a copita of sherry at The Port House, while the mixed platter will be on offer at The Market Bar. At Cava Bodega in Galway, diners will be offered free churros.
But the place to really get into the fiesta feeling will be at Taste of Dublin in Iveagh Gardens, Dublin 2, where the Spanish Tourism Board will be sharing tapas and pouring some great Spanish wines. Chefs Manu Liria and Pedro Santana from Lanzarote will be demonstrating signature dishes from the island.
Cooked the books
Cooked is a premium recipe subscription site that makes cookbooks available in their entirety, not just selected recipes or extracts. So if you don't have a lot of space to store books, or you just want to look before you buy, this collection of more than 33,000 recipes by well known food writers such as Jason Atherton, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Antonio Carluccio, James Martin and Sarah Raven could be useful.
It is an initiative from Hardie Grant Books, and comes with additional features such as previews of forthcoming titles, behind-the-scenes features, exclusive interviews, editor's picks and useful search functions. There is a 30-day free trial, after which a subscription costs £2.99 a month of £36 annually. See cooked.com/uk
Meringues with a difference
Ann Marie and Brian Walsh’s Tipperary Kitchen is famous for its superlative chocolate biscuit cake, but the bakery and store in Holycross village also makes very good meringues and dessert sauces. This month it is launching a new range of mini-meringues in an interesting range of flavours.
“We wanted our meringues to reflect the amazing innovative food culture that is sweeping Ireland,” Ann Marie says. “The inspiration for the flavours came from the array of Irish and ethnic restaurants in the Dublin food scene. The vibrant colour of Irish beetroot and zingy ginger in smoothies inspired our Ruby Beetroot with Ginger meringues. Having previously worked with a talented Indian chef, this gave me the inspiration to hand crush cardamom with freshly zested oranges for our Fragrant Cardamom and Orange Zest variety.
"In the 1980s I worked with Darina Allen, and saw her whip up praline meringue – it was love at first bite for me. Then, having discovered a French market trader with honey roasted almonds, we created Nutty Almond Praline. Thinking outside the box with ingredients we use everyday resulted in best find of all. Toasted Coconut and Black Pepper meringues have wowed us all."
The mini-meringues are sold in trays of 12, and are available at SuperValu nationwide, as well a speciality food shops.
BBQ to Beat Cancer
Ballymaloe Foods, makers of the relishes and pickles, have teamed up with the Marie Keating Foundation to organise a BBQ to Beat Cancer. If you volunteer to host a fundraising barbecue for family or friends, the food company will send you out a party pack in the post, including a poster, invitations, balloons, a Ballymaloe Foods coupon, recipes, and a chef's hat. To receive one register at mariekeating.ie/bbq.
