FOUR WEEKS ahead of the Christmas food-fest, a number of events this weekend have quite a tasty flavour to them.
Dublin plays host to two big food festivals – the annual Food Wine magazine Christmas Show at the RDS, and the Taste of Christmas festival at the Convention Centre Dublin.
The three-day show at the RDS opened yesterday evening, and promises demonstrations, masterclasses, food tastings and other activities.
TV chef Richard Corrigan, of Corrigan’s and Bentley’s Oyster Bar and Grill in London shared his cooking tips on the chef’s stage yesterday.
This morning’s events kick off with what sounds like an intriguing “wild food-foraging masterclass” with Mary Bulfin.
Dingle-based Murphy’s Ice Cream will demonstrate some tasty Christmas-themed white chocolate and plum pudding ice-cream at 2pm.
RTÉ’s Donal Skehan, Catherine Fulvio of Ballyknocken House, Ross Lewis of Chapter One and Sunil Ghai of Ananda will also attend.
Santa’s grotto is open for younger attendees.
The event is open today from 10am until 7pm and tomorrow from 10am to 6pm. Entry €20, free for children under 12.
Across the city at the convention centre, the Taste of Christmas featuring the Masterchef Ireland live theatre show is running for the second year.
A host of top restaurants will be represented included Bang, Bon Appetit, the Chop House, Jaipur, the Cliff Town House, Unicorn, Pichet and Malaysian restaurants Swai and King Charlie’s.
MasterChef Irelandjudges, Dylan McGrath and Nick Munier, will also host "cook-offs" between this year's MasterChef Ireland finalists.
Tickets are priced from €15 up to €47.50 for VIP tickets.