Articles

I recently spent a fantastic afternoon foraging in the rock pools on Ballyandreen strand close to Ballycotton in East Cork. It was one of a series of East Cork Slow Food Events to teach some Forgotten Skills, in this case how to identify and harvest edible seaweeds. Bruce Macdonald was our guide; he has developed a business called Coppercoast Tours showing people how to collect food sustainably on the seashore...
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The fight to preserve the right to produce, sell and buy raw milk in Ireland is entering a critical phase. In response to a letter protesting the proposed ban from Georgina Campbell to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Mr Simon Coveney, TD, a reply was recently received from The Department, explaining the background from their viewpoint and stating that...
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I’m sitting with my back to a stone wall on Inis Meáin – on Ireland’s western seaboard – watching islander Padraic McDonagh hand threshing rye in the time honoured way. He chooses a flat lime stone area and then he makes a little circle of sheaves to catch the seed.
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Stevie Parle is an interesting young chef who is making waves on the London food scene - and he was one of the youngest students we ever had on our 12 Week course. Stevie was just 17 years old when he signed up for the January 2002 Certificate Course. He, like many young people, was fed up with ordinary school – he just wanted to cook.
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Ireland’s future is unquestionably in food production. At long last we are recognising the fact that Ireland is in an enviable position in terms of natural resources – we are an island nation on the edge of Europe with 400 million affluent consumers on our doorstep. We’ve got acres of fertile soil, plenty of water, a long growing season, a thriving artisan and specialist food production industry, plus a green clean image.
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My goodness, it’s the end of the world as I know it! Last week my two and half year old granddaughter Amelia Peggy came along clutching an iPhone and told me she wanted to show me how to make a cake! She pressed several buttons in the maddeningly confident way that all kids do and opened and an app called Cake Doodle...
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