Articles

This month Darina talks about the growing popularity of vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian diets - and how this fast-growing phenomenon is age-related and linked to concern for animal welfare and the environment. Even if you’re a committed omnivore there are times when meat-free meals are a refreshing change - just the business to lighten up the protein-heavy festive period around Christmas and New Year.
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Our “Just Ask!” Restaurant of the Month winner for DECEMBER is The Square Table, Blarney, Co Cork.
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Our “Just Ask!” Restaurant of the Month winner for NOVEMBER is Dooks Fine Foods, Fethard Co Tipperary. Modern, fiercely local food is the hallmark of chef Richard Gleeson’s smartly understated restaurant and deli on the edge of Fethard.
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The famous foodie who’s flying the tricolour for us in the USA recalls a memorable visit to County Down with a group of appreciative American visitors
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I went on a sobering visit to a couple of our biggest field veg growers this week: Paul Brophy in Kildare who is the largest grower of broccoli in the state and the Weldon Brothers (Martin and Enda) in Swords who supply the majority of the Brussels Sprouts crop.
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This month Darina talks about success in achieving recognition for the culinary scene outside the capital, keeping up standards, the big VAT hike that’s forcing up prices and threatening the future of rural restaurants - and enthusiastic young foodies like James Kavanagh and William Murray, whose recently published Currabinny Cookbook exudes a love of food. Their mission is to encourage other cool young people like themselves to “discover the joy and larks to be had around the kitchen stove, doing pop-ups, selling at Farmers Markets and sharing the yummy food they’ve cooked with friends.”
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Brilliant title, brilliant concept - Neven Maguire’s latest book is the one. One of Ireland’s greatest ambassadors for good, local food and simply delicious home cooking, Neven and his trusty team have produced dozens of cookery books at this stage
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Pumpkins are not just for Halloween, as - like other so-called winter squashes - they store well after ripening and can be kept throughout the winter, making a versatile addition to the usual range of vegetables.
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This month Darina talks about a recent visit to Copenhagen, the capital of the Nordic food scene, to attend the MAD Food Symposium and The World Food Summit.
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Soil. Well, it’s just dirt really, isn’t it? It’s something to be cleaned off our boots and scrubbed off our hands, right? When I started growing my own food, I didn’t have any respect for the soil that the veg was growing in. My focus was on the seed, the plants, the vegetables. The soil was actually a source of annoyance to me - it had to be dug, raked, hoed, rotovated, coaxed and cajoled.
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