Foodie Articles

When the summer is hot the cooking should be easy.  Particularly if you have school going children, the summer is also about relaxing the routines and settling in to a looser and more informal lifestyle for a few weeks.  While some people have the luxury of blending seamlessly into the summer regime, for others who […]

I think it’s safe to say that current generations growing up in Ireland will undoubtedly have a much more sophisticated palate than those of us in the vicinity of the half century mark.    What we have had to work hard at in order to re-educate our taste buds, they take very much for granted.  I […]

Holding hands with traditional fats these days can be a lonely place.  We have traded our old buddies Lard, Dripping and Suet for olive oil mainly, and while this Mediterranean favourite certainly has its place in our store cupboard, not all olive oils are equal.  Many of them could be found guilty of being all […]

Today the sun is high in the sky and even through the glass I know that these are the kind of afternoons we hankered after on those far too many dismal, overcast days of spring.  It feels like it’s been a long time coming and I just hope that when you are reading this the […]

It’s a sure sign you’re married with young children when the long, wine fuelled gluttonous dinner parties of youth turn into sober Sunday daytime affairs where the excitement reaches its crescendo at the thought of trying a new flavour from the Nespresso machine with a homemade shortbread after you’ve eaten.   I suppose as we mature […]

There should be no doubt that the economy influences how we eat.  Those of us who care are seriously trying to maintain that delicate balance between good value, good nutrition and great taste.  After all you and I have long since agreed right here in this column that eating is so much more than a […]

I love cities in the early morning. Here or abroad I love strolling around quiet-ish streets observing the gentle bustle of the various businesses setting up shop for the day.  There are the familiar sounds of shutters opening and delivery vans pulling up and unloading and yet it is still quiet enough to hear the […]

Rain or shine, because the clock tells us it’s the summer, we can’t help but pull out and dust down our dreams of country picnics, lazy days at the beach, eating in the garden and barbecuing all round us until the end of August.  Needless to remark the sun shines high in the cloudless sky […]

Some foods tend to polarise opinion and tripe would certainly make that list.  You have a niche group that love it, the naysayers who have terrible memories of it and those who have never even tasted it but the suggestion alone causes ugly facial contortion.  It is clearly a divisive food.  Tripe and onions was […]

The world of snacks and treats was thrown into a state of frenzy this week as Tayto, the iconic Irish crisp, teamed up with Butlers Chocolate to produce a limited edition Tayto Cheese and Onion Milk Chocolate Bar.  Of course it initially causes a small wrinkle in the brain as you try to imagine the […]

With the Easter blowout over and spring (hopefully by the time you read this) in full swing properly with longer evenings, it’s time to freshen our plates and our palates once more. It must have been one of the coldest Easters on record and if not, it certainly felt like it. Despite all the lovely […]

As a nation we like to talk about the weather it is our ‘got to’ ice breaker for any and every occasion. It is strange that we have such a fascination with the elements given that we live in a relatively moderate climate and extremes are unusual. However, this winter has been one of them. […]