Foodie Articles

It’s that time of year again when all over the world there will be people dying everything they can get their hands on green. Others will be decorating anything that moves with a shamrock, while various statues and national monuments abroad will be lit brightly in a Halloween-ish hue. We, in the real Ireland, shall […]

If we’ve never met then I can say with some degree of certainty that no one would ever choose to use the word ‘dainty’ in a description of me. The food I like and enjoy also falls into the more robust category. For example I like meaty, rustic, slow cooked one pots that are drenched […]

[slideshow post_id=”4367″ width=”auto” height=”650″ showthumbs=”true” resizeimages=”true” gallery link=”4367″ orderby=”ASCE” gallery order=”ASCE” orderby=”random”] We hope you enjoyed reading this post by Pat Whelan of James Whelan Butchers. Pat is a 5th generation butcher, cook book author and the director of  James Whelan Butchers with shops in Clonmel, the Avoca Handweavers Rathcoole and Kilmacanogue, Dunnes Stores Cornelscourt, […]

I happened to be in London in October 2010 when The Savoy Hotel, situated on the Strand, reopened its doors after almost three years of extensive renovations. Sad to say I wasn’t in London for the opening, I was just there at the same time. It opened to much fanfare and local media coverage and […]

If there are positives to be taken from the current financial climate then for butchers it has to be the renewed interest in the cheaper and less regarded cuts of meat. I’m quite thrilled by this because in our more affluent years we gradually lost out on so much when it came to taste and […]

There’s a tremendous beauty in the English language. We, unlike some of our European neighbours, have been blessed with an abundant tongue based on rich, ancient foundations. We have an instrument of expression that when used correctly can work incredible magic. Words can make us fall in love, do things we don’t want to do, […]

I got to work at breaking light the other day in order to write before the mayhem of the day began. As I walked along the leaves crunched beneath my feet and my breath hit the air in little visible white clouds. It was cold, dry and very festive; perfect Christmassy weather. Who wouldn’t like […]

If there is one berry we associate with Christmas it has to be cranberries. Maybe it’s because they have been on my mind that I am suddenly coming across so many recipes, sweet and savoury that call for the little fleshy fruit in all its various forms; fresh, dried and frozen. For some reason I […]

How about giving a Christmas gift this year that would benefit for a lifetime? Thanks to award winning James Whelan Butchers at the Avoca Food Market in Monkstown, it’s now possible with the launch of the January evening Butchery Courses. Choose from three evenings in January 2013 for this inspired informative lesson that is the […]

Life can be quite funny in many ways. You can spend a great deal of effort on an idea that you think will change the world and everyone will love only to find few really care. Then again you can do something and suddenly it catches the imagination and you’re inundated with interest. It’s happened […]

A new phenomenon is sweeping the land and gaining in popularity and that’s the new craze for craft beer. Now I know that beer drinking isn’t necessarily new, but it’s the type of beer we are drinking and when and how we are drinking it, that’s clearly a recent trend. While our love affair with […]

Writing a food column often leads one to make huge assumptions about the people who read food columns. You assume it is the same handful of people each week and that by now they know you and know your form. What you forget is that the person reading might not be a cook or is […]