Foodie Articles

James Whelan Butchers and Dunnes stores of Oakville Shopping Centre have come together with Tipp FM this summer to bring you the ‘TIPP BBQ IDOL’ competition. Are you the envy of your friends with your BBQ skills? Are you the ‘Rachel Allen’  or the ‘Nevin Maguire’  of the BBQ? Do you have what it takes […]

You don’t need me to tell you how to cope with Irish summers.  I shouldn’t have to remind you that just because it says June on the calendar you still shouldn’t leave the house without being prepared for any and all weather eventualities – sun screen and bug spray will reside harmoniously with wet weather […]

In Cork City last week I found a little treasure near City Hall.  It’s called L’atitude 51 and is situated in what used to be The Lobby Bar.  Indeed throughout the 1990s and I remember upstairs at the Lobby for the hundreds of great music gigs held there. Outside hasn’t changed much from those heady […]

I’ve just finished reading about a new study coming out of America that has just shown how lethargy, and its close cousin obesity, can come from consistently eating processed foods and not just processed foods in huge amounts. Now we probably didn’t need another study to prove that junk food will make us lethargic and […]

On Monday of this week I had the privilege of presenting a masterclass in Irish beef at the Irish Ambassador’s Residence in Brussels. The audience for the masterclass were members of the “Irish Chefs Beef Club” in Europe which was established some time ago by Bord Bia. “The Club which includes some of Europe’s top […]

With the chocolate eggs of Easter already a memory, the longer evenings and brighter mornings are just bursting with potential.  I feel summer is only around the corner and with it comes an urge to think carefully about what I’m eating.  Maybe it’s the fact that we can go outdoors again without three layers of […]

There’s nothing like a little sunshine and a raise in the average temperature to get us all thinking about having a party.  This time of year is also confirmation and communion time so celebrations abound.  2013 is also the year of the ‘Gathering’ and even if you haven’t invited your long lost cousin home from […]

The stretch in the evenings, the early morning sunshine, a carpet of colour in the fields; spring has sprinkled its magic everywhere.  The minute the clocks go forward it heralds the promise of all things outdoors.  Suddenly those lonely looking tables outside urban coffee shops are spilling over with people and life and not just […]

Who remembers the ‘mixed grill’?  There wasn’t a fashionable restaurant in the land that didn’t carry a mixed grill on its menu back in the 1970s.  It was usually a combination of pork; be it chops, rashers or sausages but, somehow it managed to be evening food rather than breakfast as we’ve come to expect […]

Like everyone, I go through extremely busy patches where time flies by and there never seems to be enough of it.  I try and enjoy those seasons as I know they will come to an end, there will be some downtime and then it will all ramp up again.  It’s simply called life.  I’m in […]

Oxtail, a tough gelatinous cut of meat that was a favourite for stews and soups, has had an interesting cycle when it comes to fashionable eating.  Our ancestors knew all about nose to tail eating and everything was used.  They were very aware that once the prime cuts were sold there was plenty of meat […]

I have no doubt that my ramblings this week on the merits of beef dripping and the fact that we have introduced it as a product in our shop, will create three distinct groups – those who remember it well, those who have heard of it but are not too sure of what it is […]