Posts Tagged ‘Pat Whelan’

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. […]

Inspiration for food, how we eat and how we cook is all around us. It is often a simple phrase, something in a newspaper, an innocent observation perhaps that will strike a mental chord and turn into a food thought. Writing also shares that space of infinite inspiration in the world around and about us. […]

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, […]

It’s been a while since Shrove Tuesday and Valentines Day came in the same week but an early Easter for 2013 has decreed it.  Looking ahead it’s going to be a very busy March as we seem to be packing all the spring celebrations together; St Patrick’s Day, Mothers Day and Easter will come close […]

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 […]

Christmas is such as special time in the business, the excitement, the fun, the laughter and the great food. This year, I brought the camera with me on one of the days leading up to Christmas. I’d like to share with you some of the images here. They capture the spirit of the season 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 […]