Articles

As a restaurateur in Ireland it often happened that a customer would shyly come up to one and confide that they “Always had an ambition to run a restaurant”. This was always a moment which required supreme tact. Without somehow giving the idea that one was a total martyr to the cause I always felt obliged to deliver the message that the restaurant business is not at all the glamorous one that people imagine. It requires large measures of stamina, tact, stoicism as well as the more expected flair for entertaining and genius in the kitchen.
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This month Darina focuses on the value of growing your own fresh food – and the huge impact that Michelle Obama’s vegetable garden at the White House has had in a country where the connection between eating habits health is a particularly challenging issue. Following Barack Obama’s re-election, this small but mighty force for good is now set to continue for another four years.
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There are a lot of apple trees at Castlefarm and Jenny Young explains what they do with the excess fruit. At Castlefarm we have two orchards beside our house. The old orchard was planted by Peter’s grandparents nearly a century ago. The newer orchard was planted by Peter and I during the winter of 2007. We received a small REPS grant to plant this orchard of 26 trees. We sourced old Irish apple varieties from Seed Savers.
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Back in late summer when the broad beans, early peas and early spuds were finished cropping, I cleaned up the beds and sowed a green manure called phacelia in the beds (the seeds were broadcast liberally in the soil and then raked in). The seeds germinated within a few days, and within weeks we had a lovely carpet of light green plants covering the beds. This week, the phacelia was ready to be cut down and dug in to the soil.
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The Christmas crop of food books is exceptionally heavy this season - I was tempted to test this, literally, on the bathroom scales as there’s been a move towards posh hardbacks since the recession started and the difference in weight is very noticeable.
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Coming from areas such as Connemara, Kerry and West Waterford, where a rugged terrain with heathers, wild herbs and grasses produces a distinctive texture and herbal flavour, Irish hill lamb is smaller and leaner than its lowland cousins and its season is much later, running from late summer to early winter. During the last decade it has become recognised as a delicacy – and one with added health benefits at that - and is increasingly seen under regional branding.
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Marilyn Bright talks to Kate Cooke who, together with her husband Andrew, runs QC’s Bar, Restaurant & Townhouse in Caherciveen, Co Kerry - where, bucking the trend for the area this year, 2013 will go down as a bumper season.
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The 'Just Ask!' Restaurant of the Month for October is unique, as it goes to one of Ireland's true leaders in the field of food provenance - and the consistency of the message tells its own story.
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Everything about Martin Bealin and Nuala Cassidy’s long-established restaurant in Dingle Town is a delight, especially the local provenance and seasonality which is its raison d'etre, and any food lover attending the Dingle Food Festival (Thu 4th - Sun 7th October 2012) should have a visit here high on the list of treats to look forward to over what is sure to be a very pleasurable weekend.
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Marilyn Bright talks to Marguerite Howley of Castle Murray House Hotel, St John's Point, Dunkineely, Co Donegal. From a cliff-top above the long toe of St John's Point, diners in Castle Murray House Hotel have a perfect view of Donegal Bay and the Atlantic coast where some of the world's best seafood is landed.
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