So, in no particular order, here follows my Fantasy Festive Food & Wine Wishlist (as it appeared in IMAGEdaily today, only with links, and some pix in case my words don’t cut it for you):

1.     A very generous voucher for Ireland’s Blue Book, which just celebrated its 40th anniversary with the addition of Thornton’s Restaurant (where the canapé bar is one of Dublin’s most underrated food-fun nights out); the remote Clare Island Lighthouse (a spectacularly located guesthouse overlooking Clew Bay); and Liss Ard Estate in Skibbereen (which has the coolest magical-mystery gardens, complete with an otherworldly Irish Sky Garden where humdrum clouds are elevated to works of art). Now when I say ‘a very generous Blue Book voucher’ I would of course graciously accept any kind of a Blue Book voucher. Especially if it came with the latest glovebox-friendly copy of Georgina Campbell’s Ireland Guide or the McKenna’s Irish Food Guide, so I could be sure to eat well en route too.

Some view, huh? That there’s Clew Bay.

2.     A full set of Riedel’s ‘varietal specific’ wine glasses so that I could have the perfect glass for every wine I drink, whatever the grapes or style. (I attended a Riedel tasting recently and their glasses really do make an incredible difference to different wines.) The only problem is that, with separate glasses for Cabernet or Pinot Noir, Riesling or Chardonnay, and so on, I’d really need a bigger kitchen to keep them all in. And logistically, that would involve moving out of my tiny apartment, which I’m really rather fond of. So to avoid all that hoo-ha, I’d settle for the Syrah set, the most versatile of the lot.

3.  A year’s supply of one of the following:

a)     Pata Negra Iberico ham, to be delivered to my door by a swarthy Spaniard. (Failing that, a voucher for Black Pig in Donnybrook might do it, and I could go collect my own whenever supplies run low, and pick up a bottle of something delicious while I’m at it.)

b)    M&L Szechuan’s chilli-fried green beans. (Or failing that, a new stainless-steel wok from the Asian market, a supply of dried bird’s eye chillies and the recipe for said green beans.)

c)     Green papaya salad, like what used to be on the menu at Diep Le Shaker restaurant and what I could have lived on in northern Thailand. (Or failing that, a mandolin slicer and a voucher for the Asian Market so I could get a fresh supply of unripe papaya, chillies, nam plaa fish sauce and limes to make my own.)

4.     Speaking of mandolins, I’d also love a new Microplane grater, which happens to be the best grater in the world. I left mine at a party (don’t ask) and I really miss it for everything from grating Parmesan to finely grating garlic (beats crushing it by a mile). Okay, if you have to know, it was my own party but in a rented place and we were cooking and I thought I couldn’t cook without my Microplane. That’s how much I love it.

That’s what I mean by Microplane

5.     A case of Highbank Medieval Cider, because I know that it’ll probably be sold out by Christmas if it isn’t already. If you haven’t tried it, look out for it next year: it’s an amazing new honeyed cider that is sweet at first and then dry thanks to the tannic apples. Or failing that a mixed case of Irish craft beers and ciders. (A year’s supply is harder to define, right?)

6.     A wine course. If I hadn’t already done the WSET course run by Cooks Academy (‘Dublin’s School of Food & Wine’) and tutored by the brilliant Liam Campbell, I’d do that all over again. It was such a treat to go in every week, taste different wines and learn about different styles from all over the world. (WSET stands for Wine & Spirits Education Trust, a global professional wine educator, but they offer courses at all levels from introductory to Masters of Wine.) But seeing as how I’ve done the WSET thing, I’d go for a voucher for Ely Wine Bar’s weekly Thursday night wine tastings, which are only €15 a pop and give you a chance to taste some gorgeous wines you mightn’t otherwise try.

7.     A pair of stockings from Avoca (have you seen them? Cute or what!) stuffed full of hot and salted Pulparindo candy bars and fizzy cola bottles and Wham bars. (There’s a reason that tangy green papaya salad is my favourite dish ever.) What are Pulparindo bars? They are the penny sweets of gods, courtesy of some Mexican genius who thought to turn tangy tamarind into a sweet candy, and to flavour it with salt and chilli. Bam!

chilli-hot, salted and tangy tamarind – that’s what I’m talking about, right there

8.     A stainless steel stove-top moka pot for home-brewed coffee, possibly from Coffee Angel on South Anne Street, who seem to sell every kind of coffee accessory you could possibly want, not to mention every kind of coffee. (My current favourite is their Kebel Demersa from Ethiopia which tastes like Turkish delight, in a good way.) Oh and they’re also selling really sweet little stocking filler snowflakes made out of Finnish birch for €6, 100% of which goes to Barnardos. Sweet.

9.     A voucher for Inis Meain Restaurant & Suites so I could go back and recreate one of the best short breaks I’ve ever had. And maybe I could go towards the end of their season and they’d let me stay on and write that novel I always thought I’d get around to. It’d be the perfect stop for it, and the food is pretty darn spot on too. (I could do island lobster and fresh spuds on a daily basis. No problem!)

The Inis Meain Breakfast Box, delivered to your door early morning to be eaten whenever. That’s my kind of breakfast.

10.    An essential cookbook. Maybe Darina Allen’s 30 Years of Ballymaloe, which just won Best Irish Cookbook at the Bord Gais Energy Book of the Year awards. Or From Lynda’s Table by Lynda Booth of Dublin Cookery School, where I did the life-affirming one-month cookery course a few years back. Or Ross Lewis’s startling Chapter One: An Irish Food Story. Or whatever cookbook looked fun and interesting and solidly written. I wouldn’t mind which one.

Whichever.

I’m really very easy to please.

Honest.

The Chapter One cookbook, a soulful thing with very beautiful photography by Barry McCall

On Wednesday evening in Ely CHQ (that’s the one in the IFSC, Dublin 1), The Corkscrew wine merchants are hosting a very special wine dinner with visiting wine-maker Paolo de Marchi from Isole e Olena winery, one of Chianti Classico’s leading lights. A fourth-generation wine-maker and exceptionally charming man, Paolo was one of several wine-makers who helped to put Tuscany back on the map in the 1970s and ’80s by producing wine according to their own rules rather than according to the rules laid down by the local Chianti appellation regulations.

The wine at the picture-pretty estate of Isole e Olena

Following the lead of the makers of ground-breaking Super-Tuscan wines such as Sassicaia and Tignanello (both of which made the bold step of introducing Bordeaux grapes to their blends), Paolo made an international name for himself and his Tuscan estate. But unlike those two genre-defining wines, which looked beyond Tuscany for inspiration, Paolo’s most esteemed wine, Cepparello, is a celebration of the local Sangiovese grape (100%) as well as the soil and climate of the local terroir. He doesn’t restrict himself to local grapes however, with Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay coming centre-stage in other Isole e Olena wines. 

Paola di Marche and his son Luca who now works with him at the Tuscan estate in the heart of Chianti Classico

On Wednesday evening, you’ll have to eat and drink your way through five courses to get to the climactic tasting of the Cepparello, which will be paired with Italian and Irish cheeses. But that won’t be any great hardship, with pairings such as baked bone marrow, herb crust and salsa verde served with with Isole e Olena’s award-winning Chianti Classico 2010; or haunch of venison with braised chicory, celeriac remoulade and chocolate, served with their Collezione de Marchi Syrah 2006. 

The dinner kicks off at 8pm and costs €95 per head, which is more than your average mid-week meal for sure. But considering that, in a wine shop, you would pay on average about half of that for a bottle of any one of the six wines being served, it’s a pretty good deal. Click here to go The Corkscrew’s website and grab one of the last few tickets going.

Last night I attended a free tequila talk & tasting in the Cervantes Institute in Lincoln House, Lincoln Place, off Nassau Street. (The same spot plays host at 7pm tonight to a free mezcal tasting – see more details below for this and other mescal events at the weekend.) We tasted three styles of tequila: fruity and punchy blanco, spiced but soft reposado, and caramel-mellow anejo. Both reposado and anejo tequila have been aged in white oak barrels, for at least two months or one year respectively. We sipped them and scanned the overhead screen to ascertain which of tequila’s many potential aromas and flavours we were getting. It was great fun, and pretty darn delicious too!

Betcha you didn’t get all those subtleties from your last shot of tequila, eh?

Before the tequila talk, a visiting Mexican chef talked us through Mexico’s vast and varied dishes. Helma Honda waxed lyrical about such delights as ant’s eggs and grasshoppers and other Mexican delicacies (some of which are promised at tonight’s mezcal tasting). Then when she had our attention with those curiosities, she explained that in a country that is nine times the size of the UK, containing 30 separate states, each with at least 100 of their own signature local dishes, it is hard to say what might be a ‘typical Mexican dish’. Certainly what is typical are many of the base ingredients which they introduced to the rest of the world, including chocolate, vanilla, tomatoes, chillies and corn. And typically most Mexican cooking takes a sophisticated approach to chillies, mixing three or more types in one dish for subtlety of flavour. It’s not all about subtlety however, as our taster of this tangtastic ‘hot and salted tamarind pulp candy’ proved. Wow! I can still taste it today!

chilli-hot, salted and tangy tamarind – where were you all my life?

All of this talk made us hungry for more authentic Mexican flavours so we hightailed it to 777 on Sth Great George’s St where bartender extraordinaire Leo Molloy whipped us up a sneak preview of two stars from their new margarita menu, one featuring grapefruit and thyme and the other (my favourite) a take on the classic pairing of jalapenos and coriander. Savage, the pair of them.

Sorry for the grainy shot, but it’s pretty dark and moody in 777, innit?

Leo also told us that 777 were neck and neck with their top competitors in the race to claim title of Best Taco in Dublin. (You can still vote here before the final cook-off takes place tomorrow at the Mansion House.)

AND it turns out that Sergio Inurrigarro of the Association for Mezcal Culture will be hosting another mezcal tasting in 777 on Saturday lunchtime at 2pm (€20 including lunch), so if you miss him tonight you have a second chance to catch him. Actually, it’s a third chance, because later tonight he’s hosting another free tasting in Lillie’s Bordello at 10pm (email guestlist@lilliesbordello.ie to book a place).

Wherever you catch him, do try to. The guy is quite the character, and the last time I tasted mezcal with him (two years ago, at a Slow Food ‘Mezcal and Irish farmhouse cheese pairing’ event) he came armed with some really interesting bottles, so be prepared to fall in love with this very traditional Mexican drink.

Because mezcal can be made from any type of agave plant (vs tequila, for which only the Tequila Weber blue agave plant can be used) and because it is for the most part a small-scale artisinal affair (vs the vast commercial scale of many tequila brands), different mezcals really do taste quite different, from smoky to very pure and lots inbetween. According to Sergio, it is a “mystic, magic aphrodisiac and an extraordinary drink”, one that “when drunk with measure… wakes the spirit, tames enmity, stimulates imagination, clears resentments and accompanies solitude.”

You heard it here.

Sergio himself. He’s waiting for you, armed with mezcal.

The Grand Social in Dublin’s Liffey Street are looking for someone to take the reins of their weekend food offering (Thu–Sat nights) in their busy little beer garden. Think bratwurst, pulled pork or falafal – or whatever cheap’n'cheerful soakage you’d like to eat if you were out on the beer and maybe catching a gig later. If you’re not familiar with it, the place was voted IMRO Dublin Live Music Venue of the Year 2011 and hosts some top events, including this sweaty fella from Primal Scream on Arthur’s Day:

They’re open to ideas, but are looking for someone experienced enough to take the opportunity and make a good go of it. If you’re interested in learning more, give Elaine Murphy a shout at The Winding Stair (sister business) on 01 872 7320. And good luck!

View of the Burren from top of Corkscrew Hill

There are places we dream of escaping our daily lives to. One of my favourite fantasies is spinning out the M6 towards Galway, taking a sharp left at Oranmore and hitting the coast road towards the Burren, preferably ending my journey in the beautiful Gregan’s Castle in Ballyvaughan where ex-Tannery head chef David Hurley has taken over the reigns from chef-extraordinaire Mickael Viljanen (who has gone to The Greenhouse in Dublin).

The only drawback about going somewhere like the Burren to completely unwind is that I would feel guilty if I didn’t get out and explore the surrounding landscape. Guilt can be the hardest thing to escape from, even when it’s misplaced.

The gateway leading into Gregan's Castle

Last weekend myself and a couple of friends escaped to guilt-free Longford. Yes, Longford. Or Viewmount House just outside Longford town, to be exact. We had no idea if there were great things to discover on our doorstep and didn’t really care to find out. We were quite happy to make Viewmount House’s reception rooms, suites, restaurant and gorgeous gardens the extent of our world for our short stay there.

(Okay, so I since did find out that Viewmount House is close to Strokestown House, the Famine Museum, Belvedere House, Clonmacnoise and Newgrange – but thankfully not until we had happily wasted many aimless hours.)

We went because I had been hearing great things about the restaurant for a couple of years now. VM Restaurant has been open four years, with head chef Gary O’Hanlon at the helm and a strong team behind him, including Slovakian sous chef Daniel Skukalek, who was named 2011 Knorr Student Chef of the Year, winning a prize of a trip to Noma in Copenhagen.

I was expecting great cooking, but I wasn’t quite expecting the sheer stylishness of the setting. From the balance of period-piece furniture against perfectly pitched dusky pink and teal blue wallpaint to the immaculate lawn, burbling water features and wandering garden paths, the place oozes charm. Owners Beryl and James Kearney told us they’ve been they’ve been living in the 1750s house and lovingly restoring the it since the 1990s. And it shows.

Gardens at Viewmount House, a labour of love

By the time we gathered ourselves in the restaurant bar for a glass of Mount Difficulty Pinot Gris while we perused the four-course menu (€55, with a complimentary fifth course for residents staying in one of the 12 rooms) we felt we had well and truly escaped and were ready to be spoilt. And spoilt we were.

After a little complimentary taster of Thornhill duck breast with powdered curry oil and cherry pepper mayonnaise, and lovely homemade breads with a red pepper hummus dip, we were on to starters proper. I loved my Lissadell mussels cooked in a coconut green curry broth with coriander, scallions, slices of juicy shiitake mushrooms and cubes of pineapple that added great texture and a note of subdued sweetness. As with the rest of the meal to come, an elegant balance proved to be this kitchen’s signature stroke – along with an ability to integrate some unlikely pairings into a cohesive expression.

Mussels in green curry broth with pineapple & shiitake

Opposite me, Clare Island organic salmon had been cured with juniper and pink grapefruit, and served with pickled herb stalk and puffed capers. But it was the starter of star anise and orange-cured duck leg confit that stole the show, with waves of flavours that just kept on coming. Gary told us that the garnish for this dish has changed several times (currently a nicely pitched, blush-pink ragout of beetroot, mushroom, tarragon and sherry) but the cured confit has been a star dish on the menu for several seasons. And long may it remain there.

Taste of Midlands salad with Kelly's organic cream cheese

For our middle course, we went for a Taste of the Midlands Salad, featuring roast pear, Rogan’s whiskey-smoked bacon and Kelly’s organic cream cheese flavoured with eggs yolk, mustard and scallion. Next, a complimentary palate cleansing jelly of Martina Burns’ elderflower & wild strawberry topped with Glenisk organic yoghurt. Martina is the wife of local farmer David Burns, who supplies his legendary sweetcorn to the likes of Chapter One. Gary recently nominated David to win an EirGrid Euro-Toques Food Award 2012.

Wild strawberry and elderflower jelly with Glenisk yoghurt

Then – because we really were being spoilt – another little taster of lobster with charred Malibu-infused baby leek (yep, the booze, and yep, it worked), wild artichoke (teensy and intense) and carrot and lime purée.

Lobster with Malibu-charred leek

For mains, I found the will to look past the first option: Friendly Farmer Chicken (another 2012 EirGrid Euro-Toques Food Awards winner) cooked ‘sous vide’ with 36-month Parmesan cream, garden peas, shallot and chorizo nage and gnocchi. I may have to return for that dish, or for the salt-fried Donald Russell 28-day dry-aged sirloin, served with mac’n'cheese made with Crozier Blue and Glebe Brethan macaroni, and a tomato and piquillo pepper jam. One of my friend’s had the steak – and I can still taste that mac’n'cheese.

Another friend went for the Clare Island salmon, cooked at 60ºC so that it was wobblingly moist but with a glistening crispy skin. Its presentation put me in mind of a summer’s day on which the sun has made a garden explode with colour: bell pepper risotto, avocado, peas and shoots, and little rockets of purple cauliflower ready to lift off the plate. Gorgeous.

60ºC salmon with bell pepper risotto

My main course was my favourite, I’m glad to report. Little moist discs of canon of Roscommon lamb, beautifully seared and pink inside, with a flavour and texture delicate enough to savour but hearty enough to make for an utterly satisfying feed. It came with basil and hickory smoked cherry tomatoes bursting with flavour, wild artichoke paste, pickled oyster mushroom, roast garlic, bone marrow and a bagna couda jus (a Piedmontese classic featuring anchovies, garlic and olive oil). Jaysus it was good.

Roscommon lamb with incredible cherry tomatoes

I’m really not sure how we did it, but we soldiered on and finished the meal with a dessert of crème caramel with various renditions of tangy sea buckthorn, dill and carrot, including a blackened carrot cake crumb.

Crème caramel with sea buckthorn, carrot and dill

If all that sounds like a lot of different flavours to take in over the one meal, well it was. But the over-riding impression was of a judicious balance within each dish, and of an imagination held in check by consideration of what the diner might want rather than what the kitchen can do.

Gary O’Hanlon’s cooking is very different to Mickael Viljanen’s, but experiencing it for the first time last weekend in the surprisingly beautiful Viewmount House reminded me of a very special meal shared on a very special week-long escape to the Burren years ago, looking out from Gregan’s Castle dining room over the lunar landscape sweeping down to Galway Bay.

That outposts of great Irish cooking such as these should exist in the most unlikely of places is another great excuse to go exploring this green island of ours.

p.s. We came home via Kildare Village Outlet where we did a spot of shopping (I picked up a bargain Le Creuset pot which I’ve needing). I’m sorry to say we didn’t have room to sample any of the fantastic food being served up at the Good Food Ireland pop-up food stall. You’ll understand why. But with a choice of Jane Russell’s sausages, Waterford bacon blaas with Boyne Valley Blue cheese, and Country Choice Hereford beef ciabatta, if you’ve been looking for an excuse to visit Kildare Village, the current Chic Summer Festival (until Sunday 29th) might just be it.

Can you smell that picture?

But of course there’s more to beer than fizzy lager, as we are discovering now more than ever with the recent revolution of Irish craft beers. And there’s more to Indian food than  famously hot vindaloo from southern Goa or roganjosh from Kashmir which straddles India, Pakistan and China and from where much of what defined ‘Indian’ cooking in British culture originates.

Last weekend I went to the unlikely location of Ardee, Co Louth to learn more about the kind of cooking you might find on the streets and in the homes of Bangladesh. (Read on for details of this Thursday’s Bangladeshi street food and Irish craft beer night – or this autumn’s Bangladeshi cookery classes which will keep off in September.)

Comeragh Challenger

In case you don’t know (I didn’t), Bangladesh is poised at the northernmost coast of the Bay of Bengal, with India’s Calcutta to its west, Nepal to its northwest and Burma to its southeast. It is hemmed in by mountains and coast, so as you can imagine, the Bangladeshi are fond of their seafood. So much so that this is what Sarajit Chanda was marinating for dinner that night for him and his Donegal-born wife Sarah Nic Lochlainn (who he met in a restaurant in Sydney while both were on their travels):

Clogherhead octopus marinating in Asian spices

The couple moved to Ardee in 2005 to set up Fushcia House, and have garnered a loyal following in that time, including local curry aficiandos who come every Friday for the thali (a traditional tasting of many dishes, sort of like a curry version of a bento box) and food critics such as Tom Doorley who helped put Fushcia House on the map. Sarajit and Sarah may not be brave enough to feature Clogherhead octopus on their varied menu, but you will find the likes of red snapper alongside crowd-pleasers like Ma Chanda’s Chicken Curry (which you can also make at home, now that the couple have launched their range of Aruna sauces).

The makings of Ma Chanda's chicken curry

I joined a group of food bloggers to get a preview of some of the dishes that will be served at this Thursday’s Bangladeshi street food and Irish craft beer night (Thursday 12th July, 7pm, €50 per head). The evening will be hosted by Tom Doorley and will feature treats from many of the new breed of Irish brewers including Trouble Brewing, Stonewell Cider and Dungarvan Brewing Company (that’s one of their seasonal brews above, the Comeragh Challenger).

Sarajit loves to demystify Asian cooking, translating familiar names into direct culinary terms. I learnt that ‘roganjosh’ means “boiled in its own oil” and that ‘bhuna’ is a highly reduced sauce (and the preference of the Muslim palate, while the Hindi palate prefers a saucy sauce). I learnt that ‘tarka dhal’ denotes a lentil dish in which the spices have been fried separately and then mixed in with the simmered lentils. And I learnt that that ‘bhaji’ and ‘pakora’ are essentially the same thing with different names, and that at its most basic ‘bhaji’ means fried, so that making aubergine bhajis can be as simple as rubbing them in spices and frying them in hot oil.

Incredibly tasty and simple to make aubergine bhajis

(For those who like a little more direction: Cut 1 aubergine into finger-width rings; rub with a paste made up of 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, a pinch of salt and 50ml water; fry in a few tablespoons of rapeseed oil until golden; and drain on kitchen paper.)

Sarajit was full of interesting tips too. Anyone who is serious about cooking Asian food knows that the key is in cooking the spices properly – undercook them and they won’t release their fine flavours; overcook them and they will burn. New to me though was the trick of soaking your dry ground spices such as turmeric, cumin, coriander and chilli powders in a little water for up to an hour beforehand (or even just a few minutes) and adding as a paste to the hot pan. This is what Sarajit does for his famous Ma Chanda’s Chicken Curry, an aromatic combination of whole spices such as ginger, garlic, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaves together with the dry spices listed above.

Bengali-spiced spinach with prawns, whipped up in minutes

Sarajit insists that authentic Asian dishes can be super-simple to make even when they are full of complex flavours. Indeed his lamb roganjosh was one of the simplest one-pot dishes I’ve ever seen demonstrated, involving lashing all the ingredients together in a big heavy pot, setting aside to marinade if you’ve time, and then stirring over a medium-to-high heat for 20 minutes.

(The ingredients? 700g cubed lamb, 200ml yoghurt, 2 chopped tomatoes, 1 chopped onion, 1.5 tablespoon garlic-ginger paste, 6 bay leaves & 6 cardamom pods, 1 tablespoon ground coriander, 1 teaspoon each chilli powder, turmeric & salt, 1 cinnamon stick and 2 tablespoons rapeseed oil.)

Lamb roganjosh in the mixing

That’s the complicated bit. After that, just loosen it with about 300ml of water, cover and reduce heat to a low simmer. Fifteen more minutes and you’ve got yourself a dinner.

And if you’re worried about making the rice, don’t be. Sarajit’s trick is to boil fast in loads of water (7:1 parts water to rice) and drain once cooked. You do have to rinse basmati rice at least three or four times first to get rid of the starch, but that’s the bulk of the work. And you need to bring it to the boil from cold water (adding rice to hot water will cause it to clump), but to speed things up you could bring the rice to the boil in half the water and then top up with the other half of the water straight from a just-boiled kettle. Drain the rice as soon as it is al dente so that it doesn’t overcook and get claggy in the colander.

Lamb roganjosh, two simple steps later

If you’d like to meet Sarajit and Sarah and taste their curries, get yourself to Fuchsia House Restaurant, Ardee, Co Louth this Thursday 12th July for 7pm (call Sarah on 041 685 8432 to let her know to expect you, or email sarah@fuchsiahouse.ie). You can ask her for details of September’s cookery classes too.

Or if you’d like a taste of Sarajit’s home in the comfort of yours, you can pick up one of the ranges of Aruna sauces now widely available in the chilled cabinets of many foodstores around the country – and named after Sarajit’s formidable looking mammy, Aruna Chanda, in honour of the woman whose home-cooking remains the holy grail for her Louth-based son.

See www.aruna.ie and fuchsiahouse.ie for more details.

Then get yourself on over to this link to a competition being run by Zagat who are looking for contributions to their new Dublin Restaurants Survey. The competition is closing today, so get on over, sign up and tell them about some of your recent dining experiences  – good or bad – in and around Dublin. The broadly comprehensive survey list was drawn up for Zagat by yours truly so hopefully your favourite spots are included in the list. Your  comments and ratings will help us later in the year when we edit all the feedback into pithy little reviews.

The winner of the competition will travel with Tindal Wine Merchants team on a three-day guided-tour around La Rioja, visiting wineries and sampling local food. The prize includes flights, accommodation and wine tastings.

Good luck!

Look tasty? That’s what I thought when I tucked into it on the buzzing balcony of Farmgate Cafe in the English Market at lunchtime today.

I was down in Cork presenting a training session on Parma ham and Parmesan cheese as part of the EU-funded Discover the Origin campaign.

Those great Italian ingredients are just two examples of food products protected under the EU’s Protected Geographical Status scheme. Products certified under the scheme can be granted PDO status (Protected Designation of Origin) as these two are, which means they are fully produced, processed and prepared within their region of origin. Or they can be granted PGI status (Protected Geographical Indication) as just four Irish foods are, which means the product is distinctive to the region but some of its ingredients may come from outside of that region. (The blaa is a great example of the latter: unique to Waterford in terms of its heritage and tradition, but based on imported flour landed on the city’s historic quays.)

Anyway, it’s worth a look at www.discovertheorigin.co.uk to find out a bit more about Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano Reggiano, both of which of are 100% natural products still produced as they have been for hundreds of years. There’s shedloads of gorgeous recipes for everything from Parma ham pizza with gorgonzola, pear and honey to the Heston-esque Parmagiano ice-cream with carmelised onion, fig and Parma ham tatin. And you never know what you might learn. Like, did you know that Parmesan cheese gets more nutritious as it matures and is recommended by sports nutritionists and paediatricians alike as a great source of easily digestible protein, calcium and vitamins such as A and B2? Nope, I usen’t to either.

So what’s all this got to do with lunch in the Farmgate? Well just that after talking up Italian food for a couple of hours it was a joy to stroll down to the warren of homegrown talent that is the English Market, past the coral-like tripe and curling ox tongue and shiny-eyed turbot and whole smoked mackerel, past the raisin-sized olives at The Real Olive company, past O’Flynn’s gourmet sausages and Hederman’s smoked mussels and On the Pig’s Back’s terrines, and up the stairs into the bosom of the Market that is Farmgate Cafe. And to ask what the salad of the day is and be told it’s Jack McCarthy’s white pudding, served with pickled cucumber and diced beetroot and butter beans and lettuce leaves singing with vitality.

It’s a shame we only have four products in Ireland which have been granted PGI status and no PDOs to boast of. But isn’t it great that we have pockets of such rich culinary heritage too?

Next time you’re Leeside make a beeline for Farmgate. And bring an appetite with you, not to mention a large shopping bag. You’ll be glad of both.

On the music front, we’ll have the super talented Caitriona O’Leary singing some solo songs – you can catch a little preview of Caitriona singing with Dulra here. And we also have Leo Rickard playing the uilleann pipes – check him out here for a little taster of what you might hear.

For anyone who missed yesterday’s post about the event you can read it here but the long and short is that I’ll be hosting the free evening as part of the One City, One Book month-long event in Dublin, that there’ll be food and wine to be had, and that we’re welcoming audience members to bring their dog-eared copy of Dubliners along and read a short extract from it should they wish to do so.

Hopefully see you there!

A fat brown goose lay at one end of the table, and at the other end, on a bed of creased paper strewn with sprigs of parsley, lay a great ham, stripped of its outer skin and peppered over with crust crumbs, a neat paper frill round its shin, and beside this was a round of spiced beef. Between these rival ends ran parallel lines of side-dishes: two little minsters of jelly, red and yellow; a shallow dish full of blocks of blancmange and red jam, a large green leaf-shaped dish with a stalk-shaped handle, on which lay bunches of purple raisins and peeled almonds, a companion dish on which lay a solid rectangle of Smyrna figs, a dish of custard topped with grated nutmeg, a small bowl of chocolates and sweets wrapped in gold and silver papers and a glass vase in which stood some tall celery sticks. In the centre of the table there stood, as sentries to a fruit-stand which upheld a pyramid of oranges and American apples, two squat old-fashioned decanters of cut glass, one containing port and the other dark sherry. On the closed square piano a pudding in a huge yellow dish lay in waiting, and behind it were three squads of bottles of stout and ale and minerals, drawn up according to the colours of their uniforms, the first two black, with brown and red labels, the third and smallest squad white, with transverse green sashes.

Gabriel took his seat boldly at the head of the table and, having looked to the edge of the carver, plunged his fork firmly into the goose.

…And so turns one of the pivotal moments in one of James Joyce’s masterpieces, ‘The Dead’, which is the final story of his utterly readable collection, Dubliners.

I read Dubliners in college (well it’d have been very rude not to as a post-graduate in Anglo-Irish Literature) but I’ve been really enjoying re-visiting the stories this last week. The book is the focus of this month’s One City, One Book campaign, which sets out to do what it says on the tin. There’s loads of events taking place around the city (that’d be Dublin) revolving around the book (that’d be… oh right, you are paying attention). You’ll find a list of them at www.dublinonecityonebook.ie.

The one I’m most excited about is taking in Cafe Joly in the National Library this Friday 20th from 7pm till about 10pm. It’s free in and there will be food and wine served (you’ll have to pay for that I’m afraid), with one or two hot dishes and lots of lovely grazing material such as smoked fish platters or Irish cheeses and the likes. The cafe is run by two of my best pals so I’m completely biased, but thankfully they’re also great cooks with fabulous taste so I don’t have to compromise myself in thoroughly recommending the cafe for a bit of honest Irish grub. (They do savage sandwiches, gorgeous salads and clever soups during normal opening hours too. Oh and cakes and scones and… you get the picture.)

Anyway this coming Friday there’s going to be a bit of live Irish music including some very special singing and some uilleann piping, and there’s going to be readings of some people’s favourite extracts from Dubliners. And I’m going to be there, hosting the evening. I’ll probably read one or two of my favourite bits. And you’re very welcome to come and read some of your favourite bits too, should you have any. Or just come and listen, and eat and drink, be merry and enjoy a Dublin night out with a difference.

I can’t promise roast goose, but you won’t leave hungry. And you might even leave inspired to get stuck into one of the best reads going too.