Award-winning blog of Irish food writer and broadcaster Caroline Hennessy.
There was sunshine and crowds at the Mallow Food Festival on Easter Sunday morning, the street thronged with people wandering at the early event before heading home for Easter lunch. I abandoned the Husband and Little Missy at home for a quick zoom in and out as we were heading down to Gort na Nain Guesthouse that afternoon, with a side trip to Cork so the Husband could peruse the offerings at the Franciscan Well Easter Beer Fest.
The Mallow Food Festival has taken a move this year and will be taking place in the town on Sunday morning as part of Racing Home for Easter. We’ve had a great time at the festival for the last two years (despite last year’s torrential rain!) so will be heading there bright and early, trying not to spoil our appetite for Easter lunch. More information below.10am – 1.30pm: Food & Craft Fair in Mallow Town: a showcase of Munster’s best produce and crafts with children’s entertainment including Stilt Walkers/Clowns, Lungi the Travelling Puppeteer, the Hakuna Matata Aerobic Performers and the fabulous Mobile Farm. Contact Claire Ryan on 022 53257 or Roisin Lucey on 087 0554382 for more info.Also on our list of things to do this Easter Sunday is the Beerfest at the Franciscan Well Brewery in Cork City. Alongside their own Shandon Stout and Rebel Red, they will be featuring craft beers from ten microbreweries around of Ireland. As far as I know, it starts at 2pm but, frustratingly, the Franciscan Well website hasn’t been updated with event details. Still, I’m sure a lot of the Husband‘s fellow homebrewers will make it along!
In 2006 I wrote an article in reaction to the announcement that US magazine Saveur was about to publish a piece on Ireland as a foodie destination, wondering just what these “mythical gastrotourists” would find if they ventured off the beaten track. The quotes from that piece used in Saturday’s Irish Times Magazine article on Colman Andrews’ The Country Cooking of Ireland made me revisit it and wonder about what’s changed.
Food Events / Food for Friends
by Caroline · Published February 15, 2010 · Last modified February 12, 2018
Pancake Tuesday came early at the cottage this year. I always love to have friends come over to eat pancakes but with the Husband getting home from work late and a Little Missy who is decidedly not at her delightful best in the evenings, lunchtimes are a much better time to entertain. Sunday became our Pancake Tuesday so we were able to invite our three Rockmills Neighbours and, as one of the Husband’s English Engineer friends was staying with us for the weekend, he – as well as doing a lot of washing up! – also got fed.
Sweet treats for the one you love: Chocolate Caramel ShortbreadNever mind flowers and forget about going out for dinner, with Valentine’s Day tomorrow, get baking for your sweetheart with this Chocolate Caramel Shortbread. This recipe makes plenty to devour and share but it’s so good that your biggest problem will be not eating the entire thing today.
Last night I was at the launch of the Good Food Ireland Week Cork in, naturally enough, the English Market. An array of Good Food Ireland producers had teamed up with restaurant, hotel and café members to showcase their products and there was a multi-course feast lined up on the Farmgate Café balcony overlooking the fountain.
I’ve always been a fan of porridge. It’s one of those things that seems to fit in perfectly with a cold morning at the cottage: a steaming bowlful, topped with some stewed fruit and a dollop of natural yoghurt is just the thing to set myself and Little Missy up for the day. She eats the regular sort, which I grind up with my immersion blender (always useful but now indispensable) before cooking, but I’ve gotten hooked on Flahavan’s Pinhead Oatmeal this winter.
There are lots of lovely food orientated events taking place over the next week to celebrate Slow Food’s Terre Madre Day, including meals in East and West Cork. These feasts will be taking place in the Grain Store at Ballymaloe House on Sunday 6 December and at the fantastic Blue Geranium Cafe at Hosford’s Garden Centre on Wednesday 9 December. Both events will feature local foods and producers, including – in East Cork – plum puddings from Arun Kapil (his Green Saffron mixed spice is worth travelling miles for), chocolates from Casey O’Connaill and breads from both Arbutus and Scott Walsh. More information below…
