€2 tasters liven up the month
While very much the cosmopolitan, gadding about the gourmet globe, snaffling exotic foodstuffs, The Menu retains a special place in his heart for the produce from his own doorstep; local, fresh, sustainable nosebag. So, salutations to chef Kate Lawlor who not only regularly features stellar players from our local culinary constellation but is now offering them at Fenn’s Quay restaurant in the form of €2 tasters for the month of June. Why, a body could have a sterling ‘tapas-style’ feast for a mere ten bucks? Look out for: Rosscarbery Recipes’ White Pudding with Shellfish De La Mer Scallop (Taste of West Cork), John and Mary Cronin’s exquisite Feirm Úr Buttermilk rendered as panna cotta with seasonal fruit; Sea Samphire and wondrous Ballyhoura Mushrooms; Goatsbridge Trout Caviar with micro herbs. Readers will have noticed some of the above have already featured on The Menu’s ‘Daily Specials’, no finer imprimatur! www.fennsquay.com
A fierce man for the perambulation, The Menu’s long hikes often see him fetch up at the Atlantic Pond, in Cork’s Marina. With great hiking comes great hunger so The Menu brings news of The Picnic, a family- and food-friendly gathering on Jun 17 (2-6pm), on the green between pond and Pairc Uí Caoimh, run by campaign group, Save Marina Park. Bring-your-own jobbie on the food front, Street feast-style, but there will be face-painting, live music etc. savemarinapark.com/index.php/picnic/
The Menu is partial to settling down for a postprandial perusal of Tannery Chef Paul Flynn’s cookbooks, to be read by the truly sated otherwise there is a real fear of drowning in one’s own drool. The Menu gave the oculars a most vigorous rubbing on notification of the Dungarvan establishment’s Summer Dinner Session’s beginning Jun 22: dine from local-produce Dinner Sessions menu on Friday, June 22; dine from the a la carte menu the following night; two nights accommodation in the Tannery Townhouse, bottle of Prosecco included, all for €220pp sharing inclusive? Give thine own eyes a good workout but that truly is the price! www.tannery.ie/townhouse_specials.html
Swishing through Spanish gourmet hotspot San Sebastian, last year, The Menu alighted on a bottle of raspberry vinegar, reasoning if it was half as good as his locally-produced —shamefully, unknown to many Irish food lovers — Mr Petterson’s Raspberry Vinegar, from West Cork, then it would prove to be some serious tack indeed. Mere cat’s urine, as it turned out, and The Menu resolved never again to question the supremacy of Irish produce. Mr Petterson’s syrupy nectar, leavened with a soaring raspberry liftoff, perfectly enhances myriad dishes from cheeses to meats to salads. The Menu is partial to a drop with his smoked mackerel but then The Menu is even partial to a drop from the palm of his hand. www.mrpettersens.com/
