Tasty treats for everyone on St Patrick’s weekend
With CIT Culinary Arts students peeling and prepping the veg, ingredients that would otherwise be considered waste, the event will serve as the official public launch of the Cork Food Policy Council. This is a body working towards developing a sustainable and healthy local food economy with a variety of public and private stakeholders throughout the city, with one in particular, the Bia Food Bank. It’s a new initiative designed to ensure surplus food industry waste can be instead used to benefit those most in need. In addition to the free nosebag, there are educational talks and demos from chefs Denis Cotter (Café Paradiso) and Mercy Fenton, along with the traditional P-Day festivities including street entertainment and the Barry’s Tea Food Market (www.corkfoodpolicycouncil.com).
The Irish Craft Beer & Food Market (March 13-17) has teamed up with Dublin’s festival, setting up shop inside the CHQ Building on George’s Dock with fine food, traditional tunes and of course real Irish beer (www.irishfest.ie). The Cliff Townhouse on St Stephen’s Green will dish up Paddy’s Day lunch and brunch (www.theclifftownhouse.com) while Brasserie Le Pont will be putting a French accent on fine Irish produce for the weekend (www.brasserielepont.ie).
Back on Leeside, at the wonderful Fleming’s Restaurant, harpist Ruth Hayes performs (March 15) at a special tasting menu with a storyteller on hand to fill the gaps between courses (www.flemingsrestaurant.ie).
Despite his own part as a proud contributing editor with John & Sally McKenna’s Irish Food Guides, an utterly unpartisan Menu nonetheless urges all to check out the very splendid 100 Best Irish Restaurants for phone and tablet. (www.guides.ie). He also trusts the entire country shall don oven gloves for Bake for Brain Injury during Brain Awareness Week (March 10-16) to support the 13,000 Irish people afflicted by acquired brain injury each year. All organisers of bake breaks in homes, workplaces or schools shall be entered into a draw for a Ballymaloe Cookery Experience (www.bakeforbraininjury.ie).
Finally, if you’re brave enough, The Cornstore in Cork is showing off the fruits of their new in-house dry-aging initiative by serving up some monster steaks through March and April, Tomahawks, Cow Boys and Chateaubriands all dusted in their award-winning steak rub (www.cornstorecork.com).
The Menu played it old school and put on a leg of exquisite Comeragh Mountain lamb (www.comeraghmountainlamb.ie) from West Waterford. After seven hours’ slow cooking in the oven, succulent slivers of sweetest, gamey lamb slid away from the bone and yielded themselves up to a rapturous reception — stunning with Kinsale-based Bee Sensations’ Boozy Bees Amarena Cherries macerated in honey and poitín.
