The menu: CIT Tourism, Culinary Roadshow heads to Midleton
Heading off to the Department of Tourism & Hospitality, CIT, as a student to further supplement his hunger for gastronomic knowledge and, in what is most probably the best-equipped department of its kind in the country, has had to entirely spring clean the brain to accommodate all his new learning, but The Menu has embraced it with enormous gusto. Younger candidates of a similar inclination would do well to visit the CIT Tourism, Hospitality & Culinary Roadshow as it evangelises to secondary students and their parents, beginning in the Midleton Park Hotel (Nov 25). ( www.cit.ie )
While The Menu never needs an excuse to return to wonderful Dingle, he’ll carry Neidín himself if it means availing of the splendid offer from the newly-opened Dingle Cookery School: afternoon course, Creating Edible Christmas Gifts (Nov 29), three-course dinner at the excellent Global Village restaurant and B&B in the venerable Dingle Benner’s Hotel, €115pps or €165pps for two nights ( www.dinglecookeryschool.com ).
The Menu is looking forward to trying out the new Friday Night Dining at On The Pig’s Back, in Douglas. www.onthepigsback.com
Twelve of Ireland’s top chefs, including L’Ecrivain’s Derry Clarke, Kevin Thornton, Chapter’s One’s Ross Lewis, Gary O’Hanlon, Graham Neville (Restaurant 41@Residence) and RTÉ’s Kevin Dundon have all lined out to flash a bit of gam for a new charity calendar. Also including recipes, all proceeds go to Walk in My Shoes, a campaign run by St Patrick’s Mental Health Foundation raising funds to provide mental health services, support and information to vulnerable young adults throughout Ireland ( www.walkinmyshoes.ie ).
And speaking of The Menu’s beloved Restaurant 41, chef Graham Neville is knocking out a delicious four-courser for a wine dinner (November 25) featuring exquisite Alsace wines from Château d’Orschwihr, including a canapé reception ( www.restaurantfortyone.ie ).
Some five years previous, The Menu was wont to pass Wednesdays in Kinsale at the lovely farmer’s market and was a great man for Jason Carroll’s fine, varied and extremely creative salads before the bould Jason upped sticks for Fiji. Thankfully, he has since returned and The Menu recently procured a most splendid babaganoush, a Levantine dish of aubergine roasted over naked flame and blended with lemon, salt, garlic and olive oil, rendering up a most addictive hummus-like purée.
Back in the lab The Menu discovered to his horror that one of his insatiable progeny had devoured the lot, leaving only the memory of that initial market spoonful from which to work as that single mouthful of creamy, smokey puree with its splendid high citric note will live long in The Menu’s noggin — almost as long as it will take to erase all memory of said progeny’s heinous if thoroughly understandable crime. www.facebook/gingerroomsalads
Wicklow Wolf American Amber, 4.8% ABV, 500ml - €3.49
Stockists: Bradleys, O’Briens, Hollands Bray, McHughs, Drinkstore.ie, Independents.
Wicklow Wolf opened their brewery in Bray earlier this year in a former bakery. As well as the Amber they also brew an IPA and a Kentucky Common Brown Ale.
Hops for their beers are grown on their farm in Roundwood but they also add a bit of punch with other varieties.
Aromatic fruity style with a hint of caramel on the middle palate.
Hop focused, with the Citra rather dominating the local hops, but pleasantly punchy and refreshing with a good clean bite on the finish.
