The Menu: Plenty for foodies at Cork’s 26th French Film Festival
In particular a screening of the wine documentary, Natural Resistance, following a group of Italian winemakers dedicated to making chemical and additive-free wines.
It is directed by Jonathan Nossiter, whose other excellent wine documentary Mondovino was a huge success.
This screening is particularly special as it is followed by a rustic, Italian-inspired banquet in the Ballymaloe Grainstore, paired with natural wines from the growers featuring in the film, all to be supplied by The Menu’s most excellent friend, adopted ‘Cat’ Pascal Rossignol, of Kilkenny-based Le Caveau wines ( www.corkfrenchfilmfestival.com ).
Maintaining the Francophile theme, splendid chanteuse Caroline Moreau returns to On The Pig’s Back, in Douglas (March 6) for more French chansons (8pm) with the additional option of dining from a splendid French menu beforehand (from 6pm). www.onthepigsback.ie
When it comes to chowing down, all five senses play their part. To remove the visual aspect from the equation makes for some enjoyable and most novel eating experiences indeed. And should you choose to do same at the Torres Wine & Dine in the Dark (March 5) at Dublin’s Bijou Restaurant, enjoying a multi-course menu matched with Torres wines while blindfolded, there is the additional bonus of knowing that you are supporting a very good cause indeed as Torres have teamed up with Sightsavers, an international charity fighting preventable blindness in developing countries, with a portion of each ticket sold going to the charity. Spaces are limited, phone 01-4961518 to book.
While The Menu will happily tramp to the Giant’s Causeway and back in pursuit of fine Irish food, the bould Neidin feels the pace at times so Muckross Park Hotel & Spa hosting an exclusive evening with Nick Munier.
The West Cork Food & Wine Society host an evening in Rosscarbery’s Celtic Ross Hotel, in association with Christy’s Wines (March 5), showcasing fine wines from Rutherford Ranch, California paired with a four-courser, which promises to be most fine, hotel boasting not one, but two fine chefs, executive head chef Graeme Campbell, formerly of Hayfield Manor and Alex Petit, formerly of Oysters, in Cork.
When it comes to putting on the nosebag, The Menu has some class of Attention Deficit Disorder.
Perpetually in pursuit of new epicurean experiences, except for that couple of weeks in the year when he religiously eats the same dish, night after night: a bowl of new spuds, smothered in butter, sprinkled with flat leaf parsley and, betimes, Woodside Farm bacon lardons, all washed down with a nice Burgundy.
The only possible improvement is if those new spuds are the fruits of one’s own labour. As this is the time to be getting those spuds into the ground or, easier still, into a barrel, be sure to check out the very wonderful GIY Ireland for their excellent range of chit potatoes for sowing and a wealth of growing info, to boot. www.giyinternational.org
Stockists: Bradley’s, Abbot Ale House, McHugh’s, Celtic Whiskey Shop, Ardkeen Stores, World Wide Wines, Independents. Widely available in Donegal.
Donegal-based Kinnegar are prolific and enthusiastic brewers, and have some of the best flavours (and packaging) in the craft beer market here. Strangely, I have only featured one Kinnegar beer in this slot before (their excellent Rustbucket rye ale), so time to make amends.
Otway is an American-style pale ale and is named after the Otway golf links, near Rathmullan. Pale, golden colour, aromas of grapefruit and lemons, refreshing, crisp palate with a lingering, citrus, hoppy kick on the finish. Try with some fish and chips.
