The Menu: Airfield Estate seeking aspiring food activists and Game Night in Galway

There are also some nice little day-long courses coming up at the Organic Centre in Co Leitrim

Airfield Estate in Dublin is seeking aspiring young food activists to become members of its Youth Board

Wisdom of youth

Airfield Estate — Dublin’s only working urban farm and gardens — is seeking young aspiring food activists between the ages of 15 and 18 to sit on their new youth board, working alongside the team and established board at Airfield Estate, to shape its ambition to be at the cutting edge of food systems and sustainable food in Ireland. The youth board is seen as being an important part of that mission, offering guidance, direction, and ideas and in turn developing the young board members to become the next generation of leaders and experts in the area of food sustainability.

Expertise and training will be provided to educate the youth board members, with hands-on experience and leadership training opportunities as well as establishing connections with its growing networks and creating a space for ongoing connection and collaboration into the future — even after time served on the board is over. Diverse perspectives are essential to the makeup of the board, working (remotely and on-site) in collaboration with peers and the Airfield team, on its 38 acre of grounds.

• Interested applicants with a genuine interest in and passion for food and sustainability should apply to: airfield.ie/our-team/youth-board

Plant medicine

There are some nice little day-long courses coming up at the Organic Centre, in Co Leitrim — always a great spot for a weekend away; combining sterling edible education with some equally enticing epicurean propositions in the beautiful hinterland including Oarsman, Courthouse, and The Red Bank Restaurant, in Carrick-on-Shannon.

‘Herbal Remedies for Colds and Flus’ (November 26) is timely for the upcoming sniffling season and covers simple, efficacious remedies and identification of herbs and plants that help protect and alleviate common colds and flus. An afternoon session will be devoted to making cold and flu-treating infusions and syrups with all recipes, ingredients, and necessary sundries supplied.

A ‘Seed Saver Workshop’ (November 27) will focus on saving vegetable seeds, a once-common practice that has almost entirely faded away. The course looks at the essential background of seed saving along with hands-on demonstrations of selecting, harvesting, processing, drying, and storing favourite crops.

Naturally, seed saving is a commendably thrifty practice but not only does it save money, it also builds our knowledge and appreciation for the extraordinary lifecycles of plants as well as aiding in biodiversity and conservation, and further building resilience into our food production models. See theorganiccentre.ie 

If you don’t can’t quite summon up the energy for the journey to Leitrim, early birds may still catch ‘Food For Free’ (November 20) taking place tomorrow in Tramore Valley Park, in Cork City, where botanist, herbalist, and forager Jo Goodyear leads a guided 1.5-hour talk on medicinal and edible plants, seeking out and discovering the “weeds”, trees, and wild flowers that can be used to supplement our diets and healthcare. Registration is 15 minutes before the event at the KinShip Registration Desk, Sports Pavillion, Tramore Valley Park. The KinShip Project is one of 15 projects taking place all around the country funded by the Creative Climate Action fund through Creative Ireland, working with communities to empower people in their interaction with the environment.

• eventbrite.ie/e/food

Game Night at the G Hotel, in Galway

Play on players

A trip to Galway is always to be recommended and as the wintery weather and dark nights become the default setting, comforting hearty fare becomes food of choice. Game Night (November 24) at the G Hotel’s Supper Club, sees head chef Dominique Majecki unleash a seasonal menu in the company of local food suppliers, with wine pairing from the ever-splendid Simon Tyrell’s Les Deux Cols vineyard. With the day that’s in it, it could well double up as a Thanksgiving celebration if your partial to that class of thing. If you fancy going the whole hog, the Game Night Supper Club package (from €220 pps) includes luxury accommodation at the G Hotel, a ticket to the Game Night Supper Club event, and freshly cooked breakfast the following morning.

• theghotel.ie

Barry Fitzgerald of Fitgerald’s Butchers, in Fermoy

TODAY’S SPECIAL

The Menu and an ailing No 2 Son recently found themselves abandoned by all and sundry with the house to themselves for several days. With No 2 Son choosing each night’s dinner, it was no surprise to find steak being served up for dinner, the especially fine meat in question having been procured from Barry Fitzgerald’s new butcher’s, on Pearse Square in Fermoy, which The Menu first encountered several years ago whilst dining in the very fine O’Mahony’s of Watergrasshill.

Fitzgerald’s have been trading in Fermoy since 1964 when the business was first established by Barry’s father, Ned, and his brother, Denis. Now Barry has gone out on his own with a swish new premises offering more space, including room for a Himalayan salt ageing room where he dry-ages striploin and ribeye steaks for between 40 and 60 days. The meat is either sourced from Fitzgeralds’ own farm or from near neighbours and killed in their own abattoir. Barry’s spanking new and stylish store includes a wide range of products, with an excellent offal offering that includes a splendid pickled ox tongue (gold winner at Blás na hÉireann Irish food awards, at which the family butchers have been serial winners down through the years), pork cheeks, home-cured spiced beef, wild rabbit, some very good beef burgers, equally appealing gourmet chicken kievs, and a dedicated fish counter.

Ever before it hits the grill, very splendid aged Black Angus ribeye is flaunting its charms, deep ruby-red beef with lovely creamy marbling and a powerful and enticing earthy musk and when served up on the plate (medium rare, as is No 2 Son’s preference), it is an equal pleasure on the palate, tender delicious meat with a rich, sweet, umami flavours that plumb the depths, served with herbed butter, homemade skinny fries, a simple green salad, and a treasured old Burgundy from the wine cupboard, all in all, a rather perfect boys night in.

• fitzgeraldsbutchers.ie