TWO of Cork’s leading restaurateurs were smiling broadly alongside almost 300 undergraduates and postgraduates at a conferring ceremony at UCC yesterday.

I’M CONTINUALLY surprised by how thrown waiting staff in many restaurants seem to be if one asks about the provenance of the food. They immediately seem to go on the defensive and it can take three or four attempts to find out the source of a piece of meat, fish or cheese.

Beef short ribs also make the most delicious succulent stew and the flavour will be even better if it is made the day before you plan to tuck in. Kay Harte in the Farmgate Restaurant in the English Market in Cork often serves wonderful traditional Cork dishes: one of my favourites is corned mutton with caper sauce and scallion champ. Here are a few recipes to whet your appetite without breaking the bank.

CHILDREN were introduced to the magic of opera at a very special event in Cork’s English Market yesterday.

RED-FACED Labour Party press officers are being sent back to school by Pat Rabbitte to cut down on their spelling gaffes.

CLODAGH McKENNA makes things happen. This swirling vivacious gastro-dame is the power behind the upcoming Slow Food Cork Festival, September 23-25, 2005.

Kay Harte shared this recipe with us - delicious corned mutton or corned beef feature all the time on the menu at the Farmgate Café in the market, otherwise there would be lots of disappointed customers.