Compiled by MARIE-CLAIRE DIGBY
Noma pop-up to open in London
Following on from Californian chef Thomas Keller's brief French Laundry residency in Harrods department store last October, René Redzepi of Noma in Copenhagen is running a pop-up restaurant at Claridge's hotel from July 28th to August 6th. Noma will be closed for renovations during that period. Five-course lunch and dinner menus will cost £195, and you can register interest at claridges.co.uk/atasteofnoma.
Book of the week
‘Two Greedy Italians Eat Italy’, by Antonio Carluccio and Gennaro Contaldo, published by Quadrille, £20.
If you’ve been enjoying the BBC TV series following Carluccio and Contaldo as they eat their way across their native Italy – having a good old moan about the state of the nation as they find it – you might like this accompanying recipe book. Although they’ve known each other for 30 years, you’d be forgiven for thinking the co-hosts didn’t like each other very much as they rub along in a state of grumpy, barely concealed annoyance. Happily the book is a more harmonious affair, with lovely images from David Loftus, and recipes divided into three sections: Comfort Food from the Mountains; Fresh Flavours from the Coast, and The Larder of the River and Plains.
Rocking risotto
May is risotto month at Il Primo, the Dublin restaurant where chef patron Anita Thoma will have three variations on the dish available at lunch and dinner for between €10 and €12, with a matching glass of wine for an additional fiver. Spring onion, roast garlic and pecorino; dry-aged Irish beef and horseradish; and Clare Island organic salmon with dill and lime are the first three not-at-all-traditional combinations to make it to the menu, illustrating the imagination Thoma brings to cooking a dish that she describes as: "a mixture of art, science and love". In her opinion, anyone can cook a good risotto, with the right ingredients. "You need to stay close and focus on the pan, keep your eye on it and cook it slowly. I use arborio rice and vegetable stock. It's simple, but don't put it on until you are ready to eat it; it only takes about 14 minutes. If you disrespect the process it will disappoint you," she says. See ilprimo.ie.
Cheesy idea in Cavan
There aren’t many tempting offers that begin with “bring your wellies and a bucket”, but the one-day cheese-making course with Silke Cropp at her dairy in Belturbet, Co Cavan next Sunday, May 6th, is the exception. The bucket is to bring home your kilo of handmade cow’s milk cheese at the end of a day of instruction, practical experience, and lunch with wine. You’ll also be able to sample Cropp’s new farmhouse Irish cheddar, called Felix’s, after Silke’s son, made with raw milk from a local Friesian herd. Bookings can be made by phoning 049-9522930. The class runs from 10am-4.30pm and costs €150, or €250 for two
The buzz.
Ernie Whalley @forkncork: Feel faint! Just seen a Jap geezer buy 1 x Petrus 88 + 1 x Lafite 94 in Abu Dhabi Duty Free – a cool US$5,255
Ronan Byrne @friendlyfarmer: Local Farmers Seek Local Customers for No Strings Attached Relationship . . .
Flushing Nemo @Flushing_Nemo: My wife I were looking at dining tables I told her I thought monogamy was overrated. Don’t know why she got so mad. I just prefer pine
Sanjeev Kohli @govindajeggy: How do I keep my herbs separate? Clever thyme management
Remember that dream job we told you about – being paid to eat one restaurant meal a day and blog about it – in Richmond, Canada? A shortlist of 12 finalists has been drawn up and London/Irish blogger Niamh Shields of eatlikeagirl.comis on it. You can vote for her at facebook.com/RichmondBC
