Compiled by MARIE-CLAIRE DIGBY
Fish in a bag
SuperValu is attempting to get us to eat more fish by selling it filleted and wrapped in a sealed bag with some seasoned butter. First you decide what fish you want to cook, then add your choice of flavoured butter from the tomato and basil, chilli and lime, or garlic and herb varieties on offer. The fish comes ready to pop in the oven or microwave. The bags are sturdy and don’t leak, and fish cooking smells are considerably reduced. Buy the fish at the advertised price, and the butter and bag are free of charge. From Monday, hake fillets are discounted by one-third (€12.05 a kilo instead of €17.99) at SuperValu fish counters.
Web watch thefoodiebugle.com
The standard of writing and photography on food blogs has skyrocketed in recent times. Food writer Silvana de Soissons has harnessed the best new talent to launch what she calls “an online co-operative magazine”, The Foodie Bugle, which comes out monthly. It’s a gorgeous production, and submissions are being accepted from writers and photographers who want to get their work in print online. The image above is of de Soissons’s apple cake with Amaretto, and the very pretty image is by Keiko Oikawa. You can register on the website, and the magazine will drop into your mailbox monthly.
Urru goes veggie
Ruth Healy of Urru Culinary Store in Bandon is expanding her empire, with the opening last Saturday of Urru Greengrocer on McSwine Quay in the Co Cork town. The new shop will specialise in selling locally grown produce, and in addition you’ll be able to buy Glenilen Farm milk, from Drimoleague, in glass bottles than can be refilled from Urru’s 30-litre churn.
Real Italian pizza bases
Pizza Da Piero artisan pizza bases are made by Piero De Vallier in a two-day process that uses very little yeast and relies instead on a long fermentation process, meaning they’re more easily digested and less likely to leave you with a bloated, carb-overload feeling. De Vallier, who is from Treviso, met his Irish wife Cliona Swan, who is a teacher in St Andrew’s College in Dublin, while they were both working in the UK, and came to Ireland with her, first to Galway and then to Dublin.
After working as a head baker, De Vallier decided four years ago to go into business selling ready-to-bake pizza bases. The quality of his product ensured rapid expansion, and he now employs three additional bakers, and between them they’re making 200,000 bases a year from premises in Rathmines.
Not surprisingly, De Vallier is a purist when it comes to toppings – no pineapple chunks or sweetcorn welcome. He’s also not in favour of putting raw vegetables on a pizza, and suggests using a simple tomato and mozzarella topping.
I cooked the pizzas on unglazed terracotta tiles (a cheap alternative to a pizza stone), on the bottom of a very hot oven, at 240 degrees (gas mark nine), and they crisped up beautifully in less than five minutes. Pizza Da Piero pizza bases come in packs of three (€6.50) and are widely available from Superquinn, as well as delis and speciality food shops.
Of pots and porridge . . .
Flahavan’s has launched a multi-seed porridge with added sunflower, flax, pumpkin and hemp seeds. It comes in portable microwave pots (99c); sachets (€3.29 for 10) and 660g bags (€2.99), and is widely available from supermarkets. Colleagues report that the new crunchy porridge is very tasty, but Food File’s magpie eye was distracted by the gorgeous sky blue ceramic bowl that came with the sample pack we received. It turned out to be made by ceramicist Rosemarie Durr, who has a studio and shop at Castlecomer Estate Yard in Co Kilkenny, along with her husband and fellow ceramicist, Andrew Ludick. Durr graduated as student of the year from the Crafts Council of Ireland’s pottery skills course, and she specialises in extremely fine, hand thrown pottery with a powder blue glaze. Her plates, which can go in the dishwasher, oven and microwave, come in three sizes – 16.5cm, 22cm and 28cm, at prices from €15 to €32. The soup/cereal bowl is €15 and these lovely breakfast cups and saucers are €26. Durr’s pottery is on sale in lots of craft shops as well as her own shop in Castlecomer. See rosedurr.com.
Spice up your espresso
Dhjana, the new limited edition Nespresso coffee blend, is a melange of four different beans, from Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia and India. It is a very well balanced coffee with rounded, fruity notes and very little acidity, “which makes it an ideal coffee for daytime drinking”, says Brema Drohan, the Waterford-born managing director of Nespresso UK and Ireland. It is the first limited-edition blend sourced entirely from Nespresso’s Sustainable Quality programme, which aims to secure the future of some of the world’s best coffee beans as well as safeguard the livelihoods of the farmers that grown them. Try it poured over a teaspoonful of Dulce de Leche or caramel sauce, and topped with whipped cream. Dhjana is sold in the Nespresso shop in Brown Thomas and online, and costs €4.20 for 10 capsules.
