Say it with sugar
Sugar craft is an absorbing skill, with substantial following in Ireland, so there should be lots of interest in the visit of Argentitan expert Carlos Lischetti to Kitchen Complements in South Anne Street in Dublin 2 on Thursday, October 3rd. Lischetti will demonstrate how he creates the "vintage housewife" figurine illustrated here and the class will run from 6-8pm (€35, bookings at kitchenconplements.ie).
Food book of the week
Save with Jamie Shop Smart, Cook Clever, Waste Less, by Jamie Oliver (Michael Joseph, £30)
When a cooking-savvy colleague asked to borrow the new Jamie Oliver book on the top of the pile on my desk, I knew it must be worth a look, and it is. Her particular interest was in the vegetarian recipes included, and they are indeed the strongest in this manual that breaks down into veg, chicken, beef, pork, lamb and fish recipe sections. The premise is that this is cost-conscious rather than extravagant cooking, so you won't find recipes using fillet steak, rather there is advice on finding the "secret steaks", or cheaper cuts that can be cooked like steak, such as skirt, onglet and flat iron. Canny tips on making vinegar from dregs of wine, pickling vegetable trimmings and preserving roasting tray dripping reinforce the wast not want not ethos. Just when you were sure the world didn't need another Jamie Oliver title, along comes another one that you'll want to add to your collection.
Bling up your larder
Harvey Nichols has launched a range of 80 new food products, called Riot of Colour, which come in smart packaging that will brighten up any larder. The range is modern and innovative and includes avocado and coconut oils, oat biscuits with spirulina and with honey and bee pollen, and dark chocolate bars with beetroot and with goji berries. Prices run from €2.95 to €29.95. They are available at the foodmarket at Harvey Nichols in Dundrum, where you'll also find some interesting basket fillers such as JoeSephs sweet and savoury popcorn, and Todd barbecue sauces and ketchups in intriguing flavours such as "Cola Leather" and "Marshmallow Smoke".
Clever spoon
This savvy spoon will register the temperature of whatever you are stirring with it, making it a useful gadget it if you make custards, jams, toffee or fudge, or delicate sauces. It will register temperatures between 20 and 220 degrees Celsius, and you can also remove the themometre from the spoon. It costs €17.99 from kitchencookware.ie, tel: 098-27317.
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