Hallowe’en horrors
If you’re quick, you might be in time to snag a spot at Blood and Earth, an interactive cookery class with Domestic Godless – a creative endeavour from artists Stephen Brandes, Mick O’Shea and Irene Murphy that takes an irreverent approach to culinary trends. The trio has previously created such dishes as sea urchin pot noodle and carpaccio of giant African land snail. It’s happening at Cooks Academy on South William Street today at 12.30pm and 3.30pm and is part of the Bram Stoker Festival, so expect plenty of ghoulish goings on. Book at bramstokerfestival.com, or take a chance on one of the spots reserved for walk-ups. Tickets are €25 . Squiddly beefheart, chilli- chocolate chicken hearts and shiitake cupcakes are on the menu today.
Decision time for young fishmongers
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The five finalists in the BIM Young Fishmonger 2015 have been sharpening their knives and honing their filleting skills in recent weeks as they prepare to be tested at BIM’s Seafood Development Centre in Clonakilty on November 12th. They will all be visited on-site at their workplace in advance of that date, and then the results will be made known at an awards lunch in Dublin on November 24th.
The finalists are Mateusz Kowalik, pictured below with his mother Jola, who works alongside him at Doran’s on the Pier in Howth; Gerard Collier of Fishermans Catch in Clogherhead; Stevie Connolly of Connolly’s Fish Company in Rathmines; Gary Quinn of Stephen’s Fish Market in Mullingar and Neil Turner of Caviston’s Food Emporium in Glasthule.
All finalists receive a masterclass with Martin Shanahan of Fishy Fishy in Kinsale, a set of knives, career development opportunities and a cheque for €500, with the winner receiving a cheque for €1,000 and a study trip to France.
Birthday time at The Brown Bear
Eugene Brennan and Jean Grace (pictured) are celebrating the fifth anniversary of opening their restaurant, The Brown Bear, in the village of Two Mile House, near Naas, Kilcullen and Newbridge in Co Kildare. Rural restaurants have found the past few years challenging, so it’s a landmark worth celebrating. To mark the occasion they are offering a birthday celebration tasting menu for €35 (or with matching wines included for €55). It shows chef Josef Zammit’s range through four courses that include duck ballotine, scallops, a choice of duck or stonebass, and a dessert composition of poached pear, almond mousse and panna cotta. The menu will run for the month of November. See thebrownbear.ie
Magic mushrooms from M&S
Apparently we Irish don’t always get enough Vitamin D, thanks to our limited exposure to sunlight, so now we can get our daily dose from a specially enriched mushroom, grown for M&S by Monaghan Mushrooms.
One portion, or three of these mushrooms, provides 100 per cent of our requirement of the vitamin, which helps towards strong bones and teeth.
The mushrooms are grown indoors, in the normal way, but receive a brief exposure to high wattage light which produces Vitamin D within the vegetable, according to M&S, which is selling brown mushrooms treated in this way (€1.75).
Craft beer and food pairing
Kristin Jensen, co-author with Caroline Hennessy of the recently published Sláinte: The Complete Guide to Irish Craft Beer and Cider, is teaming up with Tara Walker of The Tasty Tart Cookery School in Termonfeckin, Co Louth, for a craft beer and food pairing demo on Saturday, November 8th at 7pm. Entry costs €45, and includes dinner and a few glasses of beer as well as a recipe pack and beer and food matching tips. See thetastytart.ie
