A round up of this week's food news in brief
The last word in pizza
Ireland lost a great restaurant when Bernadette O'Shea closed Truffles of Sligo way back in 1997, but her truly outstanding pizzas live on in her landmark book, Pizza Defined.
This masterful work is now back in print, thanks to John McKenna of Estragon Press and Bridgestone guides fame.
I was lucky enough to eat in Truffles just before it closed and I can still remember every mouthful of Bernadette's bacon and cabbage pizza. Well, not bacon but exquisite Parma ham paired with crinkly dark green savoy, pinenuts and a little nutmeg. It was bliss.
The recipe for this marvellous invention is included in the book but, more importantly perhaps, there is a vast amount of information for anyone who wants to take this humble dish as seriously as it deserves - from flour and yeast to the art of kneading and the precise science of baking. Add to that the luscious photographs by Mike O'Toole and plenty of brilliant and wholly unexpected ideas - such as black pudding and leek pizza, to name but one - and you have a book that is, as the title suggests, truly definitive.
Pizza Defined may be 11 years old but it's still as fresh and as inspiring as it was on the day it first appeared.
Pizza Defined by Bernadette O'Shea is published by Estragon Press (€20, paperback). - Tom Doorley
Hiding in the Larder
It's easy to while away a few hours on a wet afternoon in Dublin by parking yourself in the larder for comfort. Not the biscuits and flour type of domestic larder, but the bijou little cafe bistro on Parliament Street opposite the Front Lounge. With its split-level wooden floors, simple furniture, wall-to-wall wine bottles and Illy coffee canisters, the Larder has an unpretentious air and a menu to match. However, rave notices from all the Irish food critics line the notice board and a berry crumble, crunchy and tart, with an excellent cappuccino served by the affable Kapil Sreeneebas (pictured left), provided a good illustration of its high home-cooking standards at inexpensive prices.
There's an extensive breakfast menu with everything from porridge and home-made scones to toasted bagels and pancakes from around €2.75 up to €8.95 (for the full Irish). The night-time menu has a small list of popular favourites, such as beef and Guinness pie or lamb shank with caprese and goat's cheese salads as starters. At €19.95 their bottles of Masottina prosecco must be the cheapest in Dublin and though the wine list is short, its selection comes from Australia, Argentina, Spain, France, Italy, Chile and New Zealand, with prices from €19.50 to €28.50. - Deirdre McQuillan