Search Results for 'Seafood'

Few people with a taste for seafood would pass up the opportunity to indulge themselves in a feast of fresh prawns. These little fellows can quickly become addictive. There is an endless variety of ways to cook and serve prawns and they always give an impression of good taste.

Martina Mc Grath, a native of Clarenbridge and an NUIG science student has been selected as the 2009 Clarenbridge Oyster Festival Queen. A keen sportsperson, Martina plays camogie for Clarenbridge and is the daughter of Billy and Marion McGrath of Moyvilla.

In these difficult economic times, it is vital that Irish seafood is differentiated to protect our fishermen and to ultimately build a recognisable mark to support Irish fishermen and suppliers.

The first Oyster Festival was in 1954 with just 34 people in attendance, and since such humble beginnings the Clarenbridge Oyster Festival has hosted many national and international visitors and contributed enormously to the development of the tourist trade in the region. September 1 is the start of the oyster season and opens with oyster lovers heading for Clarenbridge which is now officially recognised as the ‘Home of the Oyster’.

Blazing sunshine, glamour, tug-of-war, brush dancing, oyster eating, and a stopover of the Cannon Ball Run were all part of the 2009 Clarenbridge Oyster Festival. More than 4,000 locals and visitors turned out in their finery to officially celebrate Clarenbridge as the home of the oyster on its 55th anniversary.

This week I have a few different items to mention and would like to suggest that it might be a good time to shop around for Christmas wine. There are some really good deals available now and also watch out for some up and coming wine fairs such as Cases Wine Fair on the Tuam Road. It is on today (Thursday) from 6.30pm to 10pm and the €20 ticket will be donated to the National Breast Cancer Research Institute. There will be 120 wines to taste and cheese from Sheridan’s. As wine makes a really acceptable present I suggest you make an early Christmas present list and note anyone who would like a bottle or two or indeed a full case! If you are buying a pretty expensive wine for a wine lover, ask the advice of the wine shop’s most senior person and usually you will be well advised. We are well served in Galway with wine shops — O’Brien’s, McCambridge’s, Woodberrys, Harvest, Cases, Fine Wines, The Wine Buff, Noel O’Loughlin at Galwaybaywine.com, upstairs over Sheridan’s Cheese Shop, The Vineyard, and the organic wines from Dirk at the Saturday Market in Galway, off Shop Street. In fact, now that I list them all (hoping I have not forgotten any) I am amazed that there are indeed such a number.

You know, it’s easy to forget sometimes that we, as a nation, are incredibly well placed at the edge of the Atlantic to take advantage of some pretty incredible seafood. And one such treasure from the sea is tuna. Many an Irish person is of the opinion that tuna is some kind of tropical fish which primarily arrives on our tables and in our lunch boxes via a tin and can opener, but the reality is that tuna is abundant off our coast at certain times of the year. Interestingly Ireland has the potential to tap into ‘big game fishing’ as a small industry, as I believe catching a tuna with rod and line is possibly the greatest fishing challenge of all.