Search Results for 'World cuisine'

Twenty five per cent more Tesco Ireland customers choose to buy milk, flour, and eggs to make their own pancakes rather than buy convenience pancake products, a survey by the supermarket chain has revealed.

Shrove Tuesday is just around the corner on February 24, so it’s time to hunt out that pancake pan and check out your stocks of eggs and flour. It’s easily forgotten these days, but that’s what it was all about at one time – using up fresh ingredients which would otherwise be wasted during the Lenten fast. And having a bit of a last fling, of course – literally, in fact, as tossing the pancakes soon became part of the ritual.

I called to Oscar’s Bistro very early on a Saturday evening, at 6.15pm, and was surprised to find several diners there already. They open at 6pm. By 6.30pm the restaurant was filling up nicely and there was a good atmosphere. One of the most striking differences since my last visit was the new pictures on the walls. There are very large stunning images, and upon further enquiry I discovered that they were all taken by the owner/chef, Michael O’Meara. In fact on the reverse of Oscar’s business card are the details of Michael’s other passion, www.foodandwinephotography.com. I recommend that you have a look as some of the images are stunning.

A team from Galway-based pizza company Bistro Bianconi has scooped a coveted award for best non-traditional pizza at the World Pizza Games in Las Vegas.

Last Sunday saw the launch of Galway’s newest market in Clarinbridge. It will be held on the last Sunday of each month beside the garden centre at the rear of Centra. There was a superb turnout of 19 market stalls selling cakes, breads, home-made soups, oysters, farm fresh eggs, jams, pancakes, chutneys, and home-made fudge, plus several jewellery and hand crafts stalls. It was very busy with one trader telling me that she had sold 48 cakes of brown bread by 1.30pm. It starts at 12 noon and closes at 6pm, and a stall can be purchased for €20 which seems very good value indeed. I predict that it is going to be very popular, particularly in the summer months, so if you are thinking about a stall there, book your space now before it is full. As always I encourage you to attend and support all local markets in your area and I wish the Clarinbridge Market and all its stall holders every success.

Cheeseboard tips 

Smoked salmon, potatoes and herb pancake

The weather over the past week has forced me into a difficult decision. Is it barbecue time, or possibly a piece on the versatility of salad? But a delivery of fresh Irish strawberries into the restaurant quickly made up my mind. Is there any fruit to herald the beginning of summer superior to a fresh sun ripened strawberry? In the middle of winter it’s not uncommon to come across, in the shops, these hard lumps of things that look like strawberries but taste of something far removed from a sweet Irish-grown berry. Especially when topped off with a little whipped dairy cream, no chef can better strawberries and cream. Strawberries grow particularly well in Ireland, and more so during the rare sunny summers. They ripen a little slower than on the continent, developing high sugar content.

As the summer heats up, there might be many reasons to visit the beach, but there’s also a new, tasty way to cool down with a visit to Shop Street in Galway, as Murphys Ice Cream has launched a new flavour to celebrate the refurbishment of McCambridge’s. That venerable institution has installed a Murphys ice cream scooping cabinet, with twelve delicious flavours, including McCambridge’s Brown Bread ice cream, in the remodelled, gourmet food store.

It can be difficult to think about back-to-school time as it’s an admission that summer is nearly over. However, as every parent knows, a stress-free return to school is all about planning and preparation. So it’s never too early to start thinking about healthy school lunches for kids — here nutritionist Aoife Kirwan offers some very helpful advice on which foods a healthy lunchbox should contain — and on how to include brain food.