Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Blind Tasting in Fenn's Quay

Slow Food Cork City & Bia Sásta are inviting you to a dining experience with a difference. Join us on Tuesday, 17th April at 7pm in Fenn's Quay for a Blind Tasting Dinner.

Have you ever tried to eat with all your senses?? We discovered that works best if you are blindfolded. A tasting menu will be served on the night which you will enjoy with your senses but not your eyes. Each course will have components that you might already know but you will be surprised how difficult it can be to recognise it. After each course we remove the blindfolds and talk about the food you had just eaten.

Headchef Kate has promised a wonderful menu - so make sure to book your place quickly as bookings are already flying in. Booking is essential as the number of places is limited. We might need to turn you away if you fail to book in advance and just turn up on the night.

Please email biasasta@hotmail.com to reserve your place. Price per head €25 for Slowfood members, €30 for non-members.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Blind Tasting

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Christmas Dinner


To celebrate Christmas and Terra Madre, Fenn's Quay will be our host for our Christmas Dinner this year. On Tuesday, 20th December at 7:30 we will be sitting down for a lovely 3-course meal, relaxing and chatting and be merry. Fenn's Quay are offering the dinner for a special rate of €26.95 (which incl. tea/coffee).

Please email corkcity@slowfoodireland.com to reserve your place.

Looking forward seeing you at the dinner

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Celebrating Terra Madre Day

CELEBRATING TERRA MADRE DAY

Pop up Market on Main Douglas Road next to Galvin’s Carry Out Off Licence, is bringing Terra Madre Day 2011 on Saturday 10thDecember to the community 2pm - 4pm.

This is the third year of Slow Food’s Global day of Action, it is a day to celebrate Slow Living and eating locally.

Come and meet local artisan producers and sample their wonderful produce.

You will have the opportunity to order your Christmas hams and other festive trimmings. There will be signed copies of Darina Allens Forgotten Skills cook book and a very good chance that the author herself may pop in!

Christmas gift ideas ranging from €5 upwards.

There will be a butter making demonstration by Peter Foynes from the Cork Butter Museum.

The Pop Up Market is a joint venture between Mary Jane Russell from Town & Country, Simone Kelly and Trixie Leahy of Interior Living.

The philosophy of the Slow Food Movement is reflected in the careful selection of artisan goods available at the Pop up Market.

Everyone is most welcome to this unique celebration,Terra Madre 2011 at the Pop Up Market from 2pm -4pm.

Italian Food & Wine

Italian food and wine has an excellent reputation not only in Ireland but around the globe. In response to the high number of Italians living in Ireland, the Irlanda Italiana Cultural Association (IICA) has been formed in Cork. The launch will take place next Thursday, 15th December in Aula Maxima, UCC from 7pm. An evening with Italian food & wine - what better way to spend an evening. Make sure you put the date in your diary


Thursday, December 1, 2011

Garden Talk with Kitty

Thank you to everyone who made his/her way to Blarney Garden Centre on Tuesday night. Maria & Billy O'Connor of Blarney Garden Centre served lovely homebaked scones and the tea and coffee warmed us up in no time.

You might wonder why having a garden talk in November - it is the best time to start preparing your ground for the next season. As Roy Keane said once: 'Fail to prepare - prepare to fail' - anything right done now will make your life so much easier in the coming months.

Kitty who showed the nation during the Summer how to prepare a garden is as passionate about gardening as one can be. She loves to share her knowledge and passion and she was very generous with her time and expertise. She was very interested to see where people were at their gardening level and we had a great mix of people attending (we still keep our fingers crossed for Margo and her pigs).

The best way of preparing your ground now for the next year is to cut down any weeds you have now, mix in a good manure and cover the ground with black plastic (make sure to put some weight on to avoid it blowing away). The ground is kept warm and the manure has time to rot down and mix in well so that you are left with a wonderful rich soil next year.

We will have a repeat meeting in March where Kitty will show us how to care for seeds, how to grow and what to grow when. Watch this space - the dates will be announced in one of our next newsletters.
If you are not on our mailing list yet, make sure to email us on corkcity@slowfoodireland.com

Since the RTE show, Kitty is working as a freelancer and can be hired for talks, advice etc. Please email corkcity@slowfoodireland.com and we will forward your request to Kitty.

Blarney Garden Centre has been opened since March 2011 and has built up a good reputation for sound advice (without the frills), good & simple food and a family friendly location for Sunday lunch. Please call 021 4385402 if you want to book a table, have a question about gardening or if you like to book a room for private functions. And if you have no plans this Sunday - why not come along to a Sing-a-long - all welcome.





Sunday, November 20, 2011

Simple White Bread


At our pig feast last May I was asked several times for the recipe of the breads I brought along. To be honest, it is the most simplest recipe you can think of. Use the basic recipe below to create your own versions (my favourites are garlic and roasted onion and sun-dried tomato).

500g strong bread flour, salt (to your tasting), 25g fresh yeast (or 14g dried yeast - 2 sachets), 50ml olive oil.

Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. In a jug with 300ml lukewarm water, add the yeast and have it dissolve. Leave for a few minutes. Add the olive oil to the yeast water and add to the flour. Use your hands as a claw and start mixing the water with the flour. When it all comes together take the dough out of the bowl and start kneading it on a light floured surface. This works best if you have cleaned your hands of the sticky dough. Normal recipes say to knead for at least 10 mins - I knead until the dough feels springy and nothing sticks to the surface anymore. Put back into the bowl and let rise for about an hour (the colder the room the slower the rise). Knock back the dough and need again. You can form the dough into any shape you like but I use a loaf tin which is lined with baking paper. Bake in a moderate hot oven until the bread is browned and sounds hollow when you knock on the bottom and et voila you have a lovely bread.

If you want to vary the bread - pan-fry some chopped onions and garlic and add it to the flower before adding the water. Or chop up some sun-dried tomatoes (if you use jarred tomatoes, use the oil instead of the olive oil) and add to the flour. Your imagination is the limit...

Let me know if you have tried it and how it worked out for you. Happy baking...

P.S. You can buy fresh yeast at Iago in the English market