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

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.

Christmas Craft & Food Fair

It is an indoor Christmas Craft & Food Fair that will take place on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th December 10am to 7pm.

The venue will be the Former Fas Building, Sullivan's Quay., Cork City

This will be a traditional Christmas fair in the heart of the city with local craft stalls, craft workshops, free kid's crafts & face painting, story telling, music, community stall, wonderful Christmas cakes & puddings & fresh produce & wreaths.

The idea is to compliment the other Christmas festivities taking place in Cork City during December & add variety to the consumers overall Christmas experience.

This Christmas Fair will give customers the opportunity to do all their Christmas shopping under one roof, with a vast array of unique, locally crafted gifts, decorations and food to choose from while having a great family day out.

The event will be organised by The Cork Local Food Producers & Craft Group whose aim is promote and showcase the vast amount of small local producers and talented craftspeople we have in our midst. Please email Joanne on corkfoodandcraft@gmail.com if you are interested in getting a stall etc. The event is open to all food producers and crafts people.

Pig Feast at Shournagh Valley Farm

The weather was holding up last Saturday when we visited Shournagh Valley Farm where Ken& Frances Mitchell

showed us around their organic pig farm and allotments. It was windy but at least dry. Ken is rearing his own pigs and sells them to local businesses (Waterloo Inn Restaurant being one of them) and of course to Slowfood..... Ken is an all-rounder as there seems to be nothing he wouldn't put his mind or hands to it. He built the spit roast himself, having the heat coming from the sides rather than from beneath. He and Francis got up early that day to make sure that the pig will be ready, moist and succulent for the pig feast. Francis had the duty of basting the pig regularly and let's say, the pig was so succulent that people were bagging some leftovers to take home

The tour of the farm started at the pig run where he 'introduced' his 2 sows and the 'man'. He explained how he keeps them and seeing them being happy out and about and absolutely not shy at all, showed that this is pig farming as it should be.

To prove that he is a Jack of all Trades, he started to develop a wildlife pond at the bottom of his farm where he hopes to be able to farm some rainbow trout for his own consumption - a pity for all keen anglers (but I can see another Slowfood event coming up here). It looks already very idyllic and I can imagine how it will look in a few months time.

The tour lead us then to the allotments of the farm. There are currently 14 allotment holders but Ken & Francis still have room for more. It is not too late to start the allotments in May as garden centers offer already established plants that will make it easy to grow your own vegetables. Being part of an allotment group also means that you can learn from a combined experience and swap vegetables. The group also comes together to celebrate their harvest etc. Please contact Francis on shournaghvalleyallotments@live.ie if you are interested in becoming part of the allotment movement.

But of course, the highlight of the day was the pig feast at the end of the tour - the pig looked amazing on the spit and you could hear the crackling before you saw it. It took 2 people (thanks Terence for your help) to get the pig from the spit and everyone started to queue as everyone wanted some

of the crackling. Green salad from my own garden with homemade dressing (Terence - again thanks for the dressing)

a mushroom quiche, potato salad and 3 different breads - all homemade of course- completed a meal that could truly be
called a Feast. The homemade cider that Ken offered warmed us from the inside and we all watched the rain pouring down - we were nicely sheltered and enjoyed the company of like minded foodies.... enjoy the photos below and thank you to Ken & Francis for being amazing hosts and for a wonderful day at their farm.

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A day at the farm

Caroline & Eddie Robinson were our hosts last Sunday at their farm in Templemartin. We could not have asked for nicer more welcoming hosts - we even didn't bother about the wet weather.

We all were clever enough to have weatherproof clothing (I even bought new wellingtons) and after a short introduction to Caroline and Eddie's background, we started our tour. Eddie explained the tools and their uses and how to prepare the ground - he also gave great tips on how to make the hard work easier.

Caroline then took over and explained how to handle seeds and compost. She explained how to store, plant and take care of the seeds. She has a great setup and we all got great hints and tips. We then moved on to the polytunnels - although they were mostly empty it was easy to imagine how they look full of wonderful fragrant plants. Eddie is also very inventive when it comes to customize tools. Caroline explains how to plant the seedlings and how to take care of them.

Having our gardening minds excited, Eddie took us on a walk through the outdoor fields. He is a great believer of rotation the crop every year and leaving fields empty and cover them with clover to make sure that all the nutritions are returned to the earth.

We ended the day with a lovely cup of tea/coffee and some homemade cakes.

Thank you Caroline & Eddie for a wonderful day.

Blind Tasting in Augustine's

Brendan Cashman was our host yesterday in Augustine's for a fantastic blind food tasting. Our members and friends were treated to a 8 course tasting menu which they ate blindfolded. The idea behind tasting food blindfolded is simply to REALLY taste the food. Normally we eat more with our eyes than our other senses. Smell, texture and taste had to be combined to guess what was eaten. And it was amazing how right some people were and how wrong others....beef became boar, plum became a peach and pheasant became pork. One common 'sense' was that the food was simply outstanding. As I was 'overseeing' the event, I can ensure everyone that the food also looked simply amazing.

Frank, the restaurant manager, looked very well after us by being at hand to answer question about the food and wine. His knowledge about the food served was in depth and every question was answered.

The tasting menu sounds as mouthwatering as the food was....

1. Amouse Bouche - Gazpacho
2. Salmon tartare served with puy lentils and capers, topped with a quail egg
3. Pheasant Terrine with celeriac mash
4. White Vegetable soup with truffle
5. Beef Bourguignon served with wholegrain mustard mash
6. Ardsallagh Goats Cheese with grilled plum
7. Mixed Autumn Berry Mousse
8. Warm aromatic chocolate soup

Pay Augustine's a visit, it is worth it. Brendan had already a few visits from the Michelin inspectors....hopefully he will be able to bring a star to Cork. He very well deserves it.

Augustine's is in the Clarion Hotel at Lapp's Quay. Call for booking 021 4279375 or email augustinerestaurant@gmail.com