Neven going north to bring home the(Black) bacon
We’re unashamed fans of our Neven’s television programmes here at Irish Country Living and we’re delighted to see him back on screens this September. Neven’s Ulster Food Tour is a new six part series and it will be starting on RTÉ 1 at 8pm on Wednesday 3 September. Never a man to miss an opportunity to chat, he’s going to be travelling all over the province meeting food producers, cooks, chefs and bakers and exploring the different flavours of Ulster.
We hear that he’s going to be doing some extra activities while on tour, just to balance out all that food. Neven’s off to check out a hovercraft obstacle course, visit George Best’s childhood home in Belfast and take a - rather wobbly - stroll across the famous Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, which sways 30 metres above the sea near Ballintoy on the Causeway Coastal Route. While Neven is out and about for this series, it’s all rooted back at Blacklion, the Co Cavan base where his MacNean House & Restaurant is located: each programme will have him coming home to cook something inspired by his travels.
Exchange the gloom for inspiration
I’m really intrigued by the idea of Field Exchange, a three-day festival bringing agriculture and creativity together in the beautiful surroundings of Brookfield Farm in Co Tipperary. Having seen Brookfield farmer, beekeeper and educator Ailbhe Gerrard speak about the future of farming – she started out in 2010 with 30 hectares of neglected land on the shores of Lough Derg and has turned it into a busy, diverse and very productive space – it’s something I’d like to learn more about. Sometimes there’s a lot of gloom and doom in the farming world. I’m taking Field Exchange as an opportunity to look at things in a new light, meet people doing things differently and get some inspiration. We’re all trying to do our bit by being more sustainable on the farm but there’s still so much more to learn. I need hope and empowerment, rather than finger wagging. Farm Exchange is taking place on 5, 6 and 7 September, with student discounts available. See brookfield.farm.
Field Exchange. Ailbhe Gerrard welcome at Celebratory Dinner. \ Dan Harvey
A dinner worth staying up late for
While the idea of staying up until 9pm for dinner will have many of us exhausted – if you’ve been somewhere like Spain on summer holidays, you might have become more, ahem, European in your meal times. Now, before you head to the chipper, we’re not talking a post-pub spice bag or kebab but something altogether more sophisticated. The plant-based, gluten free Glas restaurant in Dublin is offering a late bird menu (two courses for €32/three courses for €36) on Friday and Saturday nights between 9pm and 9.30pm. With dishes like roast summer squash and fennel mole or spiced cauliflower with black garlic cream, that’s a late-night deal that’s hard to beat. They even have a baked cheesecake and patatas bravas if you feel like prolonging that summer holiday vibe. See glasrestaurant.ie.
Glas restaurant.
New food resolutions
Have you come across the saying that September is the new New Year? It’s not just for parents – although we all love the extra headspace that we get when the kids go back to school – but the seasonal shift in weather gives everyone new energy. It’s the ideal time for new resolutions. If one of those happens to be learning more about the food you eat, Galway-based social enterprise Hinterland can help with that. Led by a dream team – Michelin-starred chef Enda McEvoy, Fergal Anderson, founder of Leaf & Root Farm, and producer Claire Davey (formerly of America Village Apothecary) – Hinterland celebrates food, people and place. This dynamic trio are inviting you to pull on your wellies and join their The Living Table workshops at Leaf & Root Farm this autumn for a day of nature walks, hands-on fermentation, seed saving and a shared seasonal feast. Dates are 21 September or 5 October and tickets priced €120 are available from hinterlandwest.ie.
José is rocking up to the Antrim coast
It’s not often I get a chance to switch on the telly on a weekend morning, but I’ll definitely tune into BBC’s Saturday Kitchen or Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch where ebullient Spanish chef José Pizarro is making an appearance. He’s on tour with his lovely new cookbook– The Spanish Pantry – and bringing it to the
Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland for one night. With six restaurants in London and one in Abu Dhabi, José is a busy man so it’s going to be a real treat to see him teaming up with Eldon’s restaurant at Elephant Rock Boutique Hotel on Friday 26 September. Like all the best people, José has a farming background. He grew up on the family farm near Talaván in central-western Spain. Tickets (£100), including a four-course tasting menu, a signed copy of the book and a Q&A with NI chef and Irish Food Writing Guild Chair, Paula McIntyre, are being gobbled up. See elephantrockhotel.co.uk.
Jose Pizarro x Elephant Rock.
Neven going north to bring home the(Black) bacon
We’re unashamed fans of our Neven’s television programmes here at Irish Country Living and we’re delighted to see him back on screens this September. Neven’s Ulster Food Tour is a new six part series and it will be starting on RTÉ 1 at 8pm on Wednesday 3 September. Never a man to miss an opportunity to chat, he’s going to be travelling all over the province meeting food producers, cooks, chefs and bakers and exploring the different flavours of Ulster.
We hear that he’s going to be doing some extra activities while on tour, just to balance out all that food. Neven’s off to check out a hovercraft obstacle course, visit George Best’s childhood home in Belfast and take a - rather wobbly - stroll across the famous Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, which sways 30 metres above the sea near Ballintoy on the Causeway Coastal Route. While Neven is out and about for this series, it’s all rooted back at Blacklion, the Co Cavan base where his MacNean House & Restaurant is located: each programme will have him coming home to cook something inspired by his travels.
Exchange the gloom for inspiration
I’m really intrigued by the idea of Field Exchange, a three-day festival bringing agriculture and creativity together in the beautiful surroundings of Brookfield Farm in Co Tipperary. Having seen Brookfield farmer, beekeeper and educator Ailbhe Gerrard speak about the future of farming – she started out in 2010 with 30 hectares of neglected land on the shores of Lough Derg and has turned it into a busy, diverse and very productive space – it’s something I’d like to learn more about. Sometimes there’s a lot of gloom and doom in the farming world. I’m taking Field Exchange as an opportunity to look at things in a new light, meet people doing things differently and get some inspiration. We’re all trying to do our bit by being more sustainable on the farm but there’s still so much more to learn. I need hope and empowerment, rather than finger wagging. Farm Exchange is taking place on 5, 6 and 7 September, with student discounts available. See brookfield.farm.
Field Exchange. Ailbhe Gerrard welcome at Celebratory Dinner. \ Dan Harvey
A dinner worth staying up late for
While the idea of staying up until 9pm for dinner will have many of us exhausted – if you’ve been somewhere like Spain on summer holidays, you might have become more, ahem, European in your meal times. Now, before you head to the chipper, we’re not talking a post-pub spice bag or kebab but something altogether more sophisticated. The plant-based, gluten free Glas restaurant in Dublin is offering a late bird menu (two courses for €32/three courses for €36) on Friday and Saturday nights between 9pm and 9.30pm. With dishes like roast summer squash and fennel mole or spiced cauliflower with black garlic cream, that’s a late-night deal that’s hard to beat. They even have a baked cheesecake and patatas bravas if you feel like prolonging that summer holiday vibe. See glasrestaurant.ie.
Glas restaurant.
New food resolutions
Have you come across the saying that September is the new New Year? It’s not just for parents – although we all love the extra headspace that we get when the kids go back to school – but the seasonal shift in weather gives everyone new energy. It’s the ideal time for new resolutions. If one of those happens to be learning more about the food you eat, Galway-based social enterprise Hinterland can help with that. Led by a dream team – Michelin-starred chef Enda McEvoy, Fergal Anderson, founder of Leaf & Root Farm, and producer Claire Davey (formerly of America Village Apothecary) – Hinterland celebrates food, people and place. This dynamic trio are inviting you to pull on your wellies and join their The Living Table workshops at Leaf & Root Farm this autumn for a day of nature walks, hands-on fermentation, seed saving and a shared seasonal feast. Dates are 21 September or 5 October and tickets priced €120 are available from hinterlandwest.ie.
José is rocking up to the Antrim coast
It’s not often I get a chance to switch on the telly on a weekend morning, but I’ll definitely tune into BBC’s Saturday Kitchen or Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch where ebullient Spanish chef José Pizarro is making an appearance. He’s on tour with his lovely new cookbook– The Spanish Pantry – and bringing it to the
Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland for one night. With six restaurants in London and one in Abu Dhabi, José is a busy man so it’s going to be a real treat to see him teaming up with Eldon’s restaurant at Elephant Rock Boutique Hotel on Friday 26 September. Like all the best people, José has a farming background. He grew up on the family farm near Talaván in central-western Spain. Tickets (£100), including a four-course tasting menu, a signed copy of the book and a Q&A with NI chef and Irish Food Writing Guild Chair, Paula McIntyre, are being gobbled up. See elephantrockhotel.co.uk.
Jose Pizarro x Elephant Rock.
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