Alex James was back in the news for musical reasons last week when Blur gave a live Twitter debut to two new songs, ‘Underneath The Westway’ and ‘The Partisan’, which suggest that a new album might finally be on its way.
On the foodie front, he’s just announced details of September 1 and 2’s The Big Feastival, which he’s running in conjunction with Jamie Oliver on his Cotswold farm.
Along with chef demos, classes, cook-offs, product launches and restaurant pop-ups, the musical fare will include Paloma Faith, Texas, Razorlight, Noisettes, Guillemots, Gaz Coombes, Sister Sledge, Producers and The Cuban Brothers. Day and weekend tickets priced £40 and £75 respectively are available from [link]http://www.jamieoliver.com/thebigfeastival[/link].
It wasn’t long ago that Tasty Tuesday shared a full Irish with Mr. James in the Merrion Hotel. So impressed was he with the Clonakilty Black Pud that he sent an assistant round to Dunne’s to buy five of ‘em to take back to Blighty with him. We have to say we were put off our coffee when Alex reminisced about the cappuccino made from his wife’s breast milk that he treated Gordon Ramsay to.
“Before Channel 4 would let him give it the F-Word taste test, it had to be pasteurised, checked for hepatitis and HIV and a disclaimer signed so that nobody connected with the show was liable if Gordon dropped dead,” Alex revealed in between sips of a rather more traditional latte. “We went to all that trouble, only for him to take one sip and spit it out! “I just thought, ‘What a waste of perfectly good breast milk.’ It’s sweeter, thicker, creamier and tastier than cow’s milk, which figures because if humans didn’t like breast milk we’d be fucked as a race. I probably wouldn’t be as keen on somebody else’s as I am my wife’s, but generally I’m a big fan.”
Unperturbed by ASDA removing most of his flavoured cheddars from their shelves recently – Tomato, Tikka Masala, Salad Cream and Ketchup among ‘em – the 43-year-old is currently working on a new cheese that he describes as “a real crowd-pleaser.”
“It’s curiously unsatisfying being in a successful rock band and getting everything you want,” he reflects. “Researching and making your own cheese, on the other hand, is as big a buzz as any drug I’ve tried. I was thinking of setting myself up as a brand expansion consultant – you couldn’t do hair care products with Michael Stipe, but how about a range of herbal teas? And I’d be the first in the supermarket queue for a Bono Banger. If he wants to talk sausages, I’m available.”
Over to you Mr. Hewson!

Cooking The Books

Tasty Tuesday’s life has been much enhanced by The Menu, a beautifully illustrated book full of up ‘til now secret recipes from the two Dunne & Crescenzi enoteche located a biscotti’s throw away from Trinity College at 16 Frederick Street, Dublin 2 and in Sandymount Village.
From a just-like-Mama-used-to-make lasagna to a sumptuous Stracotto di Agnello al Forno con Riduzione de Vino Vasso Rosso e Balsamico – that’s braised Lamb Shanks with Balsamic and Wine reduction to you! – everything in it is plate-scrapingly good.
This essential tome is available from both of the above addresses, Easons and [link]http://www.dunneandcrescenzi.com[/link].

TASTY TUESDAY'S TOP 10

1. Tasty Tuesday isn’t normally one to lavish €40 on a bottle of wine – we’re more your Buckfast types – but the Villa Rizzardi 2006 Amarone we picked up the other day from O’Brien’s in Ashbourne was worth every cent. If we were being pretentious, we’d say it has a blackberry attack, honey/balsamic middle and a liquorice finish. Not that it was a factor in us re-mortgaging our house to buy it, but this extremely cheeky Italian packs a hefty 16% ABV punch. Has anyone come across a stronger wine in Ireland?
2. Milkshakes? Schmilkshakes! The hottest summer cooler in town is Bubble Tea, a Taiwanese blend of tea, milk and chewy tapioca pearls which looks a bit like frogs spawn, but tastes divine. The first Bubblicity shop has just opened in Dublin 2’s Georges Street Arcade and is rarely to be found without a member of the Tasty Tuesday crew gracing its counters.
[link]http://www.facebook.com/Bubblicity[/link]
3. “Contains Sea Vegetables: A Superfood” proclaims the packaging on the Seafood Lasagne, Seafood Pie, Cottage Pie, Cannelloni and Beef & Porter Pie, which make up the new range of Kinsale Gourmet ‘freshly frozen’ meals. The sea veg in question is locally caught dillisk, which is 100% fat free and contains vitamins and minerals not present in its earthly counterparts. Most importantly, all the aforementioned dishes taste fabulous! [link]http://www.kinsalegourmet.ie[/link]
4. It’s a big “hello and can we have another please?” to 5.1% ABV Angel Stout, the first tipple to be produced by Cork’s Elbow Lane microbrewery. Designed to be drunk with robust dishes like curry – Cobra and Kingfisher finally have an Irish rival – it’s soon to be joined by Wisdom Ale and Elbow Lager. See [link]http://www.elbowlane.ie[/link] for a list of stockists.
5. A double Tasty Tuesday ‘thumbs up’ to the Belfast Bred Walking Tour, which introduces you to Barney, a chef from the RMS Titanic who defrosted after 99 years frozen in an iceberg has just two-and-a-half hours to find the ingredients necessary to recreate the famous vessel’s launch banquet. A clever premise, which takes you and your tastebuds to Sawers’ Deli, Mourne Seafood Bar, John Hewitt Public House, Nick’s Warehouse and McHugh’s Bar & Steakhouse where free samples await. Finishing with a visit to St. George’s Market, tours depart Sawyers’ every Friday and Saturday at 10.15am up until September 3 and cost a bargain €20. See [link]http://www.greatbelfastfood.com/whats_on.aspx[/link] for details.
6. Benoit Lorge, Darina Allen, Martijn Kajuiter, Wade Murphy and Maura Foley are among the well-known participants in the inaugural Kenmare Food Carnival, which runs in The Kingdom from July 13 to 15. There’s also a full menu of music, with Mundy the main course on the Saturday night. [link]http://kenmarefoodcarnival.com[/link]
7. Salamanca, Salamanca Fusion, Havana and The Market Bar are the stop-offs on the Campo Viejo Tapas Trail, which takes place every Wednesday and Sunday in the capital up until August 19. For a knockdown €20 you get to sample three tapas and a paired glass of wine in each. http://www.campoviejotapastrail.ie
8. [link]http://www.tazzadorocoffeeshop.com[/link] Reckoned by @italianfoodie to be the #1 place in Rome for coffee and she’s rarely wrong!
9. Our condiments (ouch!) to Edel Cooney whose Sea, Herb, Chili, Garlic and Sweet & Smoky salts taste as good as the mills look. You’ll also find a tonne of recipes at [link]http://www.simplee.ie/wp[/link]
10. “Bangladeshi street food meets Irish craft beers” is the deal on July 12 as Tom Doorley selects the tipples to go with Sarajtt Chanda’s inspired cooking at Fuchsia House in Ardee. Tickets are €50, advance booking essential. Sarajtt and his wife Sarah are also the people behind the Dragon’s Den-endorsed range of Aruna Sauces.
[link]http://fuchsiahouse.ie/fuchsia-house/tomdoorley[/link]

CHEESY DOES IT

Having started last week with the delicious Brie-like gooeyness of Cooleeney our quest to assemble the ultimate Irish cheeseboard continues with Bluebells Falls Cygnus, a tangy soft goats cheese handmade by the Keane family on their Ballynacally, County Clare farm. See [link]http://www.bluebellfalls.ie[/link] for a list of stockists or order online – a 500g Cygnus log is €12.50 and perfect for freezing.

THE REAL DEAL

In what you suspect might become a bit of a culinary craze, Kevin Thornton has created a “limited-edition” main dish for Camile, the Thai takeaway with outlets in Rathmines, Phibsboro and Dun Laoghaire.
Inspired by his travels in Mae Chan, it comprises chicken marinated in ginger, lemon grass, garlic, chilli, spices and citrus zest, stir-fried vegetables and fresh herbs, all served on a bed of noodles.
Despite his reputation for grandiose Michelin-starred fare, Kevin is a big street food fan, with San Sebastian another of his favourite ‘haute cuisine living on a backpacker’s budget’ hangouts.
The dish won’t be available to the public until Monday July 16, but Tasty Tuesday was lucky enough to get a sneak preview – it’s a hell of a job we have – and can report that Kevin has done himself and Camile proud. [link]http://www.camile.ie[/link]

DON’T WORRY BE HOPPY

Like all love affairs it started in the pub. “There’s this bloke in Donegal who’s gone from homebrew to making slightly bigger batches which he’s bottling and selling,” we were informed by the nice young man in The Black Sheep, the Capel Street, Dublin 1 pub renowned for its telephone directory-esque beer-list. “This bloke” turns out to be Rick LeVert, owner of the “more nano than micro” Kinnegar Brewing, which is named after a beach just north of Rathmullan. Kinnegar means “burren” in Irish, hence the rabbit on the labels.
Their 4.9% ABV Limeburner Northern Pale Ale, 5.3% Scraggy Bay India Pale Ale and Devil’s Backbone Northern Amber Ale, another 4.9%-er, have quickly developed a cult following and understandably so.
“You’d have to call me a beery pilgrim to these shores,” Rick tells Tasty Tuesday. “I’m originally from the Northeastern US and made my way to Donegal about 10 years ago via-stints before that in Berlin and Dublin. Libby Carton, my wife and bottling manager, however is a Donegal woman.
“As we mention on our website, Kinnegar Brewing is currently in a test phase. We're awaiting planning approval for a new production facility, but in the meantime are using a pilot system to develop new recipes and brew in small batches. Like many in the current wave of craft brewers, we started with homebrewing, and then honed our knowledge and skills with stints at
the University of California, Davis, and the Versuchs-und Lehranstalt
für Brauerei (VLB) in Berlin.”
Gun to head, we’d choose the Devil’s Backbone, with its hint of chocolate and caramel-y nose, as our desert island beer, but they’re all good and suggest that Kinnegar will soon be leaving nano-dom behind them.
Stocking this most holy of triumvirates locally are Rathmullan House Hotel, the nearby White Harte pub, the Mill Restaurant in Dunfanaghy, Logue’s Pub in Carrigart, and the Red Door in Fahan. The bottles that get sent up to the Black Sheep disappear almost overnight, so keep an eye on @blacksheepdub for news of their arrival. [link]http://kinnegarbrewing.com[/link]

UP THE AISLE

Call a day of national celebration! Those stars of many a music festival, Pieminister, have made their way into Dunne’s and Tesco (270g, €3.99). While fond of the Beef Moo, Chicken Of Aragon, Pietanic and Matador varieties, it’s the sweet potato and mature goats cheese Heidi pie that Tasty Tuesday is planning to enter into civil partnership with as soon as our archaic laws catch up. My 85-year-old Mum, who’s to pastry-making what Usain Bolt is to getting a move on, reckons they’re as good as homemade.
Add mash, mushy peas and gravy and you’re talking foodie orgasm!
DIY fans can pick up their equally sexy A Pie For All Seasons cookbook from [link]http://www.pieminister.co.uk[/link]

COMING ATTRACTIONS

El Bulli may, sob, have closed but you can get a big screen taste of the culinary alchemy it used to perform courtesy of a new film, which opens on July 27 in Dublin’s Lighthouse Cinema.
El Bulli: Cooking In Progress finds the Iniesta/Fábregas/Alonso/Silva of Spanish cooking, Ferran Adriá, Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Eugeni de Diego, hard at work in both their restaurant and the experimental Barcelona kitchen they used to hole up in every spring working on ever more outlandish dishes.
What’s noticeable is that three star Michelin man or not, Adriá is as unpretentious as they come and keen for his cooking to be sampled by as broad a range of people as possible.

We shouldn’t laugh but we did, heartily, at the misfortune befalling this American wine shop employee.

“Tales from the spare room” and lots more beery chat at [link]http://www.homebrewindonegal.blogspot.ie[/link]

Tasty Tuesday hasn’t drunk a Starbucks or Insomnia coffee since investing in a Nespresso, but might consider going back if they take on board what [link]http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Sectors/Pubs-Bars/How-to-improve-restaurant-coffee-Consistency-quality-and-training[/link] has to say.
If you’ve sampled a particularly good non-chain coffee recently, let us know where!

And that’s where we have to sling our serviette for this week. All thoughts, foodie news, recipes and virtual yumminess for the next Tasty Tuesday can be zapped to [email protected].

Tasty Tuesday Back Issues

[link]http://www.hotpress.com/archive/8991524.html[/link]