Hot Flavours: Savour Kilkenny, Soup 2, Mr. Croqueta, Wicklow Wolf

Following its enforced three-year break due to C*!id, Savour Kilkenny returns from October 28-31 with one of its tastiest line-ups yet.

Among the familiar faces taking part are Derry Clarke, Gráinne Mullins, Edward Hayden, Kevin Dundon, Catherine O’Keefe, Anne Neary and Kwanghi Chan who’ll be dipping into the Wok cookbook he has coming out next month courtesy of indie Dublin imprint Blasta. If their previous Tacos, Hot Fat and The United Nations Of Cookies tomes are anything to go by, it’s a must-have!

Add in a globe-straddling food market and large beer and cider tent and it’s all off to the Marble City! savourkilkenny.com.

If it’s food for thought you’re after, look no further than Small Fires: An Epic In The Kitchen, which finds Rebecca May Johnson “awakening us to the richness of cooking as a means of experiencing the self and the world – and to the revolutionary potential of the small fires burning in every kitchen.”

With Nigella Lawson and Olivia Laing among her champions, the essayist who formerly supplied The Observer with its brilliant Anonymous Waitress series is quite the culinary hot property at the moment. rebeccamayjohnson.com.

Hot Flavours spent a very pleasant afternoon scoffing noodles and other Asian delights in Soup 2, one of our favourite Dublin gastropubs, which resides at 47 North King Street, Smithfield.

After tucking away an impressively big bowl of Pork Satay Ramen – we also spotted Nori, spring onion, fermented red cabbage, pak choi, fennel and bean sprouts bobbing around in our broth – we got to ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ over the Kimchi Mussels cooked in Chili and Kimchi Sake with Chargrilled Bread & Garlic Oil and the Korean Fried Chicken with Gochujang & Sesame Mayo, which out manoeuvres Colonel Sanders in the finger-licking department.

They’re also big into their beers with the 6.5% Hopefully No Cars Coconut Sour the star of an impeccably curated list and the Wakanai – Gin with Oat Milk, Orange Blossom, Honey, Lemon & Citrus Tincture – among the reasons for cocktail fans to loiter there.

As Dublin prices become ever more Celtic Tiger-ish, it’s nice to see decent sized small plates from €6 and an excellent Spanish Macabeo for €26. soupramen.ie

 

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Wicklow Wolf has become Ireland’s first solar powered brewery with 107,000kWh of energy being produced every year by the panels covering its 17,000 square foot roof in Newtownmountkennedy.

As for what’s currently coming out of the WW tanks, we can heartily recommend the Toto Sorachi (ouch!) Italian Pils and the Decipher Tropical DIPA, which are the latest in their Endangered Species and in specialist pubs and offies near you now.

Finally, we’ve had a sneak preview of the two new Tony’s Chocolonely bars based on Ben & Jerry’s Strawberry Cheesecake and Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice creams and, wow, they’re amaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzzzzzing! The bad news is you’ll have to wait ‘til early 2023 to nibble them yourselves.

Tipple Of The Month

Lough Gill 4% Pain & Perfection

Since Hot Press got bitten by the craft beer big, Lough Gill in Sligo has earned more Tipple of the Fortnight/Month inclusions than any other Irish brewery. The reason for their latest inclusion is this lip smacking, thirst quenching, triple-hopped mango, passionfruit and guava pastry sour.

Bursting with real tropical fruit flavour as opposed to sugary gloop, it dances on your tongue before hitting the back of your mouth like a tidal wave. Use it instead of OJ in your brunchtime Mimosa and send us a ‘thank you’ note after.

Great Irish Things To Eat

Mr. Croqueta

That should technically be Great Spanish Irish Things To Eat, but we couldn’t fit it all in. Made with much love in Dublin by Daniel Fernandez, these breadcrumbed bundles of tapas joy are available in eight different flavours with the Spicy Chorizo, Prawns & Garlic and Spinach & Blue Cheese our triple-whammy of favourites. As well as supplying restaurants and shops and popping up at markets, you can order direct from mrcroquetaie.com/food-menu with a variety pack of 24 croquetas costing €28.50.

Read more food news in the current issue of Hot Press, out now.