Hot Flavours: Batch Bread Red, Jibrin, Plenary Indulgence Porter, Big Mamma and more

Following its dazzling comeback last year, the Dublin Beer Festival is taking place on September 12 and 13 in the Dublin RDS with Team Hop Press once again in the thick of the action.

Flying the Irish flag are – deep breath – Blacks, Brehon Brewhouse, Bullhouse, The Dewdrop Inn, Dungarvan, 8 Degrees, Falling Apple, Hope, Hopefully, Killarney, Legacy, Lineman, Lough Gill, O’Hara’s, Rascals, Rye River, Trouble, Urban, Wicklow and Wicklow Wolf.

And before you say it, yes, a couple of those are actually fine cider makers.

Making it a truly international affair are 2 Crows, Árpus, Bådin, Baxbier, Garrison, Hofbrauhaus Traunstein, Browerij Hoop Zaandijk, Horizont, Lone Pine, Mad Scientist, Mason’s, Moersleutel, Pinta, Portland Zoo and Vault City.

Add in the Blacks, Dingle and Micil distilleries , tasty food and equally tasty DJs and it’s going to be another D4 weekend to remember.

We’ll be talking to some of the overseas brewers and providing you with a full festival preview in our August issue.

In the meantime, head to dublinbeerfest.ie for those all-important tickets.

Also keep your tastebuds peeled for the Dublin Open Gate Brewery Batch Bread Red, which is on tap in thirteen Dublin 8 pubs until August 31 in celebration of this year’s Liberties Festival.

We’ve had a sneak preview and it’s delicious!

 

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If you’ve been perusing our Best Of Ireland special – available in all good bookshops now, people! – you’ll know that we love, love, love Cork’s award-winning Palestinian restaurant, Izz Café.

Well, the good news is that the couple behind it, Izzeddeen Alkarajeh ad Eman Aburabi, are having their Jibrin cookbook published on July 31 by Blasta!

As the Israeli Defence Forces continue to commit atrocities there, it’s a reminder of how rich Palestinian heritage and culture is and why, as it says in the book, we should be making hummus, not war.

The easy-to-follow recipes include one for Magloubeh, an upside down rice and chicken casserole dish which has mythic status back home.

We’re also loving the Nabulsi Kunafa, a syrupy, cheese-stuffed pastry cake which is deliciousness personified.

Recent Izz Café diners include Kneecap who visited to show solidarity with the Cork’s sizable Palestinian community.

If you can’t find Jibrin in your local bookshop, fear not, the blastabooks.com website will sort you out.

You can also bag yourself a limited-edition ‘Make Hummus, Not War’ print from the same address with profits going to World Central Kitchen to support their work providing meals in Gaza.

Having taken Milano by storm, Big Mamma is opening towards the end of the year at 42 Westmoreland Street, Dublin 2.

“After throwing open the doors to Gloria in Milan in 2023, we knew we had something special; an osteria paying tribute to the iconic Italian glamour of the ‘70s, where exceptional produce and a vibrant, groovy ambiance come together to create a truly memorable experience,” enthuses Co-Managing Director Enrico Pireddu. “We are now hugely excited to be bringing this charming yet elegant restaurant, with a menu of great Italian classics and creative twists, to a second major European city.”

Inspired by Dubai chocolate, Armagh’s Forest Feast have added Pistachio Crisp Milk Chocolate to their range of covered dates.

Available in Dunness stores nationwide at the start of September, there’s also a new Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate variety.

Tipple Of The Month:

Priory 4.3% Plenary Indulgence Porter
Brewed with six grains and much sought-after East Kent Goldings hops, this proudly old school drop of the black staff has yummy coffee aromas and hints of cocoa and caramel. It can now be sampled at source with the Priory Brewing Taproom part of the new seven-day-a-week Priory Market in Tallaght.

Along with their yummy beers, you can also feast on Bless Up’s Afro-Caribbean fare; El Milagro’s tacos, tostadas and tortillas which are definitely more Mex than Tex; Buongusto which brings the street food of Pescara to D24; Delhi2Dublin’s Indian grub; Zaira’s Lebanese cuisine; The Fiery Pit’s classic BBQ; Mamas Boys recreation of Vietnamese classics; Cafolla’s old school ice cream and a whole lot more! priorymarket.ie