Hot Flavours: Taste of Dublin, Blanco Niño, Forest Feast and more

If it’s a summer beach page-turner you’re after, look no further than How Korean Corn Dogs Changed My Life: Finding Love, Fame And Myself by English vlogger-turned writer Alice Amelia.

“Aged 21, fuelled by a love of K-dramas and a need to find herself, Alice moves to Seoul,” reads the blurb. “She knows no-one in her adopted country, doesn’t speak the language and hasn’t tried kimchi, let alone grilled cow intestines or Korean corn dogs.

“Desperate to follow her dream Alice becomes everything she wasn’t in England; adding spicy gochujang sauce to every meal, dating hot Korean models and even injecting salmon sperm into her eye bags.”

We’re not down with the salmon sperm side of things but otherwise it’s a cracking, gastronomically-inclined read…

Taste of Dublin returns from June 11-14 in Merrion Square with a lineup that reflects the diversity of eating out in the city at the moment.

Making their Taste bow are IBILE, a pop-up dedicated to showcasing the vibrant tastes of West Africa (think Grilled Goat with Fermented Rice Cake and Fried Pepper Stew); Achara which specialises in contemporary Thai cooking (we love the Crab Fried Rice); Rei Momo, a Brazilian street food joint (the Bone-In Pork Chop with Pineapple and Lemon Balm is awesome); and Daata whose menu straddles the Indian/Pakistani border (the Famous Afghani Chicken lives up to the billing).

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Eyebrows were raised in 2020 when Tipperary foodie Phil Martin announced that, using an ancient Aztec recipe, he was going to start making his own corn tortillas and tortilla chips.

Fast forward six years and his Blanco Niño brand is now a huge hit on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Hitting shelves shortly will be their new Meaty Asado chips, which we’re told “draw on an open-fire barbecue technique where meat and vegetables are grilled over flame on a charcoal grill to develop a deep, smoky richness.

“Here, asado is more than a cooking method, it is a celebration of community, flavour and togetherness, where people gather around the fire and share stories.”

Another Hot Flavours fave who have our British neighbours salivating are Forest Feast, the artisan Norn Iron confectioners whose latest Matcha Chocolate Almond treats are obscenely good. Ditto their Dark Chocolate Sour Cherries.