Tasty Tuesday!

If ever there was an Irish foodie visionary it’s David Llewellyn – we’ve checked the spelling twice – a UCD graduate who started growing apples in 1999. A range of quality ciders and vinegars quickly followed with David making his retail bow at the then covered Meeting House Square Market in Temple Bar where he’s still a regular. Things got really interesting in 2002 when he planted his own vineyard, which now produces a Cabernet/Merlot, Cuvee Number 1, Rondo and Sauvignon Blanc. Yields vary with some vintages running to just 80 bottles, others topping the 200 mark.
A man who doesn’t mind sharing the tricks of his trade, David is running cider-making courses in the autumn which should be applied for now, and if you fancy turning winemaker yourself has vines for sale that are hardy/stupid enough to put up with our weather. We’ll let you know when the Tasty Tuesday Trebbiano is ready to roll. [link]http://www.llewellynsorchard.ie[/link]
 

Irish Wine from Philip Bromwell, VJ on Vimeo.

 
 
 
TASTY TUESDAY’S TOP 10
 
1. Ruby red sweet gooseberries. Yet to appear in Ireland – unless you know otherwise! – but the height of fruity fashionability in South East England.
2. Other things over there that we want over here – Jeremiah Weed 4% ABV Root Brew, Tangy Apple Crisps, Jamaican Jerk Chicken Patties, Taste #5 Unami Paste and food trucks like London’s Dogfather Diner Hot Dogs. Gaps in the market just waiting to be filled by canny importers.
3. Teams of five are invited to take part in the Culinary Quiz 2012, which takes place on July 24 in Dublin’s Sugar Club. It’s €50 per team with proceeds going to the Gardens for Africa initiative. [link]http://slowfooddublin.ticketbud.com/culinary-quiz-2012[/link]
4. Impress and/or frighten your guests with the very fine Spinning Hat brand Origami Napkins available from Tower Records, Wicklow Street, Dublin 2. €6.99 for a packet of 40.[link]http://www.spinninghat.com/product/origami-napkins[/link]
5. This weekend finds Tasty Tuesday heading to Newbridge House & Farm in Donabate for the inaugural Flavours Of Fingal festival. Along with food demos, stalls and pop-ups, there’s live music, face painting and loads more family-oriented fun. Kick-off each day is 11am with tickets €12. [link]http://www.flavoursoffingal.ie[/link]
6. Four starters, four mains and whatever they’ve rustled up that day for pud. There are flasher Italian eateries in Dublin, but none that match La Terra Madre at 13A Bachelor’s Walk for charm and authenticity. The boys in the basement are all from Puglia, so expect regional treats like Gnocchi with Rabbit Ragu and Caper Sprout Bruschetta, and wines you won’t find anywhere else in the capital. It’s a tiny space, so get there early.
7. Pork cheek. Having spent almost 50 years in sausage exile, this wonderful cut has started to reappear on restaurant menus and butchers’ slabs nationwide. Slow-cooked, it’s like a piggy version of oxtail – rich, unctuous and melt in the mouth tender.
8. Coreana. A new – well, to us – Korean supermarket on the wonderfully named Little Britain Street, Dublin 1. You get a 16-piece Dim Sum mix for €4.20 and a little bow when you pay! [link]http://www.coreana-online.com[/link]
9. Decent Romanian fare has been hard to find in the capital since, sob, Transylvania closed, but La Nea Marin at 101 Upper Dorset Street, D1 is a little gem. Daily specials include stufat, a heavy on the garlic lamb stew.
10. Sampled as we passed through Gatwick t’other morning, Nuvo is a French 25% ABV premium vodka/sparkling wine combination, which includes T Pain, Pusha T and Lloyd Banks among its hip hop endorsees. We were expecting it to be a bit icky but, nope, our tastebuds were suitably tantalised.
 

 

 
 

 
Me, My Shelf & I
 
Rozanne Stevens
 
First thing you rustled up on your own as a kid? Vanilla ice cream & banana muffins. Now I loathe muffins! Pseudo cake without the icing, stop pretending!
 
Failsafe dish? Creamy tarragon chicken with ginger sweet potato mash & Chinese 5 Spiced greens. Great combo, always a winner.
 
Store-cupboard essentials? Cambodian peppercorns, tinned tomatoes, variety of mustards, quinoa, chickpeas, harissa paste, Chinese 5 Spice, dried thyme, chutney, cider and balsamic vinegars
 
What's been lurking in there unused the longest? A packet of Ryvita!
 
Favourite places to food shop? I love the Asia Market on Drury Street, Fallon & Byrne, small veg shops and Pat Whelan's butcher in Avoca Monkstown
 
Cheeses of choice? I’m obsessed with St. Tola's Goats' Cheese, Bellingham Blue, Toons Buffalo Mozzarella and Mossfield Cumin cheese. Am a judge at the Irish Cheese Awards this year!
 
Tipples of choice? I love bubbles of any sort, especially champagne and prosecco. Huge fan of Pimm’s in the summer. Enjoying Longueville House Cider from Cork at the moment. Savouring my last bottle of homemade sloe gin – pink, syrupy and delish!
 
Guilty food pleasure? I love Laughing Cow cheese wedges melted into scrambled eggs! With ketchup on top.
 
Can't do without cookbook? I swear by Delia Smith and Myrtle Allen, legends.
 
Anything to declare? I eat caramel out of the tin, coat my chicken goujons in crushed nachos, add port to my Spag Bol and love Bovril and cheese on toast!
 
Rozanne Stevens is Friday’s featured chef on Today With Pat Kenny; writes for The Irish Independent and is Head Tutor at Cooks Academy in Dun Laoghaire.[link]http://rozannestevens.com[/link]
 

 
CHEESY DOES IT
 
Having already selected a gooey Cooleeney Brie and the tang-tastic Bluebell Fall goats’ cheese, our pursuit of the ultimate Irish cheese board continues with Coolattin, a Shillelagh, County Wicklow mature Cheddar, which packs a powerful nutty punch. Tasty Tuesday has it with Hovis digestive biscuits – spot the Brit! – and a smidge of Mrs. C’s homemade plumb chutney. Available from Fallon & Byrne, Avoca Handweavers, Lilliput Stores in Drumcondra, Ward’s in Tullow and [link]http://coolattincheddar.com[/link]
 
THE REAL DEAL
 
Tasty Tuesday caught wind a few months ago of fishy goings-on at The Cliff Town House on Stephen’s Green and, sure enough, head chef Sean Smith has just unveiled a new menu featuring lots of things that started the day splashing around in either the Atlantic or the Irish Sea. The Grilled Lobster they had on special recently was as sumptuous a piece of seafood as we’ve had in the capital and at €25 a veritable snip. In case you’re wondering, yes, we did think of Mr. Pinchy in The Simpsons: “No more pain where you are now, boy… Pass the butter. Oh, god, that's tasty! I wish Pinchy was here to enjoy this... Oh, Pinchy...”
Despite having serious Michelin-star aspirations – the parent Cliff House Hotel in Ardmore already has theirs in the bag – they’re currently offering two pre-theatre courses for €19.50 which include a fabulous Crab Cocktail starter and equally swoonsome Warrenpoint Cod & Chips.
Adventurous wine buffs should have a quaff of the Sokol Blosser Evolution 15th Edition from Portland, Oregon and a Le Clos Jordanne Pinot Noir Village Reserve that comes all the way from the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Stephens Green, Dublin 2. Tel. (01) 638 3939. [link]http://theclifftownhouse.com[/link] [link]http://www.leclosjordanne.com/en/wine/village.asp[/link]
 
UP THE AISLE
 
Tasty Tuesday normally spurns supermarket chickens like other people spurn rabid dogs, but the corn-fed Manor Farm birds currently on offer at SuperValue (1.2 kg, €5) are top notch. Indeed if we meet the Clontibret, County Monaghan farmer who reared them, Nigel Renaghan, we’ll buy him a half of shandy.
 
DON’T WORRY BE HOPPY
 
Having originally only been available in their own pubs, The Porterhouse’s microbrews are turning up in more and more bars, offies and – hurrah again for them – SuperValu. The pick of a very fine bunch is the 4.4% ABV Porterhouse Red Ale, a tea coloured brew with big fruit and nut flavours.
A very tame review compared to the death metal one below courtesy of the mighty Tuvar.
 

 
 
.COMING ATTRACTIONS
 
Move over Ed Hicks, Mr. Bacon’s Bacon Flavored Toothpaste has outflanked your delicious Bacon Jam.
Meanwhile, Tasty Tuesday’s Chicken Murgh Masala deodorant remains at the
development stage.
 [link]http://foodbeast.com/content/2011/02/13/bacon-flavored-toothpaste[/link]
 
One of the southern States’ fastest growing food franchises is Cheba Hut, a marijuana-themed, ahem, joint whose “toasted” sandwiches come in Majik Mushroom, Silver Haze, Griefo, Chronic, Train Wreck, Skunk, Chronic and Acapulco Gold varieties. They’ve even developed their own hemp cream cheese as part of their battle to beat the munchies.[link]http://chebahut.com[/link]
 

 
Alt. rock legends Grandaddy are en route in August to Stradbally for this year’s Electric Picnic blowout. Here’s what happened a few years back when they gave our man Stuart Clark a Mexican fajita masterclass.
 [link]http://www.hotpress.com/archive/1467175.html[/link]
 
On which super spicy note – never before or since have so many jalapeno peppers been assembled in the one place – Tasty Tuesday must take its leave of you for another week.
Any foodie thoughts, ideas, recommendations and complaints can be sent to [email protected]
 
Tasty Tuesday back-issues can be found at:
[link]http://www.hotpress.com/archive/8993144.html[/link]
[link]http://www.hotpress.com/archive/8991524.html[/link]