Euro-Toques winners
Irish traditional foods and the people who ensure we can still enjoy them were recipients this week of EirGrid Euro-Toques 2013 food awards. Winners included snap-net fisherman Mick Murphy and his wife Trisha (above), who has registered as a salmon buyer to maintain the family's supply chain to smokehouses and restaurants; apple grower and juice, cider and vinegar producer David Llewellyn; oat farmer Pat Lalor of Kilbeggan Organic Oats; organic duck farmer Mary Regan and William O'Callaghan of Longueville House Cider.
West-porto day
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Sol Rio restaurant in Westport, home of Ireland's best custard tart, or pasteis de nata, is celebrating Portugal day next Sunday, June 9th. Chef proprietor Jose Barroso and his wife Sinead Lambert will put on an all-day dining menu of specialities from his home country, including caldo verde, the tasty soup of cabbage, potatoes and sausage and frango piri pirr or spicy barbecue chicken. Barroso will have three Portuguese chefs helping out and the three-course menu will be on offer from noon to 8pm. Don't forget to try one of those amazing custard tarts. For reservations, tel: 098-28944.
Kilkenny cottage cafe
The pretty Co Kilkenny village of Inistioge attracts lots of visitors, and this summer there will be an added incentive to put it on your itinerary, with the opening of a cottage cafe, craft shop and gallery at Ballilogue Clochán, the boutique farmhouse in the district of The Rower/Inistioge. The cafe will be open weekends from June 1st to September 15th (1-6pm), serving homemade meals such as this courgette tart with roasted tomato coulis and garden leaves.
See ballilogueclochan.com.
Bangers deluxe
Sausage-maker supreme Jane Russell is launching a new range of bangers designed to be eaten at dinner rather than in the morning, at this weekend's Bloom festival. They're Irish pork sausages in three varieties: roast garlic and red wine; toasted fennel and chilli flake, and apple and Irish craft cider. The first two are gluten-free, and all are made by hand. "They have very little fat, not too much salt, and are filled into natural casings," Russell says. You'll find them at Naas farmers' market, Dunnes in Newbridge, Ardkeen Stores in Waterford, and many Dublin grocers including Liston's, Fallon & Byrne, Morton's, Caviston's and Nolan's (€4.95 for a pack of six).
