Corinna Dunne

And, just adding to the thread... another portable souvenir from Ireland is beer from microbreweries as well as Guinness.

Hmmm... you've got me there. I will try and find out for you as there must be many (the National College of Art and Design in Dublin runs an exceptionally good degree course in craft which includes ceramics). There is a potter's studio in the grounds of Marlay Park, Dublin (which hosts a Farmeres' Market on Saturdays), but I'm not sure that I'd describe the work as contemporary. I'll have a look when I'm there next and ask for a few recommendations... especially on teapots!

I also love this combination. It is particularly good on a warm goat's cheese salad with a few toasted walnuts. Hazelnut has an even nuttier taste and is wonderful too. And for a more Japanese slant, sesame seed oil works very well in a salad, particularly with beansprouts and a julienne of vegetables.

I don't have the book you're referring to, but I have a suggestion. If you are using heavy cream instead of buttermilk, your recipe may have specified cream of tartar to use with the bread soda (this is basically the acid / alkaline composition of baking powder). Use 2 parts of cream of tartar to 1 part of bread soda. Soda bread is not traditionally made with cream, although I clearly remember making it as a child, with a slick of unpasteurised, sour cream, at the big farmhouse table in my godmother's house. Those were the days!

Welcome to the Forum Kieran... great to have someone from your end of the country. Annascaul pudding is so good isn't it?

You might enjoy a trip to Villefranche-sur-Mer, just beyond Nice. This is a beautiful little port with some lovely restaurants. La Mere Germaine is particularly good for fish, and further up across the street is Carpaccio, which has an Italian influence. I think it’s a beautiful spot. In Nice, there are some very good fish restaurants with outdoor seating in the pedestrian zone. I really like Boccaccio, which does eye-wateringly fresh assiette de fruits de mer, wonderful sea bass (loup de mer) in a salt crust, St Pierre and many others. The medieval (and touristy) town of St Paul de Vence up the hill is well worth a visit, but is not a great place for eating, with the exception of La Colombe d’Or which is on the expensive side of things. The same goes for Eze which is beautiful to visit, but realistically, only provides top end eating in La Chevre d’Or and Chateau Eza. Cap d’Antibes is stunning and probably one of the most expensive spots with the wonderful and dramatically positioned Eden Roc restaurant perched on the coast, but in Antibes itself, there are loads of little restaurants with menus pinned outside. I’ve tried quite a few on spec, but can’t recall any of the names. However, down by the water, just beyond the Musee Picasso, is Les Vieux Murs, which although a bit more formal, has some good prix fixe menus. I had some excellent bouillabaisse there, but I imagine you will be having plenty of that in Marseilles! Further on into Cannes, there is a nice little restaurant called L’Assiette in the old part of the town (signposted Le Suquet) and Machou is also a wonderful place for its crudités with bagna cauda and superb grilled meat, but a bit more expensive. As a rule of thumb in Cannes, the further in from the Croisette, the better the price. In case you are looking for markets, there is a wonderful one near this area in Cannes (behind the town hall), which is groaning with fresh produce, charcuterie, meat and cheese; all the fixings you’ll need for a great picnic. There is a market in Nice too, but I'm not as familiar with it. Wines to try are Bandol Rose and, for a treat, Domaines Ott Clos Mireille, with its distinctive asymmetric yellow label Further on up the coast, to Mandelieu La Napoule, things are a little bit quieter and there are some lovely little restaurants. You can get a fair gauge just by looking at the menus, and there are some very reasonable places. If you are interested in pottery, it is well worth taking a trip about a mile in-land from Juan-Les-Pins to Vallauris, where just about every shop sells hand thrown, earthenware salad bowls, soup bowls, serving plates… you name it. Picasso put this little town back on the map when he went there to do some ceramic work. In fact, if you are anyway interested in art, you will have an incredible time visiting the various museums along this stretch of the south. Have a wonderful time, and I’d love to hear how you get on.

Corinna or anyone else, can you explain this system a little more, please? ← Actually Corinna - speaking of strange - the only thing that kept me from shrugging my "porter" off as someone running a scam is, in the same sentence, he said the words "Chicago" and "Kentucky" to me without me saying a word to him about me. So I stopped and thought for a second and assumed it must be that I was supposed to let this person help me - and I'm glad I did. ← Great explanation Nathan. Believe me, it's all very vague in my mind at this stage. It was called Bombay when I was there! I know the porters take their cut on things, but this is fair enough, and they quickly realised that I was an inveterate haggler and cut to the chase on prices. I was briefly in Karachi on another occasion, and probably would not have been too safe as a female if I hadn't recruited a porter.

A bit more information on Irish raw milk cheeses... Bill Hogan’s Gabriel and Desmond cheeses can be found on the Slow Food website. But as you probably know, there are issues with bringing cheese, (particularly unpasteurised cheese), into the US. And a bit on Irish smoked salmon. A few years ago, some leading members of Slow Food Ireland held an Irish smoked wild salmon tasting, featuring the four major producers, and below is a brief summary of their findings. Ummera Smokehouse (Anthony Creswell) The salmon here is brined rather than dry-salted; raw cane sugar is added to the kiln, and the fish is smoked with oak in a variant of the Torry kiln. Peachy in colour; the texture is soft, the smoke aroma is faint, and the taste is “sweet, mild and buttery” with a long after taste. Woodcock Smokery (Sally Barnes) This salmon is dry-salted, and again, uses oak wood for smoking in a variant of the Torry kiln. The fish has a pale, coral-orange colour, the aroma is faintly oak-smoked with floral top notes, and the texture is more “meaty and tight-knit, yet soft in the mouth”. It has “a suggestion of whiskey cask” with a smooth melted butter taste, and a long elegant finish. Dunn’s of Dublin (Peter Dunn) The dry salted process, with oak smoking in a variant of the Tory kiln is used here too, but this salmon has a more pronounced smoky aroma. Shiny, orangey in colour, and darkening at the edges; this fish has a firm, dry texture that yields well in the mouth. The taste is slightly nutty with “a vaguely asparagus-like green note” and a touch of lemon zest. Belvelly Smokehouse (Frank Hederman) The fish here is dry-salted, and smoked with beech in a hand built smokehouse. It is dark orange in colour, with pronounced smoke aromas and a “beech wood sweetness”. The texture is creamy with a firm resistance and the mineral-rich taste yields to woodland notes with “a hint of tar from the smoking method”. There are other smaller producers too. Every Christmas, a friend of mine gives me a present of smoked wild salmon from a tiny producer in Annasgaul (on the Dingle Pennisula and also famous for Annasagaul black pudding), which is wonderful, so there are many more options. And if you’re really interested, and have a bit of time on your hands, the full text of the Irish Smoked Wild Atlantic Salmon Presidium Protocol can be found here.

I love your photos, the way you capture the mystical light in India, and in particular, the shots of the market in Mumbai which bring back such wonderful memories. It is bizarre, because I was just talking about this market last night. It is quite dramatic the way everything is stacked up so high, isn't it? When I was there I paid one of the locals to help me with my wicker basket (which I bought there), negotiate the price on fruit and settle my complete bill at the end with just one person. A neat system. The mangoes were unbelievable. I would love to go back and travel around India with my children when they are older. In the meantime, I need to check out your shots from Japan which I haven't looked at yet. Thanks again for the evocative adventure.

I continue to have bad luck with my 6 burner Smeg. The first one had so many faults, it had to be replaced, which was done courtesy of the retailer, not Smeg. I opted for a Smeg again, as I was convinced that my first cooker must have been a "Monday" one, and in any case, the retailer had nothing comparable. Within 6 months, I had problems with the wok rings, and paid €80 for a callout. Just today, I forked out another €105 because the element on the oven gave up its will to live (it is less than 2 years old). These cookers retail for €3,992 over here and are guaranteed for only one year. Smeg, as a company, doesn't appear to be at all concerned about the shabby quality of its product. So, take my advice and don't go near them. I am so, so disappointed with my expensive mistake.

Thanks Doc... somehow I missed your reply until now. What was the atmosphere like in the evening? When we were there (for lunch), my husband noticed some interesting looking whiskies and a humidor. This, combined with the wonderful fish, has the potential to put Rafa's ahead of any restaurant in his book!!! As I managed to pick up a cancellation for el Bulli in April (I know, I can't believe it!), we're going to stay in Roses for a week and use it as a base.

Where exactly is it, and is it casual or formal? Thanks.

That really is a heart breaking incident. The parents obviously cared deeply for their baby and thought they were doing the right thing. As far as I know, a baby's daily requirement of salt is 1g, which is very low and can be found naturally in a varied diet of natural foods. So, cooked dishes which don't include processed ingredients, and are whizzed up before any salt is added, should provide an excellent diet.

Well you certainly learned one very important thing in your 5 years here… flattery will get you everywhere! Actually, it’s no surprise that you hadn’t heard about the Farmleigh Market. It only started last year, and was a government driven initiative which proved so successful that they are considering running similar markets in the grounds of other noteworthy, historical houses. I think it may be re-opening in May, but am not sure. The Farmleigh House website (which needs to be updated), would be worth checking from time to time. Also worth checking, is the Bord Bia listing (the Irish Food Board), which just states TBC at the moment.

Actually, when the Farmleigh Market opens again (when the weather improves), it will be just a short spin down the road for you to one of the loveliest markets around. Dreams do come true!

The Organic Centre in Rossinver, Co Leitrim sounds incredible. I haven’t been there yet, but hope to get up in the summer. Highchef, I’d love to hear how you get on if you manage to fit it into your trip. Also, you may consider a visit to Lissadell House in Sligo. Klaus Laitenberger, the former head gardener at The Organic Centre is restoring the gardens of this estate and it is an incredible work in progress. See more details on it here and here. As far as I know, you can get a tour of the garden as well as the house. I think the site is being updated at the moment, but it’s worth checking back as there is usually a lot of information on it.

Massana sounds very interesting. I'm also looking for recommendations in Girona. We will be arriving late in the evening and having lunch in Can Roca the following day, so maybe this might be a bit much the night before. Do you know of any good places for tapas/fried seafood? Also, do you know if Massana is open for lunch on Sunday, as we might go there on our way back? Thanks for your help.

This does sound interesting. Do you have any more detail on it?

Of course Clonakilty Pudding! There are some wonderful artisan producers… but I think there’s a bit of an issue with bringing meat products into the US. There are some companies (eg Dairygold) who comply with the regulations (they do a mail order full Irish breakfast), but it is more mainstream in quality and doesn’t have the hand crafted uniqueness or depth of flavour associated with the artisan products. And a few more cookbooks for the list: Not Just a Cookbook by Derry and Sallyanne Clarke of L’Ecrivian restaurant in Dublin Myrtle Allen’s Cooking at Ballymaloe House, a book by the first doyenne of Irish cooking and mother in law of Darina Allen West of Ireland Summers a cookbook by foodwriter and TV presenter Tamasin Day-Lewis (and yes, she is Daniel’s sister) Neven Cooks by Nevin Maguire, another of Ireland’s young chefs And adding to the stemware recommendations, Waterford Crystal will be launching its Waterford Gold Connoisseur range in May, which is designed to compete head-on with Reidel and the relatively new line of crystal designed by restaurateur Patrick Guilbaud for Tipperary Crystal, which I saw for sale in Berry Bros (Fade St , Dublin) a few weeks ago, A few more details here.

I'm planning to go to Can Roca in April. Has anyone been recently? And has the restaurant moved to a new premises?

It does seem like a missed opportunity not having a market out your direction Suman. Although a little bit of a drive, it may be worth trying the market at Marlay Park. It's great for parking (so none of the Temple Bar constraints) and it's a lovely venue, in the courtyard of the old La Touche house. Also there is Ballybrado Direct, which is apparently a very good box scheme, but I haven't tried it myself yet.

I got the book for Christmas, so I presume it was ordered on Amazon UK (as we’ve had bad luck using the US site, with books not arriving). I thought it was a great read and I tore through it. It left me wanting more, and even though I loved reading the reviews, I would have happily sacrificed some of them for more stories. She's a great writer.

Food/Drink This site should be helpful if you are interested in Irish cheese. I particularly like Ardrahan, Gubeen, Durrus (unpasteurised), Lavistown, Cooleeney (unpasteurised) and Cashel Blue. Sheridan’s is an excellent cheesemongers, but many cheeses are also available at the Duty Free. You’ll also find smoked salmon at the Duty Free, but be sure to go for “wild” and not “organic”, as the latter is farmed. Regarding whiskey, you generally get what you pay for. At the top end of the scale is the wonderful recommendation above of Middleton, (at about €100); and Bushmills 16 year old, costing slightly less, but still very much a premium brand. At a more affordable level is Redbreast 12 year old, (and yes, according to my husband, it is worth paying the extra and not settling for the 8 year old); and Black Bush is very good too. I’m not sure how many of these are available in the Duty Free. Tableware/Stemware/Linens One of Ireland’s most famous potters (and one of my favourites) is Nicholas Mosse, who makes wonderful hand thrown, sponge ware pieces. If your friend is heading to Kilkenny, it would be well worth dropping into their shop in Bennett’s Bridge, where she will find an extensive collection of his tableware, along with some beautiful linens and household items. But be warned… it is very expensive. However, upstairs, at the very back of the shop, there is a section where they sell “seconds” at a lower price and the imperfections are barely discernible. The café in the shop is quite nice for a casual bite, and the pastries, made by a French pastry chef living locally are delicious. Close by in Jerpoint, you will find Jerpoint Glass for stemware. I have to mention, if your friend is heading down this direction, there are two restaurants I would recommend. One is Hudson’s in Thomastown, and the other is Bassett’s in Woodstock, Inistoige (a beautiful village where “Circle of Friends” was filmed), which I haven’t tried yet, but two different sets of friends living in the area are raving about it. In Dublin, the Kilkenny Design Centre is well worth a visit, and much of the Nicholas Mosse collection is for sale here, along with Stephen Pearce’s pottery from Shanagarry (Cork) and a raft of other potters. Nearby is House of Ireland, where you will find among other things, crystal stemware by a number of Irish designers: John Rocha for Waterford Crystal, Louise Kennedy for Tipperary Crystal and Paul Costelloe for Newbridge, as well as a selection of table linen. Avoca on Suffolk St (or in Wicklow) is also worth a visit for Irish foodstuffs. Cookbooks The Café Paradiso Cookbook by Dennis Cotter, is a compendium of great food that just happens to be vegetarian.. I don’t have it, but it’s on my list. My brother is happily working his way through The Tannery Cookbook at the moment, so that could be of interest. Paul and Jeanne Rankin have been busy putting a twist on Irish food for quite some time and I would expect that their book New Irish Cookery is good, but can’t personally recommend it. I frequently dip into my copy of Darina Allen’s Ballymaloe Cooking Course which is very comprehensive, and although I don’t have it, The Avoca Cookbook1was a best seller when it was released. I hope that this is helpful for you. Perhaps you should suggest to your friend that she packs very lightly or brings an extra suitcase!

I just found some La Brea bread in Dunnes Stores (Rathmines branch, Dublin), which is one of the leading supermarket chains, but certainly not the most up-market. I notice from the packaging that there is a bakery in Dublin as well as in Middlesex, UK, so I'd imagine that it has a reasonable distribution over here. I bought the Olive Oval which has a lovely crust and texture, but I wasn't mad about the olive flavour, which was a bit sharp and tasted like disinfectant. But maybe that's just me! I'll give the others a go.

Thanks Simon... I deleted it from the list above.