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On the one side you have the behemoths of the GM industry. Monsanto et al, with their bevy of PR lackeys and their colossal corporate and dollar clout.
And, on the oher side, you have Michael O'Callaghan of GM-free Ireland.
Goliath and David isn't in it.

Mahon Point
Cork's splendiferous Mahon Point Market has a new contact number: 086 1685312 and the email address is info@mahonpointfarmersmarket.com.
Food lovers should check out the gorgeous site created by Lydia Hugh-Jones for the market: www.mahonpointfarmersmarket.com.


Wales and GM

Marino Monterisi's wonderful Bates Restaurant, in Rathdrum, County Wicklow, which features in the Bridgestone 100 Best Restaurants 2009, has just launched new menus.
Here is the dinner menu, a model of how to source artisan foods and how to write a menu simply.
Saffron risotto with pork cheeks! Homemade tagliolini with Gubbeen pancetta! Bunclody veal with anchovies and capers!
We are drooling down here in West Cork, and no mistake...

Bates Restaurant, Rathdrum, Co Wicklow Tel: 0404 29988

Dinner Menu

Appetisers

We had the pleasure of attending a dinner recently where Simon Tyrrell presented some of his wines from the Rhone Valley.
The wines were a pair from Michel and Stephanie Ogier – the white Viognier La Rosine 2007 and the red Syrah L'Ame Soeur 2006. A second white was the St Joseph Blanc 2007 from Domaine de Monteillet, another red, the Cotes du Rhone Domaine les Aphillanthes 2003, and then a Rasteau vin doux naturel, from Domaine Gourt de Mautens 2004.

Stillorgan's benchmark China Sichuan Restaurant relocated last year, and opened just a little late for our Bridgestone 100 Best Restaurants 2009 Guides. But, as Caroline Byrne reports, Kevin Hui's restaurant is already rockin':

A note from Caroline of the Belvelly Smokehouse in Cobh, about all their goings on...

“I'm making Mrs Hederman's fish pies, chowders, and fishcakes for the markets and we intend to make those more available in the shop. From time to time I do smoked fish pasties with roasted root veg and smoked haddock - and filo parcels - with smoked salmon and goat's cheese - and in the summer there will be tarts.

ELY HQ has revamped its focus and its menus. This lovely space is now ely-hq gastro pub, and the all-day menu is hot to trot: ½ pound organic ely burger, served on a homemade bun with a choice of toppings - aioli, roast tomato & lambs lettuce, or smoked cheese, chorizo & chili relish. The bangers and mash, is served as colcannon, sweet onion chutney & mustard sauce.

Whoops! She did it again!

It is many years now since we declared that Janet Drew's Sweet Pepper Relish was one of the most indispensable kitchen and table accoutrements. Since then, everyone and his wife have gone out and made a sweet pepper relish, but Ms Drew's remains the benchmark.
One benchmark in a lifetime is good, but two seems pretty amazing. Nevertheless, everyone and his wife will soon be going out and making a brown sauce, for Ms Drew's “Really Good Brown Sauce” is another of those products that blows everything else out of the water.

What with zombie banks, zombie hotels, and Brian and Brian doing the work of two men – those men being Laurel and Hardy – at the head of the Government, we are in a state of chassis.
So, it's time to bring you the people the country needs, starting with Siobhan Lawless, who runs the Foods of Athenry bakery with her husband, Paul.
What's been happening, Siobhan?