Hello, or hola, from sunny Spain, where I am currently on annual leave and eating my body weight in watermelon and gazpacho each day as the temperatures climb to the mid-thirties and beyond. And yes, I’ve heard that the weather at home is awful, so I’m not complaining.
I’ve been making Lilly Higgins’ watermelon and feta salad on repeat, adding chicken sometimes. For a change from the authentic Spanish gazpacho with tomatoes, I’ve made a few batches of Paul Flynn’s green and good gazpacho, with lots of green summer veg, apple juice and mint.
Congratulations are due to chef Flynn on the forthcoming publication of Butter Boy, a bumper compilation of his writing for The Irish Times food pages between November 2019 and October 2022. With all of his columns and more than 450 of his recipes gathered together in one volume, this will be a terrific resource and a rollicking good read. It is being published by Kristin Jensen’s Nine Bean Rows Books and is out on September 14th. You can place a pre-order here.
Winners, winners and more winners
One lucky subscriber to The Irish Times Food & Drink club this month will win an overnight stay for themselves and a guest at Ballyvolane House in north Cork. The prize will also include a four-course dinner and breakfast. Don’t forget to enter.
Another subscriber will win a Galway getaway, including a tour and tasting session at Ahascragh Distillery, Ireland’s first zero-emission distillery. The winner and their guest will stay overnight at the Moycarn Lodge & Marina and will receive a gift bag from the distillery.
Congratulations to David Colbourne, who has won a Fercullen Single Malt gift pack including a family pass to visit Powercourt House and Gardens and a food pairing tour at the distillery, and to Niall O’Connell, who has won a two-night stay for two, with dinner and spa treatment, at the Ice House hotel in Co Mayo.
Read all about it
In this weekend’s Irish Times Magazine, Corinna Hardgrave road tests The Chophouse at Mulligan’s pub in Sandymount, Dublin 4, and comes away with lots of good things to say, including a recommendation to include the generous fish platter in your order.
In our recipe section tomorrow, Grainne O’Keefe is singing the praises of vibrant, versatile vegetables, and Lilly Higgins is also eschewing meat with her recipe for polenta with mushrooms and Gorgonzola. John Wilson is writing about German wines, and his love affair with riesling. Beth O’Brien’s baking column is back, with a deep dive into Victoria sponge recipes and techniques, and her own favourite recipe for a version with fresh raspberries.
Check in with us regularly at irishtimes.com/food for all the latest food and drink news, features and great dishes to cook. If you would like to invite family and friends to join The Irish Times Food & Drink Club, they can do so here. You can also follow us on Facebook here, and on Twitter here.
Thanks for reading.
Marie-Claire Digby
