The perfect spud:Cooking roast potatoes in goose or duck fat is fashionable at the moment, but not many of us have access to a ready supply of either of these fats.
However, you can now buy handy screw-top jars of each of them, made by Epicure and widely available in Superquinn branches nationwide. Look for them near the olive oil. The goose fat costs €4.99 and the duck €4.75. Fallon & Byrne on Exchequer Street in Dublin 2 also sells goose fat, in cute, reusable mini-Kilner jars, for €4.50. A search on the restaurant booking website www.menupages.ie reveals just one restaurant, Balzac (reviewed here) boasting that its roast potatoes are cooked in duck fat. Chef Jay Collier explains how they cook them: "We firstly steam the potatoes and then coat them in semolina while they're still warm. We then get the duck fat smoking hot and roast the potatoes in it with whole cloves of garlic, rosemary, and season with Maldon sea salt and pepper. It gives them a unique deep rich flavour."
For more on roasting the perfect potato, check out Jack Lang's definitive potato round-up on http://egullet.org/forums (do a search for The Potato Primer), which has more than 130 recipes for every type of potato dish, and tips on what varieties are best for every cooking method imaginable. Marie-Claire Digby
A taste of spring
Head for the food market at Harvey Nichols, Dundrum, Dublin 14 on Wednesday evening (March 28th), for a spring fete at which you can taste a selection of new products and food-hall favourites, try your chances at a lucky dip, and take home a goodie bag. Tickets are €14.50 and can be booked on 01-2910488.
Marie-Claire Digby