Compiled by MARIE-CLAIRE DIGBY

Liquid gold

Irish rape-seed oils really went mainstream in 2011, and the Happy Heart organic one made by Kitty Colchester in Co Kilkenny won several awards this year. She is now making garlic and chilli-infused versions, and you can get a list of stockists on secondnatureoils.com.

You'd be crackers not to . . .

Brown-bread crackers for cheese, what a genius idea. They’re one of three varieties – the others being mixed seed and rye and linseed – made by Cookies of Character in Dunmanway, Co Cork for Sheridans Cheesemongers (€2.95). The brown-bread variety was Kevin Sheridan’s idea, and after exhaustive experimentation, the crackers are being made with stoneground flour from Macroom oatmeal mills, Bandon Co-op butter, and buttermilk produced by the Cronin family in Belgooly. There are three shifts working around the clock to keep up with demand for this superb Irish product, which is available from speciality food stores.

Dinner with 'The Dead'

With Joyce out of copyright in 2012, expect a flurry of “tribute” events. You could get in on the act early at the James Joyce Centre/Sweny’s Pharmacy dinner in celebration of the feast at the centre of Joyce’s short story, The Dead, in the Gresham Hotel next Friday night (tickets €50, from jamesjoyce.ie or 086-0507995). To recreate the lavish dinner at home, you’ll need a goose (apple sauce optional), ham and spiced beef, floury potatoes, raspberry and orange jellies, blancmange, purple raisins and peeled almonds, and custard topped with nutmeg. And don’t forget the celery sticks in a vase.

Say Cheese

You might think that winning the supreme championship at the British Cheese Awards, from more than 900 entries, would be the pinnacle of success for any cheesemaker, and Helen and Robert Finnegan of Knockdrinna Farmhouse Cheese not only achieved this honour in September, they also had their cheese name-checked in a Ross O’Carroll-Kelly book. “Lots of people have told me about it but I don’t know whether to be pleased or not,” Helen says. “I’ll have to see the context.” Their UK win was for Kilree, a semi-soft washed rind goats’ cheese that was served at the State banquet in Dublin Castle during Queen Elizabeth’s visit. You can buy it from cheesemongers, or online from knockdrinna.com.

Perfect pesto

The best pesto is of course made by hand, but this might just be the next best thing. It is one of a range of excellent dressings, dips, marinades and sauces made by Clare McEntegart, head chef at Cabra Castle in Kingscourt, Co Cavan, and her husband Boris Glukhov. It’s sold in delis and food stores under the label BiaBlasta, and it’s really very good indeed. “We prepare everything ourselves right down to peeling the ginger and garlic,” McEntegart says. See biablasta.com.

Jam for your eggs and sausages. . . .

It’s jam . . . but not as you might know it. Butcher Ed Hicks created a taste sensation this year when he began selling Bacon Jam, a savoury relish made with smoked bacon, Llewellyn’s balsamic cider vinegar, coffee, maple syrup and seasonings. Initially only available in small quantities, its popularity was heightened by the fact that it was hard to get. Hick began alerting fans to the availability of a new batch on Twitter. Happily it’s now being made in larger quantities and is distributed by Sheridans Cheesemongers. You can also buy it at the Temple Bar Food Market on Saturdays.