Arun Kapil had his own dance music label when he was just 19, but nowadays, you're more likely to find him in the kitchen than in a club. Swapping life as a chef for the hectic London music scene brought Kapil to Shanagarry, Co Cork, where he studied at the cookery school before joining the kitchen brigade at Ballymaloe House. Another change of direction came when he was invited to run a stall at the farmers' market at Mahon Point in Cork and came up with the idea of using his family contacts to import top quality spices, rice and cooking utensils from India.
"Every three or four weeks, Vivek and Guria, my cousins, ship the Green Saffron spice and rice order from India direct to us," Kapil says. The spices are ground, blended and packaged in fresh batches every week and sold at markets and delis around Ireland. In addition to selling individual spices, Kapil makes blends for specific dishes, and for the recipes which he devises with his friend, restaurateur Ivan Whelan, and gives to his customers.
For an Indian food starter kit, Kapil suggests buying turmeric, white cumin, coriander, chilli flakes, cinnamon, cloves, green cardamom, and fennel, as well as a rogan josh blend for lamb, a korma blend for chicken, and garam masala for seasoning. "And you can make a deliciously refreshing accompaniment by mixing organic natural yogurt with the juice of a lime, chopped fresh mint, a banana, two teaspoonfuls of garam masala and a couple of spoonfuls of crème fraiche," he says.
The full range of Green Saffron products, including chilled ready meals, is sold at the markets in Kinsale (Tuesday mornings); Mahon Point (Thursday mornings); Limerick and Midleton (Saturday mornings). The spice blends are also available from Len's lentil stall at the Temple Bar and Marlay Park markets in Dublin (Saturdays), and from good delis nationwide, including Foodgame, Stillorgan; The Olive Branch, Clonakilty; Urru, Bandon; O'Connor's, Ennis; and Interior Living, Cork. Green Saffron also does mail order, and from the end of this month will be accepting payment by PayPal. See www.greensaffron.com
Simplicity by In-gredienti
These beautifully simple plates (above) are part of the In-gredienti collection designed by Italian chef Massimiliano Alajmo for the Rosenthal tableware company, and are on sale at Equinox in Belfast and the Wedgwood department in Brown Thomas, Dublin (£19/€24). Alajmo, who is only 34, has three Michelin stars for his cooking at Le Calandre near Padova in Italy. His designs for Rosenthal are deceptive in their simplicity, but each piece is a combination of form and function. This pasta plate, for example, has a hollow in the edging to make it easier for the diner to scoop up the pasta.
Make a date
Bellinter House Hotel in Co Meath is offering a champagne dinner, bed and breakfast package to music lovers attending the Loughcrew Garden Opera (June 27th and 28th). Transport to and from the venue is also included in the price of €150 per person. Tickets are extra and can be booked at www.loughcrew.com/opera or by phoning 049-8541356
WEBWATCH:
www.bordbia.ie
Summer brings out the market shoppers, and this site has a useful county-by-county, nationwide listing of farmers' markets, including dates, locations and times. It can be accessed from the farmers' markets link on the homepage.