Awareness of food miles

I just hope this doesn't dissuade people from purchasing fair-trade products from Third World countries. - Jim

Cutting the mustard

I had lunch yesterday in the cafe in Easons on O'Connell Street. In an age of exotic sandwiches, I ordered a roll with ham and coleslaw. I asked the girl making it if I could have a dollop of mustard on the ham but she informed me that I'd have to buy mustard from a packet at the counter.

The asking price for this roll was a highly expensive €5.50. I decided to skip paying extra for the mustard as it would have pushed the cost over €6, making it the most expensive sandwich I'd ever ordered! Does anywhere else in the country refuse mustard on a roll? Spar, who aren't famous for their prices, average €3.50 for their ham rolls. For your information, the latte in Easons cafe was priced at €2.80. - Joseph

Milking the latte continued

My big bugbear here is the quality of the latte versus the price. Cafes seem to think that cappuccinos and lattes are somehow luxury drinks and therefore it is perfectly reasonable to charge anything from €2.50 to €3.50 without blinking an eye. However, if you compare the quality of a latte in, say, Caffe Cagliostro to a latte in Kylemore or a similar establishment, you will find a huge difference in quality. I have often returned "lattes" that are actually excessive amounts of scalded milk poured over a paltry amount of coffee, to be met with a combination of confusion and consternation. They simply don't know how to make them in the first place! - Alice Glitter

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