-Last week, I heard from the Food and Drink Club at TCD about Dine in Dublin, a promotion at a few dozen upscale restaurants around the city and county. They were offering deals on set menus (or as we would say in the US, a prix fixe. But it seems like the closer you get to France, the less they use that term, including France where they stared at me blankly when I mentioned that I had the prix fixe). I took advantage of the dinner at Bijou in Rathgar, which was about a half an hour's walk southwest of my flat. It was delicious! I just got back a few hours ago and still pretty stuffed. My 3 courses for the evening were:
Wright's smoked salmon with potato salad and watercress
Co. Wexford pork belly and Clonakilty black pudding roulade (kissed on the grill) with mash, pancetta, wilted autumn cabbage, and red wine jus
Chocolate fudge cake with vanilla ice cream
I figured that I needed to have a really nice dinner a couple of times in Dublin, and that this was a great opportunity to get one for a little less than normal. I am glad I went, because the pork belly was incredibly flavorful, the fudge was rich, and the salmon was terrific. I have wanted some of the delicious seafood from the seas around this island for some time, and finally got it.
-I want to eat at Mint Restaurant, which is about 5 minutes from my front door in Ranelagh. It has earned and defended a Michelin star, and has an eccentric celebri-chef. Unfortunately, Mint is now contributing to Ireland's growing unemployment. It's been closed for a few months now, and I doubt that it will return.
-A week and a half ago I breakfasted at Cake Cafe. I had seen that it was on the list of best 100 restaurants in Dublin (at what number do Best Of lists just become restaurant directories?), saw its price range was 1-2 Euro signs, and wanted to go. The cafe is in a recently-refurbished eco-friendly building with some amateur art strewn about, with an entrance on a sketchy alley. I had banana and honey porridge. Those oats filled my stomach up and made my tastebuds happy at the same time. I will have to go back, though, since they are known for their chocolate cake (best chocolate cake in Dublin according to the Dubliner magazine).
-On Friday, my friend John's (from Wash U currently studying at an inferior institution UCD) parents came into town. I caught up with them at O'Neill's Pub, which I had heard served very good Irish food. I had some of the best bangers and mash I've ever had, seen, or heard of. There was onion gravy all over the plate and bangers that snapped when you bit them.
-I would like to get lunch at the Cornish Pasty Company soon. I walk by its 6-foot-wide storefront most days going to class and stare in at their flaky, savory pockets of goodness. It's a pretty good deal, too - 5 Euro for a pasty, drink, and (maybe?) some crisps.
I don't eat out all of the time, though (fairly rarely, really). I have been foraging the city for good sources of food to cook with. So far, I have found 2 rockin' places.
1. Ranelagh Market.
This market only opened about 4 or 5 weeks ago, just in time for me to take advantage of it. This isn't like the typical farmers' markets in the US where a few farmers (and maybe a few small-scale producers) bring tents and produce to a parking lot once a week. A large space in a building along Ranelagh Rd. opens up all day Thursday-Sunday with a few dozen artisans (a few farmers, bakers, butchers, and sauce makers) and several prepared food stands set up. In my opinion, this is a big step forward in promoting local and real food. This concept institutionalizes a way of getting quality food with the atmosphere of a farmers market. When you think about it, this is just what the outdoor markets and bazaars all over the world are like. Maybe it's a good model for the other countries of the world (cough, cough USA). I can almost jump from my apartment and land in the market, which makes it even better. I've been picking up scones, organic produce, lunch meat, and bread here regularly. If I cared to, I could even get part of a pig roast or paella here too!
2. Temple Bar Market
Looking down one of the four aisles of vendors at the Saturday morning market.
What?!? Potatoes in Ireland?!? More specifically, cheap and organic potatoes from nice Irish people from County Meath.
Oh, my, this cheese is good. I bought some aged cow's milk cheese with seaweed from Co. Mayo in it.
Bread.
Where I took an oyster shooter to start my Saturday morning. Mmm, briny!
Here was my haul from this trip to the market (I feel like Lee Zukor sharing his weekly CSA):
Those carrots are the size of two good sized meals each. Then we have organic kale, hot peppers, and the seaweed. It was good to have some spice - I hadn't had any in a while. I fried up the peppers with garlic and bacon bits (bits of real bacon, not Bacon Bits) and then steamed the kale with them for a delicious Saturday night dinner.
I've been making an effort to cook and bake some good things as well. Here are a few of my creations:
Bangers and Mash with Guinness gravy. It wasn't really that tough and it tasted great. The 1/3 Irish in me was proud of my accomplishment.
Oven fries. So good, it was worth taking a photo.
A couple weekends ago, a few of us went hiking on the Howth Peninsula (more to come on that soon) where Victor found lots of wild blackberries. Once, I used my instincts and knowledge that most poisonous food is bitter, I realized they were very tasty. I made a fruit tart with them. I wanted a graham cracker crust, but graham crackers are not sold in Ireland. I looked into it, and they are only sold in the US, basically because Graham was a nutjob who thought protein made you sexually animalistic and so invented a cracker for Americans to eat in the morning. I ended up using shortbread, and making a pastry cream for the filling. Very good. Once again, proud of myself. Mother would be proud as well.
Lastly, I have not gone here yet, but I plan to soon. F.X. Buckley, I'm told, is one of the cheapest and best quality butchers in the city, or even country. I will report back when I try out Mr Buckley's stuff.
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