bites

This week I’ll be eating… cauliflower. This is something of a revolution for me as I’ve only recently started to enjoy the stuff. The impetus was its low carbohydrate content compared to, say, potatoes or rice. I make a kind of cauliflower couscous by blitzing it in a food processor very briefly, drizzling with love oil and roast on a tray in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. It’s also surprisingly good steamed and then mashed with lots of butter, wellseasoned with pepper and a little salt. If you’re thinking of growing your own this year – however little of it – this is the month that matters. March is the time for planting early spuds, sowing salad crops, peas, broad beans and beetroot. If you have a conservatory or greenhouse and want to try tomatoes, wait until the garden centres have plants. It’s easier and there’s no harm in cheating. Joy Larkcom’s The Salad Garden is out now in revised edition from Frances Lincoln. She lives in West Cork and is probably the world’s greatest authority on vegetable gardening. Advance warning to prepare for the Great Irish Bake in aid of Temple Street Children’s Hospital on 20 April. Last year it raised €224,000 through people cooking and baking and asking friends and neighbours around for a bake sale. It’s utterly shameful that vital paediatric equipment has to be funded this way but this is a fun away to help sick children and the people who care for them 365 days a year. Register at templestreet.ie/greatirishbake One of my favourite restaurants, The Fish Shop, now has a four-course nochoice menu (and also a three course lunch and early menu). The reason is that they simply source what is the best seafood on the day rather than making it fit the menu. However, they are always happy to talk with you in advance to try to ensure that you will want to eat everything put in front of you. It’s a truly lovely place, now with a wood-fired oven and even better wine list. fish-shop.ie