Weekend Bites

This week I’ll be eating… cavolo nero, also known as Tuscan kale. This is one for the farmers’ markets as it has yet to arrive in the supermarkets. Its dark green, crinkly leaves are intensely flavoured. I just strip the tender parts of the leaf away from the tough central stalk, chop, steam and dress with lemon, salt, pepper and some very good olive oil. It’s also delicious tossed with butter and some crisped bacon pieces.

One of the major events of the food year is coming up soon, the West Waterford Festival of Food which takes place 20 to 22 April. Events include a talk by Peter Mulryan of Blackwater Distillery on absinthe, ‘The Green Fairy’, The Tannery in Dungarvan sees Catherine Fulvio and Derry Clarke joining Paul Flynn in the kitchen, ‘Lords and Ladles’ style, a series of Secret Suppers features food from Chris McGowan of Wine & Brine in Moira, Co Armagh, and even an RNLI duck race. westwaterfordfestivaloffood.com

A lot of dieticians are finding it hard to accept that saturated fat, once the villain of nutrition, has now been pardoned and recognised as something actually beneficial. So it was good to see its rehabilitation being acknowledged on RTÉ’s What Are You Eating?. The show also featured a fine-looking steak being dry-fried. Why not, I asked myself, just save the trouble and use some beef dripping instead? It has a wonderful beefy flavour. James Whelan Butchers do an excellent version.

PJ Rigney, founder of The Shed Distillery in Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim and inventor of Gunpowder Gin has launched ‘nature’s purest tasting vodka’ based on wild Irish nettles and the fruit of the African sausage tree in addition to the conventional grain. Launched at an international drinks fair in Germany last week, Sausage Tree Irish Vodka is 43% abv and will retail at around €46. thesheddistillery.com