weekend bites

This week I’ll be eating… the first of our new potatoes, a crop of Duke of York which is a little later than usual thanks to delayed planting back in April. New potatoes are, for me, one of life’s great pleasures and, as such, are best enjoyed simply. That means steaming them – they are too delicate to boil, I believe – with a sprig of mint to give that true aroma of summer. And serving with a lot of butter, some salt and freshly ground black pepper.

There’s a new Cabernet Sauvignon from Jacob’s Creek that is finished in whiskey barrels from Irish Distillers’ Midleton Distillery. Called Jacob’s Creek Double Barrel it will be on sale in Dunnes Stores and O’Brien’s at €17.99. It’s worth remembering that it was a French company, Pernod-Ricard, who rescued Irish whiskey from oblivion when they bought IDL in the 1980s. They also own Jacob’s Creek, the brand that put Australian wine on the map.

Considering the EU record-breaking rate of duty and VAT on wine in Ireland, restaurateurs struggle to find decent, moderately interesting stuff at house wine level or just above. However, it can be done, largely thanks to Spain, Portugal and the south of France. However, I’m increasingly seeing wine lists where customers are being pushed into spending over €30 on wine and the €9 glass is now not uncommon. Customers really do know they are being fleeced and it doesn’t encourage loyalty.

News for the growing crowd of young bakers! The theme of this year’s National Junior Baking Competition, once again sponsored by Aldi, is lemon drizzle cake. The competition is being run through youth organisation Foróige and its 810 clubs nationwide. The winner gets a €1,000 baking bursary, a trip to Dephi Adventure Centre and their drizzle cake stocked in Aldi’s 129 stores across Ireland. Further information from foroige.ie