Salt Sugar Smoke by Diana Henry

A new cookery book out called Salt Sugar Smoke by Diana Henry is subtitled how to preserve fruit, vegetables, meat and fish and as as you venture inside you will see that is exactly what it does teach you, in a gorgeous way. Published by Octopus Books it is beautifully bound and packed with attractive tasty-looking photographs.

Chatting with me at the Fallon and Byrne Christmas Extravaganza where she was promoting her new book, she explained how she grew up amongst jam makers and preservers but had not been able to find a book that filled that gap between the WI jam maker books and the other extreme of 'man-guts-and-smokes-a-whole-animal.' There was no book about how she wanted to approach preserving and felt it was something for experts with rules. And so she set about rectifying this. Diana spent three years in her kitchen trying out different recipes and drawing on her food experiences on her travels to France and Sweden.  Also commenting on the desire to make jams with different ingredients and using less sugar to produce a looser texture as in France and even more so in Sweden, Diana is enthusiastic about the subject and confident resulting from her wealth of knowledge. She has produced from this time spent a really beautiful book. Easy to chat with and possessing a warm friendly personality she was generous with her time to talk about her new project. This book will be a useful addition to any home cooks library of cookbooks.

The book has eight chapters: jam; jellies, curds + fruit cheeses; sauces, pastes, mustards + vinegars; under oil; smoked; cordials, alcohols, fruits + spoon sweets; salted, cured + potted and chutney, relishes + pickles, with each chapter introduced with a chat about the subject. Setting out the basic equipment she bought in the introduction, Diana mentions that one piece was a storage box bought from IKEA for brining!
Some of the most useful tips are the ways Diana suggests ways in which to eat what might be an unfamiliar recipe. The first example of this is the delicious sounding purple fig and pomegranate jam as seen on the cover, which Diana suggests you put on top of toast with Labneh, a middle eastern yogurt cheese ,which I'm sure we could find a similar product to or you could make yourself from another of Diana's recipes here in the book.
The scarlet pepper and chilli jam recipe accompanies a tasty photo of lamb chops where Diana suggests its use at summer barbecues- yum! New York sweet cranberry mustard, those curious red berries that arrive at Christmas that we don't really know what to do with, is photographed alongside a few carved slices of a luscious looking roast chicken.

There are antipasti recipes galore and at the smoking section where you may speed up Diana assured me that it wasn't difficult and didn't need loads of equipment-she has used a wok before.
The aperitif section certainly caught my eye; vin d'orange, apricot liqueur and damson gin amongst others. I loved the idea of sweet-tea brined chicken as I have brined a turkey successfully one Christmas, and the beautiful photograph of the red beetroot-cured gravlax had my mouth calling out for the clean salmon and grated beetroot flavours. The Zuni Cafe's red onion pickles, adorning a beef burger in toasted ciabbata looked too good for words.
Coming towards the close is the beautiful photograph of bobbing pink pickled turnips. Yes, you read that right- Middle Eastern pickled turnips or torstoi which Diana tells us is "one of the most popular Middle Eastern pickles and much more delicious than it sounds." Using a wedge of raw beetroot and baby white turnips they become pink from the juice.

This book couldn't fail to encourage you to get launched into one of these projects, even if you start with some of the simpler antipasti recipes. Launch yourself into Diana's world of Salt Sugar Smoke.
www.octopusbooks.co.uk

'How to Build a Better Dublin'-Frank McDonald

There was a great article in The Irish Times on Saturday 'How to Build a Better Dublin' where Frank McDonald tells us suburban sprawl, poor transport and weak administration are dragging us down.
Describing the city as 'not so smart' as in smart technology, he covers the fragile state of retailing, our un-tapped tourism potential and the appeal of a city resilient in the face of recession. Read it here:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2012/1110/1224326396976.html

Hugo's for Casual French Dining in Dublin

I love Hugo's. It's decor is intimate boudoir style. It's location is great on Merrion Row and the menu is great value for quality casual French dining. Set on the corner of Merrion Square, the blue exterior is friendly and welcoming.

Calling in on a Friday at 6pm for an early bird, or pre-theatre as several restaurants now call this early evening slot which runs from 4pm to 7pm, the restaurant was already pretty full. Coats taken and seated quickly towards the back of the restaurant we chose braised venison sausage for starter and steak at €3 supplement for main on a €19.50 two course menu (€24 for three courses).
The atmosphere about was chatty and warm. We quickly found ourselves chatting with the couple at the neighbouring table who were visiting Dublin from Chicago, the husband on a conference. Our starter arrived promptly; braised venison sausage on braised red cabbage with a drizzle of cream. It was delicious, the sausage full and meaty and the tasty red cabbage complementing the rich meat. We drank water with our starter but ordered two glasses of Cotes du Rhone (can't remember year etc).

Whilst waiting for our main to arrive, we discovered that the other neighbouring table was also over from Chicago-the wife was at a different conference. The two tables chatted across us and found they knew where each other lived! Cliche I know, but small world.
Our 8oz sirloin steak came with thin French fries, a nice side chopped salad and a jug of pepper sauce (Bearnaise an option). Mine had been ordered medium rare and it was cooked perfectly with a nice peppery taste to the sauce. The wine at €7.45 a glass was disappointing. It was a bit rough on the palate and was not the cheapest on the menu. I wouldn't choose it again.
There is no doubt our evening had been added to by our interaction with our neighbouring tables, but our food was well presented and served well. We left very satisfied into the dark Dublin night.

www.hugos.ie
Hugo's
6 Merrion Row, Dublin 2
676-5955

Brainbelt Illustration Collective at Filmbase

Finishing tomorrow, Filmbase on Curved Street, Temple Bar, have held an illustration exhibition this week in the basement. Held as part of Design Week, their website tells us that "Brainbelt Illustration Collective is a diverse network of Irish creative professional artists and designers who bear a heartfelt passion for illustration. The group's visual disciplines vary from sculpture, print design, motion design, multimedia and photography."

With work from Peter Dawson, Diarmuid O Cathain, Alan Dunne, Duffy Mooney-Sheppard, Jamie Murphy, Emma Rowe, Ultan Courtney, The Orb, John Paul Murray, Michelle Cunningham, Geoffrey MacArdle, Seamus MacArdle, John Corrigan, Gareth Teggin, Denise Nestor, Shane Cluskey and Stephen McNally.
Further up and coming events can be followed by www.brainbeltapostles.blogspot.ie

All work was to a very high standard but we liked the work of Diarmuid O Cathain whose work on show Up here!, Animal Heads and Omnimal had a 1950s American children's illustrated book look about it, Jamie Murphy's Mexican skull design Dia de los Muertos, John Corrigan's Tullynally, The Batter and Oldcastle which were mounted cut-out oirish-looking drawings and in particular the character head drawings of Stephen McNally, Gauloises, Candyfloss, Curls, Glare and Hair. 

A graphic designer and illustrator and currently at the Royal College of Art in London studying illustration, he has worked with RTE after studying visual communications at DIT. A good collection of his work can be seen on http://www.behance.net/StephenMcNally and some of his video art on http://vimeo.com/mcnallystephen/. His specific fine line style and attention to facial expression makes his work more easily identifiable once you have known it and we feel he will be an artist to watch in the future.

Ely for Morning Coffee

Looking for a comfortable spot for morning coffee away from the madness of the street? You wouldn't go far wrong by calling in to Ely on Ely Place where for the last couple of months they have started a morning service between 10am and 12 noon. Served in the main ground floor dining room, beautifully furnished and with attractive black and white framed photography on the walls, you can choose between several fresh baked goods all on a lovely cake stand.
We settled down to one coffee, beautifully strong and one hot chocolate We accompanied it with fruit scones, crumbly and fresh served on lovely slate platters with mini French-style-jars of jam.
The atmosphere is refined and relaxed and it is a lovely location for a quick morning business meeting.

Opening in 1999, it was the first place in Dublin where people could enjoy a glass of wine with something to eat, which only goes to show how Dublin has changed. Whilst we were there we glanced through the lovely Ely Cookbook on show, packed with beautiful photography and delicious looking recipes and watched as the delicious looking French loaves arrived for lunch later on. Reluctantly dragging ourselves out of our chairs we headed off to face the rain.

Ely Wine Bar,
22 Ely Place, Dublin 2
676-8986
www.elywinebar.ie

Ghosts by R. B. Russell

Ghosts; Putting the Pieces in Place and Bloody Baudelaire by R. B. Russell is his debut publications in the genre of supernatural fiction. The book also contains the story In Hiding which was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Awards in 2010. It is published by The Swan River Press. The cover is beautiful, designed by Meggan Kehrli, with a black and white soft focus photo of an Edwardian-looking woman looking out at you. With that Mona Lisa 'is-she-smiling-or-isn't-she-smiling?' look, she gazes straight at the reader. The dust jacket quotes Charles Baudelaire, "I can hardly conceive of a type of beauty in which there is no melancholy", and this sets the tone of the book.
(This leads me to an aside-talking of production, as I sit on the station platform looking at this evening's commuters with e-readers, this element is all lost on them. You might cite the old don't read a book by it's cover but to me it's a vital aspect of the book and one that sets the tone for the journey inside. Anyway, moving on....)

In the introduction Mark Valentine, for whom The Swan River Press will be bringing out a collection of stories at the end of this month, calls it "literature of the dark" and explains how supernatural stories began to change in the twentieth century to become tales which avoided clear explanation, citing Walter de la Mare and Robert Aickman with whom he groups the more modern Russell.
'Putting the Pieces in Place' is about an obsessive (who is a) collector, living in a supposedly haunted house, who has been using a female 'detective' to track down the reel-to-reel tapes of a violinist he heard performing when he was  seventeen. With literary references to Alain Fournier and Henry James, this story carries a sense of mystery as the story and then the story behind the story reveals itself.
In 'There's Nothing I Wouldn't Do' the story of a young woman's experience is told by a friend from school and university. The tale that emerges comes from her time spent in Odessa doing a PhD where she meets and is flattered by the attention of a young man called Taras. With a tip to the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure and Russell's obvious love of language, the student is availed of an interview with the great architect Alexander de Saussure, but the theme is the obsessive again as suggested by the title as quoted by the boyfriend Taras "There's nothing I wouldn't for you."
'In Hiding' follows David Barrett M.P. as he travels to the Greek island of Elga to hide from a financial political scandal, ironically staying courtesy of a man living in well-paid retirement after he sold a story to the newspapers.
'Eleanor' is set at a science fiction convention with the author of  Eleanor written twenty years ago and his one and only novel but seen as a celebrity to those at the convention. The presence of a guest dressed as the character 'Eleanor' unnerves him, giving the ensuing story an uncertainty and supernatural frisson.

'Dispossessed' tells Jayne's story, homeless and jobless after the death of the old lady she was housekeeper to for ten years. Offered a flat rent-free for the interim by a family member, this however slips to the wayside when she meets a stranger in a pub, confides her troubles and ends up in his flat "together for almost a year." The story develops in it's strange way when she eventually goes to the flat she was given keys to by the relative.
'Bloody Baudelaire' at seventy-six pages is nearly a novella. The title is foreboding and the first paragraph warns us that something eventful is to occur,"Almost immediately afterwards he became so frightened of forgetting details...that he wrote it down." It is Lucien Miller's story of time spent in Cliffe House and jealousy plays its' role as does the discomfort of house guests during arguments. With quotes and references to Baudelaire it's like an English country house drama with a lurking mystery and sexual tension.
 Russell, co-proprietor of Indy publishing house Tartarus Press, has an engaging writing style. His characters are strange but real and we believe in them however odd and get drawn into their lives and stories. The collection has a Twilight Zone/Tales of the Unexpected feel about it and I look forward to seeing more of his writing in the future.
http://www.brianjshowers.com/swanriverpress.html

Twelve Hours in Dublin

Visiting Dublin, or even just live here and popping in for the day. Fancy a food and free gallery day? Here's some things you might like to do.

Getting up leisurely and arriving in town for a late breakfast, head straight for Ely Wine Bar, 22 Ely Place for freshly baked scones and coffee or hot chocolate. When you've finished there you can turn right and carry on down to the bottom of Ely Place to visit the Royal Hibernian Academy. Finishing in there you can continue your gallery theme by walking first past Hugo's on Merrion Place to book your early bird supper, and then head across town towards Temple Bar. Filled with free galleries you can take your pick but I like the Gallery of Photography on the corner of Meeting House Square and sometimes there are casual quirky exhibitions in the basement of Filmbase on Curved Street. From here if you're not all galleried out you can head back to Dame Street and turn right towards Christchurch. Walking up and across the road Ebow Gallery is at 1 Castle Street, just before the hotel, and often has interesting exhibitions.
If you're ready for lunch now you can head further up past Christchurch Cathedral to the High Street, now into Dublin 7 and pop in Little Green Cafe for toasted sandwiches or you can turn and head back down Dame Street and weave your way into Fade Street to big space that is The Market Bar for a more tapas style lunch.
After lunch you can head down Exchequer Street to Fallon and Byrne and pick up some sweet treats to take home with you. Tired now, and having had your fill of culture why not just window shop? Head down South William Street and wander through the Powerscourt Centre with it's eclectic selection of quality shops, head back to Wicklow Street to peruse the CD's and great collection of DVD's on the first floor in Tower Records, head into Brown Thomas on Grafton Street for a mooch and then head to Hodges Figgis on Dawson Street to lose time in the wealthy array of books on three floors plus the great bargain basement.
Ready for an aperitif? You're spoilt for choice in Dublin but try No.37 at, you guessed it, 37 Dawson Street (old Ron Black's), plonk yourself on the sofa in the window and enjoy a well earned rest as the rest of Dublin rushes past the window. Having booked it on your way to Ely this morning, sip your drink until the allotted hour and then walk round the corner to Hugo's on Merrion Row for a great value early bird.
From Hugo's you could head anywhere a) home-you've been on your feet all day and let's face it you're exhausted, b) off to sample the Dublin nightlife, if you're here on holiday you wanna stay out all day! The choice of Dublin nightlife would warrant a whole extra article/book. Whelan's on Wexford Street have free live music in their main bar if you're that way inclined. There's not many bars where you'll get a seat by this time on a Friday night so wander the dark streets of Dublin, arrive in Neary's (Chatham Street),   Kehoe's (South Anne Street) or Doheny and Nesbitt's (Lower Baggot Street) for example and you'll be guaranteed a good evening.
Enjoy your day x