I started The Flavour Files in 2012 and have added recipes celebrating our wonderful Irish produce ever since. My recipes show great produce is as much at home on our kitchen tables as on a restaurant menu. It's not just recipes though - there is news, reviews & other writing too!
August 15, 2018
For Corkonians, there is one place in our City (recently voted 3rd friendliest city in the world too, by the way), that captures our hearts more than any other. Maybe it’s because it has been part of the Cork City landscape for long; maybe it’s the Parisian feel of La Fayettes Cafe or the sumptuous […]
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April 27, 2018
Something magical happens when you sit down to dine with Takashi Miyazaki. It happened the first time I visited his eponymous restaurant, Miyazaki, on my birthday a couple of years ago, and it happened again last week when we sat at the Kappou counter of his new fine-dining restaurant ichigo ichie. For me, this is […]
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April 17, 2018
There are some car journeys that are a pleasure to undertake. One of my favourites is heading out towards the stunning Beara Peninsula in West Cork. Stunning ocean views, rugged mountains and windblown fields dotted with weather worn animals and traditional farmsteads. The winding roads force you to slow down, enjoy the view; enjoy the […]
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April 10, 2018
California has long been synonymous with a healthy living and great food. If it’s local, organic and hand made the Californians will embrace it wholeheartedly. But forget the big cities – the ‘burbs is where great food is happening, and none more so that the exploding and vibrant foodie culture in North County San Diego […]
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April 10, 2018
Venture west my friend, and you shall find such things to eat… I’ll admit, I’m a tiny bit biased when it comes to West Cork food. I can’t help it; it’s where I live, where I call home and, for all the allure of Big City Living, there is simply nothing better than returning to […]
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April 10, 2018
I moved to Ireland 13 years ago, and was visiting for many a year before that. Even in those heady days of my earliest culinary adventures I had heard, seen and tasted the proof of Kinsale’s reputation for being the “gourmet capital of Ireland.” This article was first published on TheTaste.ie in July 2016. It […]
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April 10, 2018
Clonakilty is a town that is well rehearsed in the traditional Irish Céad Míle Fáilte. If the town had a middle name it would be ‘Welcome’. Blessed by both its position to the Atlantic Coast and award winning Inchydoney Beach, the rolling verdant hills peppered with happy cows, Clonakilty is a place that’s more than […]
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March 1, 2018
I was delighted to be asked to work with Allison Roberts, founder of Clonakilty Chocolate, on a new product launch and rebranding project. In February, Allison launched her Cocoa Husk Tea under the new brand Exploding Tree. I absolutely love everything that Allison is about – her enthusiasm and energy is to be seen to […]
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January 14, 2018
Ice cream should be eaten all year round, it’s just a question of matching the flavours to the season! This recipe is a tiny bit awesome, but it won’t be for anyone that doesn’t like a powerful taste of banana. It is really simple to make which is the good news. The even better news […]
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August 6, 2017
The second we heard award winning chef Rob Krawczyk was back in West Cork with an eight-week residency at the beautiful Glebe Gardens in West Cork, we booked our table. This is my review of a dining experience that is almost impossible to describe, but simply has to be shared. Chefs are a wandering sort […]
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July 19, 2017
A Taste of West Cork Food Festival launches most cultured and cosmopolitan food Festival to date. Flavour.ie was delighted to be at the launch of the 2017 programme for A Taste of West Cork Food Festival. Every year we all agree the programme is the most ambitious yet, but this year the festival has surpassed […]
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July 16, 2017
If ever there was a food stuff that bonded two countries together so closely, it is the Irish and French adoration of shed loads of butter/buerre. Whether you are still a butter skeptic, a butter convert or sitting firmly on the aluminium rails of the farmgate, there is one universal truth that the epicureans of […]
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June 28, 2017
I can’t tell you how many times I have wanted to write this blog post. Well, since about mid-November 2016 to be correct. Ever since it properly sank in that I had just been commissioned to write a book. Well, a guide. A guide book. My first book! Having been sworn to a thinly veiled […]
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February 21, 2017
The beautiful and welcoming seaside town of Clonakilty has a reputation for firsts. The first Fair Trade town in Ireland; Ireland’s first EDEN destination of excellence; the first Cittaslow town in Ireland for celebrating the multiple benefits of slow living and slow food and recently voted the Greatest Town in Europe at the AOU Awards […]
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February 21, 2017
BT Wines of West Limerick have developed the world’s first Irish Peat Wine. A unique and innovative wine – and intriguing… Brendan and Trisha, the lifelong friends from West Limerick with a passion for good food and wine, have spent the past few years developing their product – Irish Peat Wine. It’s a first in […]
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December 22, 2016
I hope I didn’t leave you waiting too long? Maybe you’re all set for the big day and you don’t need these for this year (2017 maybe?), or maybe you haven’t a notion and this is just the thing you are looking for! Either way, I’m sorry to have kept you waiting! Without further ado, […]
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June 7, 2016
If there’s one downside to living in West Cork, it’s that I’m always last to the party when great places to eat in the City open up! Cork City may only be a 50 minute drive up the road, but when you’re laid back lifestyle in sleepy West Cork seems to never be that laid […]
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March 31, 2016
I may be slightly biased but I like to think that I do holidays really well (yes, that may be the sound of distant horns blowing). Recently Mr Flavour and I set sail to Barcelona for the first time and we had a really great time. Famed for its shopping and eating opportunities, Barcelona is […]
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September 21, 2015
There’s nothing quite like the fevered build up to the Electric Picnic. In amongst the hedonistic daydreams of dancing all day long in a field with flowers in your hair with an almost mystical ability to never get completely pissed on a diet of mainly pints of Heineken are the tempered practical and fear inducing […]
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July 14, 2015
You can’t make an exceptional thing to eat or drink without exceptional ingredients. But more than that, the finished taste and experience should be in the hands of a skilled artisan. This is especially so for coffee and a skilled barista. Any old fool could make a cup of Joe, just the same as anyone […]
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March 20, 2015
I was gutted that I didn’t have the nerve to get up on the platform and tell everyone there about my first cookbook and how it probably was where my love of cooking first began. But then it occurred to me that I could just as easily tell everyone about my first cookbook from the […]
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