The Flavour Files

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!

News 

North County San Diego Food & Drink Travel Guide

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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News 

Skibbereen Food & Drink Guide

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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News 

Kinsale Food and Drink Guide

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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News 

Clonakilty Food & Drink Travel Guide – From Brewery Town to Foodie Town

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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Writing 

Unfairly Traded

April 10, 2018

Fair Trade products shifted the stratosphere of shoppers throughout the EU during the first half of the 2000’s. Sainsbury’s, among others, have redacted their commitment to the project. What does this mean for farmers and communities across the globe? Kate Ryan of flavour.ie investigates. This article was published on Headstuff.org in August 2017 Unfairly Traded In […]

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Writing 

Zero Grazing – a step towards feedlots?

April 10, 2018

Hooray – Irish milk and butter is in high demand around the world for its exceptional flavour, quality and nutrient value. Could the fact that Irish butter is now readily available to buy in the UAE be a panacea for Brexit? This article was published on Headstuff.org in February 2018 https://www.headstuff.org/science/zero-grazing-a-step-towards-feedlots/  Maybe. But how does […]

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News 

Launch of Cocoa Husk Tea by Exploding Tree

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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Writing 

For the Love of Custard

March 1, 2018

There are few things that set my heart racing as much as custard. Yes, I am sure that the heightened velocity of my heart rate isn’t a sign of increasing levels of cholesterol, thank you very much. No, rather there is no other edible item I choose to indulge in that gives rise to feelings […]

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Recipes 

Carrot, Radicchio, Orange and Ricotta Salad

February 24, 2018

I’m starting to really appreciate bitter vegetables. It started on the lead up to Christmas last with chicory and doesn’t see any sign of receding. Bitter is a taste that is only just started to be explored in more detail. I have a theory that our curiosity with bitter flavours has been piqued only because […]

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Recipes 

Blood Orange Upside Down Cake

February 24, 2018

My first ever contact with Blood Oranges was many, many years ago as a child. I didn’t understand what they were, why they were different from ‘normal’ oranges and of course, putting the word ‘blood’ before ‘orange’ is one sure fire way to put small kids off eating these. So I didn’t, or maybe I […]

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News 

Indulgent No Churn Banana Ice Cream Sandwich

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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Writing 

2017…that was the year that was

January 9, 2018

I owe this post to Fiona Uyema. This morning, she shared a post on Facebook of a letter written by a 27 year old Australian woman terminally ill with cancer. Not many things make me want to burst out into tears but this one did. Sentiments obviously resonate with people differently at different times. But […]

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Recipes 

Tidings of Joy! It’s the 2017 Flavour.ie FREE Christmas eBOOK!

December 11, 2017

We have been putting together for you a Christmas eBook for the last 3 years’ but this years is a little different! Click here to access 2016 and 2015 editions… Instead of me bombarding you with recipes for new ways with Brussel Sprouts, I have decided to focus on things we can Slurp & Sip […]

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Recipes 

Banana Pancakes

October 22, 2017

I have made more pancakes since May of this year than I have in my entire life! This isn’t a complaint though – merely stating a fact based on the fantastic response received to the Eggsellent Breakfasts initiative that I launched this year alongside Caroline Murphy of West Cork Eggs and Alison Kingston, a health […]

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Recipes 

No-Bake Cheesecake with Bilberry Compote

September 1, 2017

“I’m not really a fan of baked cheesecakes, if I’m being honest.” Mr Flavour and I have been in each other’s pockets for 17 years. He’s repeated this refrain at least once a year, and yet I have never made anything other than baked cheesecakes. He eats them because he loves me, but really all […]

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Recipes 

Chocolate Stout Pulled Venison

August 31, 2017

I love autumn – every little colourful part of it. Of all the seasonal changes, summer into autumn is the one that really gets me excited. From chunky knits to the first log fire; blackberry and rosehip picking, apples and pears, pumpkins and game season. It’s simple impossible not to fall in love with it. […]

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Recipes 

Meadowsweet Gin Fizz

August 29, 2017

I’m putting it out there… As much as I love and adore Elderflower, I think it’s time it took a break and laid the way clear for Meadowsweet instead! (stand back and awaits collective intake of breath…) I walk the laneways and boreens around the village where Flavour.ie is headquartered through all kinds of weather […]

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News 

Review: Rob Krawczyk Residency at Glebe Gardens

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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News 

A Taste of West Cork Food Festival 2017 – Programme Launch

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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News 

Restaurant Review: BIA, a new tasty mouthful for Bantry

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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Recipes 

Peach, Parma and Raspberry Salad

July 7, 2017

Summer is here – as much “here” as it gets in Ireland anyway! It’s hot, cloudy, heavy and muggy – this weather is the nemesis of my appetite. Where did it go? Who knows… I’m not sure I’m even hungry, but I haven’t eaten in hours. Most afternoons I can be found aimlessly wandering the […]

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