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!
July 28, 2020
Hooray for Blackcurrant season! It is REALLY difficult to get blackcurrants in Ireland … so imagine my delight when they appeared in a Fruit n Veg Box from Dunworley Cottage! Growing up, we had, what seemed to me, hundreds of Blackcurrant bushes in our fruit garden. I know because it was down to me to […]
Read more
July 28, 2020
No matter what you think you know, there is always more to learn! This happened to me when a Greek friend responded to a photo of my Baby Broad Beans and said, I have a lovely recipe you can make with those… The recipe that followed was more a list of ingredients – a list […]
Read more
July 28, 2020
This salad isn’t what you might be expecting. As much as a love a classic Greek Salad of juicy tomatoes, refreshing cucumbers, bitter olives and salty feta, this salad take the aniseed notes of tarragon and Ouzo for this salad packed full of summery flavours and crunchy textures! I’ve often said that my family tree […]
Read more
July 28, 2020
A what? You might ask! Cobbler is better known in some parts of the UK but most popular in the US. They are distinct from a Crumble in the way the topping is put together, but essential Cobblers are a fruit base with a topping that is part biscuit, part crumble and part batter. That […]
Read more
June 3, 2020
Part of a collection of recipes I’m calling My Purple Passion I had been knocking around in my head the idea for this cocktail ever since I made the Cherry Brandy Brownie. There was something so heady about the combination of cherry and chocolate that sent me off in search of a cocktail that would make […]
Read more
June 3, 2020
Part of a collection of recipes I’m calling My Purple Passion So, I hold a deep conflict when it comes to anything Goaty. If I ever have enough land to keep animals, the first thing on my list would be a goat. They are such lovely creatures – cantankerous but full of personality. When my parents […]
Read more
June 3, 2020
Part of a collection of recipes I’m calling My Purple Passion Right back at the beginning of the pandemic, I, on purpose, installed myself on an almost permanent basis in the kitchen. Of course there was the day to day business of cooking enough food to keep up well fed and happy, including snacks, but […]
Read more
April 8, 2020
So, for some reason everyone has started making Banana Bread! I think it must be because we all went out and bought a crate load of bananas at the beginning of the crisis and now their just too ripe to eat but oh so good turned into Banana Bread, (or awesome pancakes…more on that another […]
Read more
April 8, 2020
Remo-what? I hear you cry… Well, a remoulade is a Danish chop salad or slaw, but takes its flavour notes from earthy, peppery tasting vegetables – usually celeriac. It is also usually creamy and speckled with wholegrain mustard, but in these times of making use of what you’ve got lying around and not travelling to […]
Read more
April 6, 2020
Apparently, 6th April is World Carbonara Day, and I’ve just finished reading this wonderful article by Manuela Spinelli of Eurotoques Ireland on the heart pounding merits of a good classic carbonara, and also reminding us that the principle of Italian cuisine is “generally three ingredients that marry together and become a paradise of flavours.” I […]
Read more
February 20, 2020
My love for Lassi knows no bounds. I’d sooner have a Lassi over a milkshake, and of course they can be sweet or salty but always delightful. It is currently Mango season, so I’m getting beautiful mangoes in my organic veg box regularly. And just like pears, rarely do they arrive in perfectly ripe condition, […]
Read more
February 20, 2020
I’m one of those people who adore Brussel Sprouts. Mr Flavour refers to them as The Devil’s Vegetable, a non-compliment he bestows upon Cauliflower – also a favourite vegetable of mine. It’s a wonder how it is we have managed to be together for 20 years to be honest! Frankly, it’s all in the cooking […]
Read more
December 14, 2019
I can’t tell you how much I love this dish! I sometimes exchange the cheese for homemade Kofte, but using Macroom Buffalo Haloumi is a really great substitute for a Meat Free feast! There are a few elements to this dish, but actually if you follow the sequence in the method, you’ll find that it’ll […]
Read more
December 14, 2019
I made this recipe back in September just as the autumn was starting to make an appearance in earnest. And, despite it taking me a solid three months to get it up on the blog, thankfully all the flavours are still as relevant as we head into the end of one year and the beginning […]
Read more
December 13, 2019
One of the absolute joys of recent years is discovering the wonder of slow cooked beef and pork cheeks! Probably even five years ago, it might not be something we would choose to eat, but with the growing popularity in nose to tail eating and cooking, offal and many rediscovering how lovely slow cooking is […]
Read moreSeptember 19, 2019
#AD Have you heard the news? Now there’s a Clonakilty Pudding for Veggies…and it’s seriously yum! In my second original recipe in collaboration with Clonakilty Food Co., I got to experiment with their brand new Pudding to add to their Black and White range. Clonakilty Veggie Pudding delivers on texture, flavour and versatility, just like […]
Read more
September 12, 2019
I’m not big into drinking fizzy soda’s. I still think of them as a treat, a throwback to my childhood days when fizzy drinks were always considered a treat reserved for birthdays and Christmas. But the one fizzy drink that I do hanker after, even as a should-know-better adult, is Lilt. With it’s “Totally Tropical […]
Read more
September 7, 2019
A couple of years ago, I started experimenting with Meadowsweet – a wild plant festooned with flowers that have a honey-like aroma that blooms in late summer and into early autumn. My first foray was to make Meadowsweet Cordial with it, and since then it has supplanted Elderflower Cordial, superior as it is in pretty […]
Read more
August 22, 2019
#AD Clonakilty Black Pudding is versatile & delicious to eat any time of the day! Over the next few weeks, in collaboration with Clonakilty Food Co, I will be releasing three new original recipes using products from the Clonakilty Pudding range to showcase just how versatile this traditional meat can be – starting with this […]
Read more
June 14, 2019
Sibling rivalry – it can either bother you or spur you on. I prefer my rivalries (not that I have, well, any really) to spur me on. I recently turned the page on another year in the life of me (41, in case you were wondering), and although there are few things in life that […]
Read more
March 8, 2019
There were whispers about things of beauty being brewed and bottled in West Cork; things of a very adult nature indeed. Made to majestically pair with crafted spirits, but equally good on their own as a grown up tipple. This is the world of Fintan’s – Small Batch Botanicals Handcrafted in West Cork. Pamela Weaver […]
Read moreweb design and development by the designer of things