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!
October 26, 2018
I know, I know: Hallowe’en is “just for the kids”, but I know that we adults love it just as much as the little ones do! So I got to thinking, aside from the excitement of dressing up as ghouls and ghosts and heading out into the frosty night to go trick or treating, how […]
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July 17, 2018
Thanks to our never ending summer there is still loads of rhubarb knocking about, and this is probably one of the nicest ways to partake in it. This cocktail recipe was inspired by the Rhubarb Martini that my friend and all-round awesome chef, Caitlin Ruth, makes as Deasy’s Restaurant in the tiny village of Ring […]
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April 23, 2018
Who doesn’t love a crumble? Is it one of the most comforting and versatile of all puddings. But whatever about the fruit, it is getting a good crumble topping that can make it or break it. No one, and I mean no one, wants a soggy crumble. Likewise, if it’s likely to knock out half […]
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April 23, 2018
OK, so bear with me. Lamb and rhubarb might not be two ingredients that you automatically would put together, but trust me it’s an amazing thing! I came across this ingredient pairing back in 2015 when I was still running my supper club from home, and I wanted to design a menu that was all […]
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April 13, 2018
Put your hands up if you love crispy, crunchy, spicy chicken wings? One of my favourite things to eat mostly as an act of undignified indulgence, but I’m usually left with Eaters Remorse afterwards for the oil slick that they usually come in, or the overbearing sickly sweet sauces. So I decided to give my […]
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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May 13, 2017
My love of a good bowl of soup is well known by now I should think. I have written a lot about it being the ultimate “bowl food” experience, and because of the myriad flavour combinations, textures and ability to adapt to the changing seasons it is a meal that knows no end to variation. I […]
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February 11, 2017
For those who are regular visitors to my recipe blog, you’ll know that I have a soft spot for soup! To some people, soup is boring – something that comes out of a can and the last vestige of the time pressed. But to me, soup is the Ultimate Bowl Food delivering on all levels: […]
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December 6, 2016
A few days before I made this recipe, I had a little rant via Facebook Livestream on the vagaries of food labelling and packaging. It was a very successful broadcast which garnered a lot of interaction and reach – which was great because it’s a topic I feel very strongly about and raising awareness is […]
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November 23, 2016
A couple of weeks’ ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Caitlin Ruth, head chef of Deasy’s Harbour Bar and Restaurant for our local radio station, Clonline Radio (listen to the interview here). This was the second time I had the chance to interview Caitlin, and as before it was a lot of fun – […]
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October 13, 2016
I couldn’t tell you how long I had waited and wanted to make this recipe. Mac n Cheese has seen a boom in popularity that, based on absolutely no fact-based proof at all, feels to me to be a result of the explosion of popularity of BBQ restaurants in Ireland. It’s not the BBQ restaurants […]
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July 21, 2016
If you’ve been keeping a beady eye on the latest fresh food trends, you may notice that fresh turmeric root is starting to become more available. Most of us have grown up with turmeric as that deep yellow powder with an earthy aroma and an ability to stain anything it touches, forever! We all know […]
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July 21, 2016
Put up your hand if you’re running out of ideas of what to do with your glut of courgettes? It’s late July, courgettes are everywhere. They have been everywhere since about early June, and there’s still August to get through. You are finding it hard to even give the little buggers away for free. You’ve […]
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July 21, 2016
It’s SUMMER! It might be a bit unpredictable and prone to extreme swings of temperature, but when in Ireland the only thing to do is to roll with it and pretend you’re on the Costa del Blah doing well on gas mark 7. Summer equals ice cream. End of. I’ve never bothered to purchase an […]
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