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!
December 5, 2023
Keep up with all my latest writings in print and digital media…
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October 25, 2023
Chocolate has had a bad rap in recent years. As happens when we dig a little below the surface, ugly things begin to emerge. But there are some really cool chocolate businesses out there looking to put the goodness back in. Here are my faves…
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June 1, 2023
I enjoy focusing on a food’s sensory properties: how it looks, its aroma, texture, flavour, and mouthfeel, so I asked friend, awesome chef and fellow butter enthusiast, Caitlin Ruth, to taste butters with me…
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Writing Irish Food Culture - Portfolio of Work
May 26, 2022
Reference Number: FL6802 – 115141319
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March 15, 2022
How to drink them, and what to eat with them, too.
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Writing Irish Food Culture - Portfolio of Work
March 7, 2022
Reference Number: DR6801 – 115141319
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August 18, 2020
In a departure from food, I decided there was another point of view about the ASAI banning THAT Tampax ad… This article was published in The Echo – read it online here. Have you heard of Michelle Wolf? She’s a US comedian who has a skit about periods that is probably one of the best […]
Read moreJuly 29, 2020
This article was published in the July 2020 edition of The Opinion Magazine. I just adore cooking and eating outside. The incredibly good weather of late has meant, here at Flavour HQ, that we are doing both a lot more and improving our low and slow cooking game, experimenting with different heat, charcoal and smoke […]
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June 23, 2020
This post is a review in two parts which I hope to seamlessly merge together into one engaging whole. If you’re coming to this post thinking that there is actually a recipe at the end, prepare to be disappointed, but maybe stick with it anyway because this is a review about one very amazing book […]
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January 17, 2020
Twas three nights before Christmas, and Mr Flavour and I palmed off our beloved Springer Spaniel onto our unwitting friends and heading to Cork for a night of food, drink, a Bag O’Cans and a gig in a Church. Rock and Roll! The gig in questions was Beoga, Live at St Lukes, an incredible live […]
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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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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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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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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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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 22, 2017
Writing about food is not an easy thing to do. If we can refer to it as a “scene” for a moment; it is peppered with people like the vague-verb-police – you know, the ones who insist that describing something as beautiful or nice is next to useless as a description. The over-reachers who think […]
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August 28, 2016
It was exactly a week ago today that I was starting to experience a noticeable increase of the amount of butterflies in my tummy as I busied myself pulling together the final few bits and pieces before heading to the Celtic Ross Hotel to meet with Ireland’s finest Smoke & Fire chef: John Relihan and […]
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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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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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