Merchandising at La Boqueria

Next time you are in Barcelona, this is where it's at! Every stall is food temptation.....fruit, smoothies, cheeses, cured meats! The works when it comes to Spanish food. Although I think we visited at the quieter end of the day (mid-afternoon), there was still much to admire. It's a 'must see'.

Claire's Tarte Tatin

All credit due to Claire, whose baking is coming along in leaps and bounds. As part of a recent deception by Jenny and I of our mother, Claire was brought down to the family home for her first baking lesson. The goal was to covertly get family recipes for a cookbook we were writing. Things have stepped along very nicely and she's mastered (what I have always considered) to be the scary challenge of the tarte tartin.

Mayo saw her latest completion to close off our Easter weekend. It tastes even better than it looks. The stickiness of the hot carmel layered over the sweet apples and served with freshly whipped cream is just 'more'!

The Beginning

This is where it begins! I have a friend in cheeses, but also in chocolate, coffees, salumi, fresh meat, cereal, pasta.... I don't like to discriminate. Although cauliflower.... cauliflower is not my friend! More about that another time.

It is cheese however that I identify with most strongly. It is cheese in its diverse glory as one moment being something soft, gooey, and smelly and the next granulated, salty and nutty that grabbed my childhood interest in food and made it a career choice.

So here it is. An ode to food, indeed any food that has influenced me since I was a kid, and to the development of food across the little island of Ireland and beyond. My plan here for this blog is to talk about everything that is food from what's new in the industry, to what's new on my table or the table of my friends and family. This will be about food for occasions, food for in front of the TV on Tuesday nights, first, second and third helpings, with some bread to soak it all up, while never forgetting that the peaks of food pleasure often comes best shared with others!