One More Chair
Recipes worth cooking. Bottles worth opening. Producers worth knowing. And an occasional excuse to put another chair around the table.
November is one of the most underrated months for Irish food: root vegetables, winter greens, mushrooms, apples, shellfish and game. A seasonal shopping guide with five recipes and wine pairings.
Yes, Ireland really does produce wine from grapes grown on Irish soil. A look at the climate, the grapes and the vineyards quietly building a new Irish wine story.
Warm summers, rainy harvests, late frosts and heatwaves all leave a mark on the grapes. A guide to vintage variation, and why it is worth paying attention to the year on the label.
Acidity is the architecture of wine — the element that gives it energy, freshness and structure, and the secret behind so many great food pairings.
Welcome to The Food & Drink Society Ireland's blog — recipes, drinks ideas, producer stories, events and the culture of Irish food, written by the people who run the Society.
Not all wine is for collecting. Here's what makes a wine age-worthy, plus five bottles you can pick up in Irish supermarkets today.
From honey-mustard chicken traybakes to a proper Beef & Guinness cottage pie — fourteen recipes built for busy evenings, with sensible washing-up and easy substitutions.
Scallops with black pudding and apple, steak with an Irish whiskey peppercorn sauce, crab linguine in fifteen minutes — ten recipes for a proper night in.
Potato boxty with smoked salmon, baked eggs with farmhouse cheddar, and a big Irish breakfast hash — twelve dishes for the mornings that turn into afternoons.
Guinness-braised short ribs, crispy buttermilk chicken with chilli honey, roast cauliflower with whipped feta — plus our full timeline for cooking dinner for six without missing the doorbell.
Cider and mustard glazed ham, slow roast shoulder of lamb, roast sirloin with shallot and red wine gravy — and the full timeline for a long lunch that runs itself.
Lemon, garlic and herb roast chicken, creamy colcannon, warm brown soda bread and sticky toffee apple pudding — the twelve dishes that make Sunday, Sunday.
A proper Irish cheese and charcuterie board, sticky whiskey cocktail sausages, a big tray of garlic chilli prawns — ten dishes built for a crowd.
A stuffed cheddar and ham picnic loaf, herby new potato salad, apple and blackberry hand pies — food that travels well and remains useful when Irish weather changes its mind.
Three ready-made menus — a €20 midweek supper, a €40 Saturday dinner and a €60 celebration — proof that a generous table doesn't need to be an expensive one.
A simple, no-nonsense pairing guide by dish rather than by fragile lists of labels — from Irish seafood to cheeseboards.
Ireland's grass-based dairy tradition gives butter a natural place in our kitchens — and it's a working ingredient, not nostalgia.
Blue, goat's, washed-rind, hard and soft — Irish farmhouse cheese is one of the great success stories of contemporary Irish food.
Irish oysters need almost nothing when they are excellent: lemon, a sharp apple and shallot dressing, or a warm herb crumb.
Shoulder rewards time and feeds a crowd, rack is faster and more elegant, mince is ideal for weeknight meals.
Hake, pollock, mackerel, mussels, crab, prawns and salmon all deserve a place in everyday Irish cooking.
Irish apples belong in pork dishes, slaws, salads, relishes and cheeseboards as much as in cakes.
Whiskey works best in cooking when it behaves like seasoning rather than spectacle.
Oats bring crunch to crumbles, texture to granola and character to baking — inexpensive, familiar and remarkably versatile.
