Vals Kitchen

From small seeds........

Radio, it seems, is an incredibly powerful medium. Much more than newspapers, probably due to its immediacy, the fact that people can partake in it either actively, by being on a show, or passively, by listening. You don't have to do anything to listen to the radio, it just goes in, it keeps you connected to the rest of the country or world and it's just kept on going since it's humble beginnings. Anyhoo, after I was on the Odd One Out Quiz, plugging my blog I got an e-mail from Trish asking me to come to a meeting about getting allotments started in Limerick. Naturally I nearly fell off myself with excitement and, decided that I had to go to this meeting. It's to introduce the Get Ireland Growing campaign to the area. This would be dream come true, to have some outside space in the country and not have to move house to get it. Most cities have had schemes like this for years so I hope that we are all waiting with baited breath and see it as the good thing that it is. 

Projects like this often get canned because people get so hung up on health and safety, someone steps on their own rake and sues the council and the whole thing gets shut down, no good. This is a fantastic opportunity for people to grow food, save money, be active, generate community, get kids involved in growing food, cut down on smelly air miles that get wasted on flying food around the world. Do we really need to ship apples over from Africa? Hell we do.

People like Seedsavers have been promoting the re-generation of heritage varieties of plants for eating for years, you can visit them in Scariff and get seeds to grow your own veggies and salad stuff. They have apple trees suitable for growing in pots and loads more stuff. As part of this new campaign the whole concept of Community gardening is going to be developed. There are so many green spaces in Limerick City lying idle and many people who would love to use them, for growing or gardening or recreation. Lots of people live in town houses with no gardens and there is only one park. It would be so great to have community spaces like this. 

So for now, if you want to get started growing, you don't need a garden, just some enthusiasm. 

As the campaign suggests; start with easy to grow plants like lettuce, chives and scallions

Make sure your containers have drainage holes in the bottom, grow things you like to eat, if you don't like broccoli don't grow it, grow flowers amongst the veggies to attract insects, water them and keep an eye on them, it's all fun and games anyway, and you get to eat your efforts. If you like gardening it can be surprisingly fulfilling, fun and satisfying. I found this great blog with lots of info on the whole allotment thing. Green fingers crossed people, we will go back to growing great food on every inch of our lovely land. Nom nom. 

Here's my yard

 I just realised that this post makes no sense whatsoever. It was written quickly after I was on Ray Darcy's Odd One Out Quiz this morning. Today was the turn of " People who grow their own vegetables at home". This, it seems is trendier than Lady Gaga's big pants and swap shop shopping. See, if you wait long enough, eventually we all have our chance to be tragically hip. I've been growing small amounts of stuff for years, tomatoes, herbs and the like. Last year I branched out (sorry!) to courgettes, broad beans, runner beans, lettuce, rocket and more tomatoes. 

Due to popular demand, here are some photos of the yard aka "walled garden", please note I was being ironic when I said that! Nothing looks too interesting yet as they are all seedlings so no real action yet. Watch this space for exciting veggie pictures of stuff growing! 

And for the hell of it, a lemon poppy seed cake, nom

Blurry apple tree

Lots of plants are still seedlings, I have spuds in a grow bag, an apple tree in a pot, lettuce 3 types, tomatoes - 2 types, courgettes, pumpkins, runner beans and herbs

Planting in pots is great, easy to keep and involves no digging so I really make the most of the space and its great when everything is growing, I just nip outside and pick stuff for dinner, like these from last year

Some chocolate cake with your Guinness madam?

On a whistlestop tour of Ireland Belgian beer Sommelier  Marc Stroobandt, at the request of the Irish Brewer's Association's Beer Naturally campaign which encourages consumers to view beer in a different light. Stroobandt is not just an expert on Belgian beer, but a master of beers  and brews from all corners of the globe. This is a man on a mission; to open Irish eyes and palates to the idea of enjoying beer as a drink that loves food, and not just five pints to wash down your vindaloo. Beer has been enjoyed in almost every country in the world since farming began, that’s about 2,500 years now. The Irish brewing industry employs over 2,000 people directly and up to 100,000 indirectly. The sector contributes €960 million to the economy in tax and duty each year. 63% of beer consumed in Ireland is manufactured locally.

Unlike wine, the heat of the sun  isn’t an essential ingredient in making a tasty brew so it’s every brewer for himself. Surprising then that we don’t enjoy the dark stuff with the hot stuff.  Celtic tiger times had us all on the pigs back in the belief that wine was where it’s at. Many times wines of dubious qulaity would be imbibed with mismatched foods and a lack of knowledge. Better that than to look like you couldn’t afford it, or that you might not know what you are talking about. I had the pleasure of a one-to-one tuition with Marc who carried out a series of, what he described as Derren Brown-type-experiments with beer and food. No russian roulette was played but lots of new things were learned.

First up on the taste test was a beer thats drunk in gallons, mosty by men in full pubs on weekends, Heineken. Firstly, I was offered this beer in three different shaped glasses and asked to smell them all, they all smelled like completely different things. This beer starts out light and lemony, then sweet and ends with a dry finish, so you want more, and more, and more. Eaten with a hunk of mature cheddar, however, the beer softened completely and had a lovely round flavour. It changed the beer experience alltogether. As wine doen’t refresh you like beer, beer does have that appeal of something you want to drink on a warm summers day, or after a hard days work. Matching beer with food is an eye opener.

Next up was an unfiltered wheat beer, the type that has gained popularity in recent times on thses shores and can be recognised by its characteristic large head. The one we tasted was Leffe Blonde, a Belgian Abbey beer. This beer starts off very dry, dark and earthy and end up sweeter and light. It was matched with a creme caramel desert, I didn’t fancy the idea, but what a perfect pair. The beer flavour lessened the too-sweet taste of the desert and made both seem even creamier than they were. It was perfect. Fruit beers like Kriek (cherry beer) and Framboise (raspberry) are popuar in Belgium and served with champagne style flutes, they are refreshing and look sophisticated without packing a strong punch. A passion fruit beer was one of the nicest things I’d ever tasted, and is light in alcohol so it’s win win.  Part of the campaign is to increase beers popularity with Women who tend to drink more wine which is higher in alcohol.

A national favourite made from a base of roasted malt was next for the taste test. Guinness is a smooth drink that’s for sure, but it’s not everyones cup of tea. Imagine replacing your cup of tea with Guinness as you tuck into a slab of chocolate cake or even a delicate chocolate mousse. The biterness of the Guinness equalizes and balances out the sweetness of the sweets, so in this case,  Guinness, it seems is genius. The future of beer may be set to change. Will we see burly men in gangs enjoying afternoon tea with pints of the black stuff? Will yummy mummies get together to discuss the merits of Heineken from a wine glass versus by the neck, who knows? The future is amber and wine not?

For more ideas on matching beers with food check out www.beernaturally.ie