Festival!

Welcome to the Festival issue of Megabytes. With the summer season in full swing, this month we offer some complementary summer recipes, summer wines, and summer foods and moods.
The cookery book of Summer 2001 just has to be Dona Hay's magnificent "Marie Claire Flavours", so just drool over some of the photos above ­ click on each shot to enlarge the image and make yourself famished with these "omigodthatssogood!" dishes.
Of the many letters that reach the Bridgestone Guide desk, the subject that people want to hear about most is cookery schools. So, as promised last month, here is just about everything we know about learning to cook in Ireland.
Robert Neill of R&R Wines supplies us with ideas for summer thirst quenchers, we fly to San Franciso for this month's international menu, and there are lots of hot news stories from around the country.

The bytes are mega!

Cookery Schools in Ireland

The fun thing about learning to cook in Ireland is just how intimate an experience it can be. There you are, deep in the chef's kitchen, or in a small room with a few other enthusiasts, or even down in West Cork for the weekend, enjoying what you have just made with a few glasses of wine at dinnertime. Find out more.

Recipe of the Month

Here's the poached chicken dish, a shot of pure ginger joy

Eamonn O'Reilly is on the move!

One Pico, Mr O'Reilly's Camden Street home for the last 3 years, will be closing on 21 July and will be relocating. Find out more.

Menu of the Month

Every year, Terry Sheehan makes an annual pilgrimage to San Francisco, and when there he makes an annual pilgrimage to eat in Alice Water's legendary Chez Panisse restaurant. And, having eaten, he posts us the menu and writes a few words. "San Francisco is a hot spot for food and I love it", he writes in his annual missive, and during a 4-month internship he enjoyed "the best food experience ever". Read on.

Summer Wines

Summertime needs some nice vinous slurpers to get us through the holiday season, so we have asked Robert Neill of the brand new R & R Wine Merchants to pick us half a dozen summer stunners. Find out more.

Island Cottage

Certain restaurants and places to stay are such a fundamental part of the area in which they are situated that they are unmissable destinations. Think of Norman Villa in Galway, Shanks in Bangor, Packie's in Kenmare. And think above all of Island Cottage, John Desmond and Ellmary Fenton's sublime restaurant on Heir Island, just off the coast of Skibbereen in West Cork. Read on..and dream

You shall have a fishy...

We tried to get to Pat and Paul O'Connell's smart new fish stall in the Cork Covered Market the other day, but it was no use. The place was mobbed. Read on.

Provenance of Pork

Andrew Rudd makes good bacon and bangers, and if the flavour doesn't convince you (which it will) then the provenance of the pork will: Irish pigs from Quality Assured farms; no colouring agents or flavour enhancers; no antibiotic use; full traceability from farm to fork; dry curing by hand with salts and sugars; low water content which means you are paying for meat, and not water. Find out more.

Noticeboard

The scaffolding around Rodolphe and Noelle Semeria's lovely La Bogoudenne restaurant in Fermoy tells it's own tale; emergency repair work has had to be carried out on the building, necessitating the closure of the restaurant..But, fear not. The Semerias have relocated

Letters Page

Dear John and Sally,

Competition Winner!

Congratulations to E Wright of Chicago who is the winner of our last competition! Johnny Appleseed was the answer to our question: the great pioneer of American apple planting was born with the name John Chapman. However, he is remembered by history and legend under his famous nickname: what was that name? And the prize of Michael Pollan's "The Botany of Desire" (Random House) will be winging its way to Chicago!

Refer A Friend

If you enjoy Megabytes, make sure to sign up a friend by simply filling out this form.