Living and Eating

Welcome to the October issue of Megabytes. This month we look at the first of the hot new cookery titles that will grab your attention this autumn; source some superb new Portuguese foods from the Sheridans; check out a new café/pub in Carlow; celebrate a decade of Sheen Falls Lodge and meet a woman of mystery in Waterford. Our wine of the month toasts the rejuvenation of Soave, we join the hunt for the ultimate pork sausage, and otherwise bring you all the hot news about the best food in Ireland.

Live to Eat

We have long reckoned Annie Bell as one of the very best food writers. Her taste and judgement are instinctual, and her prose is simply beautiful to read, no mean feat for someone producing regular columns in The Independent and The Mail, not to mention a steady stream of fine books that have made her a cult figure in the world of food. Annie's newest book is one of the most imaginative we have seen in a long time. Read on

The Megabytes Club

Artisan Portuguese Food Hamper from Sheridans. Check it out

Bridgestone Food Lovers Guides

We work fast here in Megabytes Central, real fast. After all, it's only taken us 10 years to come up with a new series of Bridgestone guides ­ The Food Lover's Guides ­ which will be launched on the 22nd of this month. Read on

Insulting your friends

A few years back, if you really wanted to insult someone, you would probably have yelled at them: "You're as inspid as Soave", and that would have been no mean insult. Insipid, really inspid, was where Soave was at. It was as dire as that other Italian travesty, Lambrusco (well, okay, almost as dire as Lambrusco). It was a wine that somehow seemed to offer you everything you didn't want in a wine. You wanted zesty freshness, lush fruit flavours, sensuous aromas and tongue-curling deliciousness. Soave gave you the vinous equivalent of a dog licking your leg. How things change.

Hot Titbit

Elizabeth Field sends this hot titbit: Have you heard of Microplane graters and zesters?

Choc Nation, Choc World

Anne Rudden's Aine chocolates could get by on wit alone, for their handsome packaging in their pretty little black box is a true treat, with each choccie space in the box framing a little picture, including one of Anne herself. Read on.

A little bit of Porky Perfection

The Associated Craft Butcher's of Ireland have just launched a competition to find the best sausage in Ireland. Find out more.

No Free Dinners

There is no such thing as a free dinner. If the Minister for Agriculture and the chief of An Bord Bia, the food board, invite you over to view the fantastic new Deli Futures concept, which they have devised to help Irish artisan producers to market their goods, it all sounds like a good idea. Dozens of us turned up, the wine flowed, we chatted and ogled the wondrous food products that Ireland's artisans are making with such brilliance. Read on

Menu of the month

Lennon's Café Bar, Tullow Street, Carlow

Handsome is

Kenmare's Sheen Falls Lodge has just produced a tiny recipe book to celebrate their first ten years in business. Read on

Recipe of the Month

Fresh Smoked Salmon with Potato and Tarragon Salad

Actually, I made it all by myself. Really.

Frieda Forde, whom we have worked with for years in the field of marketing and PR, has found that life as a new mother has been improved by the discovery of Supper's Ready, which advertises itself as serving "Classical Continental Cuisine prepared in a traditional manner to top restaurant standards". Find out more.

Eunice Power ­ International Woman of Mystery

The local gossip around Dungarvan about Eunice Power is that there has to be ­ there just has to be ­ two Eunice Powers, for the mystery is how could a single Eunice achieve everything that Eunice does achieve in Powersfield House, her lovely guesthouse and restaurant just north of Dungarvan. Read on.

Weekend Away

And what sort of a weekend should you plan if taking time out down at Dungarvan? Find out.

Noticeboard

We know someone who knows someone who is looking for an entrepreneurial chef who'd be passionate about creating and making pies, starting in London, with the idea of expanding further. Do you know anyone who's looking for this kind of challenge/who fits the description?

Letters Page

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