Is Irish food now a world cuisine?  Is it on a par with French, Italian or Thai?  We'd be interested to hear what you think.  At Cooks Academy we say that it most definitely is.  In fact Irish Food has come of age in recent years and this is in no small way related to the rise of new speciality food and ingredient, growers, suppliers and manufacturers who enable us all to create wonderful food with exciting, novel and fresh ingredients. 

We had a super exposé of world cuisine here on 26th and 27th August as part of The Festival of World Cultures, hosting 10 different cookery demonstrations from around the world.  And would you believe very few people turned up for the Irish Cookery Demonstration?  Ireland is very definitely a world culinary destination we should all be proud of.  So why not try a Cooks Academy example of modern Irish cuisine in our recipe of the month? See below.

Join us this here this Autumn for great cookery lessons.  We still have 2 places left on our 6 Week Basic Cookery Course starting this Wednesday 6th Sep so if you've lfet things a little late but would still like to participate, call us quickly.  This Saturday sees our Pastries & Desserts class return and there are two places available for that too.  Later this month join Rozanne Stevens for her enormously popular Vietnamese demo evening on 22nd.

There's lots too in October to keep you interested with Seafood Courses, Morning Demonstration Classes, a Beginners Hands On Class and plenty of one off demos.  We'll be having celebrity chef Ursula Ferrigno back for a day in November.  Click here for details of all our courses.

If you're planning a group cookery outing here to Cooks Academy in the coming months please contact us soon to book early and get your date in the diary.  With our superb new Hands On Workshop we can now accommodate up to 35 people for a day or half day session to include Hands On and/or Demo.  

Cookery workshops unlock creativity, they're great fun, you learn a new skill and they're a great way to communicate with your colleagues on a different level.

'Only Irish Coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, fat. ' Alex Levine.

August Food Trivia Winner - Congratulations to Mary Ferns one of many who correctly answered spots as the part of a plaice that are bright orange if the fish is fresh.

Enter September's Food Trivia Quiz to win a Free Demonstration Class at Cooks Academy by answering the following question:  What gives black pudding its colour? Enter Competition

Boxty with Clonakilty Black Pudding and Apple Sauce                             Makes 30
A wonderful example of modern Irish cuisine using traditional ingredients, this recipe makes lots of canapés.  For a starter, just make everything a little bigger.

3 large potatoes (approx 550g)
50g butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
pinch pepper
olive oil for frying the boxty
200g Clonakilty Black pudding, cut into 1 cm slices
2 cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1-2 tablespoons Sugar
Parsley
Sour cream or crème fraîche

Method
1.    Grate the potatoes (you can use a food processor to do this).  Put the potatoes into a clean tea-towel/ or use paper kitchen roll and squeeze out as much moisture as you can.  Place the potatoes in a bowl and season with salt and pepper and pour over the melted butter.  Stir well to incorporate the butter. 
2.    Heat a generous quantity of oil in a frying pan and place large tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto the hot pan.  Flatten down slightly to ensure they cook through. 
3.    Try to keep the spoonfuls the same size as this affects the overall presentation of the dish.  Cook over a fairly high heat, turning after approximately five minutes.  The outside of the boxty should be crispy, the inside just cooked.  This makes enough for ten cakes.
4.    To Fry the Black Pudding. Grill or fry slices of black pudding for 5 mins on each side.
5.    To make the Apple Sauce: In a saucepan, heat the apple with sugar (add a dash of water if too dry) and leave to stew for 10-15 minutes.
6.    To serve, place boxty on a plate, and top with slices of fried Clonakilty black pudding, apple sauce and a dollop of sour cream / crème fraiche.  Garnish with parsley or chives.

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