Dec 2011 Update: Has anybody actually found the new CX? I don’t think it is where it is supposed to be. If you have any information, or have been in the new location, let me know.

One of the most frequently accessed articles on my blog is relating to CX Oriental, the Asian wholesale/retail place on Tramore road in Cork. In that respect folk may be interested to know that it is about to move to a new site next to Woodies on the Kinsale Road. Where the old Mercedes Benz dealership used to be (Turners Cross Motors). I’m not sure of the exact move date but I was in Tramore Road yesterday (27th Aug) and there isn’t much left.

Some nice ‘two for the price of one’ deals left if you’re quick.

Gave up sugar for lent and now havetoo much of it at home? Here are ten uses for sugar I bet you never thought of … it even tells you how to get your fire going and (in an unrelated tip) how to soothe a burnt tongue.

10 Extraordinary uses for Sugar

After the failure of the fridge industry to integrate LCD screens and online ordering systems up step the oven manufacturers to have a go. The iChef+ is a new touch screen based oven where “the complex innovation translates into simplicity of use”. If I understand correctly is rather like the microwave settings that nobody uses where you tell it what you’re cooking and estimate the weight (if its so smart why doesn’t it weigh it for you?) and hit the icon of choice.

How long before the touch screen breaks?

http://www.gorenjegroup.com/en/news?aid=2706

Mikey from Phonic publishing have been on to mention the launch of a new free monthly food & drink magazine called EatMagazine. He will be distributing 20,000 print copies a month around Dublin initially and it will also be available nationwide via the online version and the iPhone/iPad apps that launch in February. Issue one was designed, written, sold and will even be delivered by Mikey himself so it’s a pretty small operation to begin with and looking at the result I think he’s done a great job.

EatMagazine may be looking for contributors to take a monthly column so anybody interested in that should give them a shout via the contact details on their web site.

Best of luck with the new venture Mikey!

http://issuu.com/phonic_magazine/docs/eatmagazine1

http://www.phonicpublishing.com

This week Channel 4′s chefs join forces in the Big Fish Fight championing sustainable seafood and celebrating lesser known delicacies of the deep, as part of this schedule I saw Hugh’s Fish Fight last night. The show highlighted the issue of discarding in the North Sea, a process by which under EU law certain fish are not allowed to be landed by trawlers so have to be discarded before the trawler hits land. See the video below and sign up for the campaign

http://www.fishfight.net/
By supporting this campaign, your name will be added to a letter to be sent to Commissioner Maria Damanaki, members of the Common Fisheries Policy Reform Group, and all MEPs.

I saw this fly by on Twitter this morning, you rarely see Martijn in the media, despite the attention that both he and The Cliff House Hotel have got in recent years, but here is some advice from him for anybody thinking of entering the industry. Some great images too.

http://chefhermes.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/words-of-advice-martijn-kajuiter/

The Cliff House Hotel in Ardmore, who appear to have been doing pretty good trade all summer and most of last winter too, are set to open a sister property in Dublin on St Stephen’s Green called The Cliff Town House Hotel.

After a quick browse through the web site it didn’t take long to figure that the property is Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill who have relaunched under the new name and under the management of Drew Flood. I have no idea what that means for Richard Corrigan who has been linked with leaving the place for some time now so maybe this is his exit? I assume Martijn Kajuiter of the Cliff House Hotel will continue to concentrate on the work he and his team have been building on in Ardmore since 2008. I certainly hope that is the case anyway, I’m looking forward to next season already.

Good luck to all involved, if its anything like their sister hotel in Ardmore it will be a winner.

http://www.theclifftownhouse.com/

Interesting how attitudes and businesses change over a relatively short period of time. I remember when I was growing up the milkman was essentially a part of the community, we all knew him and, from time to time, he’d let us ride along in the milk float. Times change and that’s no longer the case but even when I got married and moved into our own place during the nineties we had a milkman … or should I say the neighbours had a milkman and he’d wake us bright and early every Saturday morning reversing his diesel noise box down the street to deliver a pint to the folks at the end of the row.

The above is prompted by a mail I received from a man called Kieran Loftus who tells me he is starting a paper, milk and bread service in the Dublin area over the coming weeks, initially on every Sunday morning, with a view to doing Saturdays depending on feedback, they aim to deliver freshly baked Bretzel Bakery bread, The Sunday Times and 1 litre of Irish milk. Sounds like a good idea. Anyway, I hope he does well. You can check out the site and register your interest over at http://www.dublinmilkman.ie/

With the recent spell of nice weather the BBQs have been dragged out and fired up. I found that home made burgers don’t really mix well with the BBQ grille as they can fall apart, the trick is to cook them in the pan and then transfer for a minute or two at the end of the cooking process.

Below is a nice tip from savourysweetlife on how to get the size and shape right every time. Use the lid from a jar.

Construction: http://savorysweetlife.com/2010/05/shaping-perfect-hamburger-patties/

Recipe FYI: http://messy-chef.com/blog/2008/06/bbq-season/#content

Maybe the continued eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland and its impact on air travel should also make us think a bit about air freight and how far some of our produce, which could be sourced in Ireland, has traveled thousands of miles to get to the shelves. Irish farmers have been marginalised by big supermarkets for a long time and for a variety of different reasons but, I say it again, we should always consider buying local.

If you would like to buy local but lifestyle won’t afford you the time then check out the new www.localmarkets.ie where the aim is to source local produce and deliver to your door within 48 hours. The plan is to start with Cork, where producers like Ardsallagh Goat Farm and The Farmgate Cafe have already signed up, but eventually to provide a national service.

Sounds like a good idea, I hope it takes off.