The Spice Bag | November 2024
Our monthly free-to-read newsletter full of delicious recommendations and updates
Welcome to another edition of our FREE monthly digest, exclusively for our Substack readership!
We’re toying with the idea of changing the name of this monthly feature to something slightly catchier - and naturally has to sit within the stable of Chip Paper/Hot Fat/Chew The Fat - so please vote on potential new names below!
Reading: Four Books + a Feature
We were lucky enough to meet the incomparable and unbelievably lovely
(you may know her from TikTok or Instagram, but subscribe to her here on Substack!) on her whistle-stop trip to Ireland and we are adoring The Condiment Book [AF] –– y’all know we are condiment obsessives already - hello, our ongoing Condiment Curiosity feature! - but can heartily recommend getting your mitts on this neat little book full of information and ideas of how to use those cupboard staples! You can order her Grá Chocolates collab too!Another new book we found randomly was Crunch: An Ode To Crisps [#AF], journalist Natalie Whittle’s love letter to the salty siren we all know and love.
We have been following Matej Bloksa on Instagram for years. A chef originally from Czechia but based in Ireland, Matej has recently self-published an incredible book about Irish ingredients, foraging and fermentation titled Múnla [AF]. The Irish for ‘Mould’, it’s a phenomenal production and primed for anyone who has a keen interest in pickling, preserving, fermentation and foraging. Keep Matej’s name in your mind, he is destined for big things.
We are so beyond proud and overjoyed that our gorgeous friend Brigid O’Hora is finally a published author! The Home Sommelier [AF] is everything we dreamed it would be and more from a wine professional and educator like her. Super accessible, conversational, funny and informative, ideal for getting to know your way around wine, particularly supermarket staple grapes and the most iconic producers.
Finally, a must-read is Video Killed The Restaurant Critic from Noble Rot Magazine, written by Marina O’Loughlin’s and also features this previously incognito restaurant critic’s grand unmasking!
Reading: ICYMI —
Condiment Curiosity: Maille Dijon Mustard
Can you think of any other city the world over known for a single condiment? Dijon, the capital of France’s Burgundy region, is famed for many things but the mustard that bears its name has almost overshadowed it (or placed it on the map, depending which lens you look from)....
RECAP: Sunday Times Ireland Reviews
Fast approaching our 100th (!!) review in our Sunday Times Ireland restaurant reviews column, we can’t believe mid-November marks two years already and we love and relish the opportunity more than ever. We believe our body of work, shining a light far and wide across Ireland and running the gamut of dining over the last 100 weekly pieces is testament to our tenure. [Also, we’re nominated in the critics category for the Irish Food Writing Awards next week — wish us luck!]
Over the last month we’ve gone from Belfast to Cork plus a duo in Dublin: O’Mahony’s of Watergrasshill, mrDeanes, Parrilla, Andhra Bhavan, and this week’s review - EXCLUSIVE ALERT - will be Tang’s pop-up evening offering at Cumberland Place 👀 Don’t forget — Paid subscribers get access to THE EPIC MAP below, the sole place you will find all the snippets, excerpts and links of ALL our Sunday Times Ireland restaurant content dotted on one map –– an ideal bookmark to plan all your eating & drinking ‘round Ireland.
Travelling: Manchester & The Shelbourne
A glorious long weekend in Manchester was super fruitful with incredible food, pints, pastries and a gorgeous new hotel…. Would quite love to do it all over again, and we had forgotten how much Manchester has a grip on us. We will write up the whole weekend for an Everywhere We Ate In… ASAP.
A few days ago we had a mini staycation (#invite) at probably our favourite hotel in Dublin: the incredible Shelbourne Hotel [AF], overlooking St. Stephen’s Green. The Saddle Room was as glorious as ever for steak and fine wines, the breakfast (ordered to the room) was probably the best in-room spread we’ve ever had, we sipped some fantastic negronis in the residents-only 1824 Bar and tucked into oysters, Crémant and the limited edition Bram Stoker pie at the No 27 Bar. We’ve been lucky enough to stay at this hotel three or four times and each time it reinforces how much we adore it.
Special offer: Subscription Reduced!
This is the best time *ever* to leap from free to paid subscriber as we have reduced our rates: €5/ for monthly renewal (the minimum Substack allows) or €35 for annual — the annual subscription is over 40% cheaper than before and works out less than a sole takeaway coffee at less than €3 per month!
Eating: Great Tastes Lingering This Month & Where We Want to Eat/Drink Right Now…
THESE salt & pepper free-range boneless, skinless chicken thigh fillets in Dunnes Stores. 3 for €10 offer, we have literally been buying three-a-week and eating them every which way: curries, stir-fry, slow-cook, shredded for sandwiches and salads…
We hosted a dinner party last week and cooked a big rib of beef on the bone from James Whelan Butchers, but much of the rest of the meal was cooked from Ottolenghi’s new book, Comfort [AF].
THESE cheese scones, which have returned to the menu at Ursa Minor. Cheese scones are superior to all other types of scone.
A Middle Eastern BBQ - ‘Plates for Palestine’ - this Sunday at Tang in Dublin sounds brilliant and such a great idea for an important fundraiser.
Everything in this Seafood Bars across Ireland article Patrick penned for RTÉ
Listening
Finally, here are 6 podcasts we really recommend diving into this month!
The Case of the Tiny Suitcase (the S2 follow-on from ‘Who Shat..’)
- (of ): You Had Me At Hello
Thanks for reading! Chip Paper is brought to you by Patrick Hanlon and Russell Alford, also known collectively under our brand name: GastroGays. Irish food and travel writers, Sunday Times Ireland restaurant critics, broadcasters and content creators, this is our home of food long-reads, deep-dives and guides. You can find us elsewhere on Instagram, TikTok and our website GastroGays.com
Hot Fat!!