Get smokin'It was the smoked tomatoes, part of a gorgeous salad eaten at The Tapa Room, the casual dining space at New Zealand chef Peter Gordon's Providores restaurant in London's Marylebone High Street, that convinced me I needed a home smoker.
I know, I know, you can smoke food in anything from a biscuit tin to a wok, but Nisbets, the catering equipment company, is selling this gleaming, stainless steel smoker (above) for €76, and if you need to justify the expenditure, it can also be used as a steamer, poacher, cooking pot or roaster. Smoking chips, in alder, cherry, hickory and white oak (€9.95), provide endless scope for experimentation. Nisbets (www.nisbets.ie) is goldmine of gadgets you didn't know you needed, as well as a good place to buy chef's knives, at excellent prices. There's free delivery on orders over €100.
For further inspiration, book in for the half-day smoking course at the Ballymaloe Cookery School on May 31st (€105). Darina Allen will be talking about how to smoke meats, fish and cheeese, and demonstrating how to build home smokers in anything from galvanised dustbins to timber barrels. See www.cookingisfun.ie.
Perk up a prawn
If smoking your own food seems a bit like too much hard work, try these lightly smoked raw Honduran prawns on sale in M&S for €7.50 for two 140g packets. Gentle smoking turns what were probably quite ordinary prawns in the first place into a real delicacy. They cook in a flash - just three minutes in a hot frying pan, but are best served warm, or even cool, rather than sizzling hot. These smokey morsels make a great pre-dinner nibble drizzled with olive oil, sea salt crystals and a light dusting of hot paprika. Tossed with semi-sundried tomatoes, rocket or baby spinach, lemon and olive oil, they turn into a tasty salad.
Are you a winner?
There was a fantastic response to our readers' competition, run in conjunction with Monini, the Italian olive oil company. Fran Nicholson from Bray, Co Wicklow and Carol Rogan from Baldoyle, Dublin 13 will be packing their bags for a weekend of Umbrian food and wine in Spoleto in June.
WEB WATCH: www.italianfoodies.blog.com
Winner of the best food blog at the Irish Blog Awards, and a great source of simple, quick Italian recipes.