Food file

A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Tree that keeps on giving

If the idea of having a truffle-producing hazelnut tree in your garden sounds far-fetched, think again. Mushroom expert Bill O'Dea has two in his garden, and is waiting patiently for them to mature. "Typically you should expect to see truffles in about three to four years from planting," he says. "The hazelnut trees are totally hardy, native plants, and suitable for any garden size as they can be pruned." The trees should have nuts on them after around eight years, so it's very much a long-term project, but one that could be very worthwhile.

O’Dea is selling saplings “inoculated with indigenous Irish truffles”, ready to plant out in a garden or pot. The mini-trees are posted in elaborate packaging and come with an instruction booklet on how to plant them, and a certificate. They cost €35, plus €10 pp, and orders placed at mushroomstuff.com or with Bill O’Dea on 086-8274899, will be emailed a copy of the certificate today, with the plants to follow in January: ideal for last-minute gift-givers.

So, can you really expect to be shaving truffle over your pasta, as well as harvesting hazelnuts? “Truffles do grow wild in Ireland. There’s a woman in Portlaoise with truffles in her garden; she found them when she was gardening. She sent me what she believed to be truffles, and they were. They were quite small, but very strong,” he says.

So how will you know, a few years from now, if your hazelnut tree has truffles growing underneath it? “There will be a brûlée around the tree, like a burn, and vegetation around the base of the tree dies off. As the truffles come to the surface, you’ll be able to smell them in the ground, and if you sift through the soil, you’ll find them.”

There are no guarantees, of course, but O’Dea says: “I wouldn’t take it on if I wasn’t confident.”

What Katie did . . . and ate, and snapped

This is Katie Quinn Davies. She's Irish, originally from Dublin, where she worked as a model and studied and worked as a
graphic designer. After a spell in Chicago, she's now living and working as a (self-taught) food photographer and food
stylist in Sydney, and she just has produced a brilliant online food and travel publication as an extension of her popular
food photography blog, What Katie Ate.

The magazine has contributions from correspondents all over the world – including a photo-essay by food writer and
photographer Donal Skehan in the "December in the City" series of cityscapes, which also includes London, New York,
Brooklyn, Rome and Sydney.

There are an incredible 495 pages of superlative food photography and styling wrapped up in this online package
(see above), and you'll need to set aside a quiet moment by the fire to enjoy it all. There are also recipes submitted by readers of the blog, with accompanying photographs that would put many specialist food magazines to shame. The whole thing is a joy, from start to finish, and you can access it, free of charge, at whatkatieate.blogspot.com. Five-star rating, don't miss it.

Marie-Claire Digby

Long slices of salmon

Remember when Dublin's Grafton Street had a fish shop on it? It's been a while since McConnells closed its doors, but the name, and the business, lives on in Whitestown Industrial Estate in Tallaght, Dublin 24, where Adrian Sweeney runs a smokery and what he terms a "fresh fish factory shop", selling fresh fish at discounted prices. It's open to the public Wednesday to Friday, 10am-4.30pm. Sweeney bought the McConnells name and production facility when the family business closed, and now smokes salmon, chicken, mackerel, trout and duck. His organic Clare Island farmed
salmon is trimmed before being cut into extra long slices. Superquinn is also stocking McConnell's smoked salmon
(¤9.99 for 200g, ¤12.99 for 300g) and it is available in selected branches nationwide. See mcconnellsgsf.ie.

Marie-Claire Digby