Irish food, French style - and a reader competition

The dollop of green food colouring approach to St Patrick’s Day cooking is fairly common. But in Wexford town French chef Jacques Carrera is offering a more subtle take on Paddy’s Day food.

At his restaurant Jacques French Bistro in the Greenacres food hall he is putting on a set menu called An Irish Day for an Irish Product. It includes a glass of wine or stout and tea or coffee for €29 and crams in an impressive array of Wexford ingredients. The menu includes Ballyhack oysters, grilled Wexford spring lamb and chips made with Wexford spuds. For dessert there’s an Irish farmhouse cheese plate or crepes filled with Featherbed Farm ice-cream from Wexford. Given all the local sourcing and provenance it’s not surprising that Georgina Campbell and Bord Bia have named Jacques French Bistro as their “Just Ask” restaurant of the month for March. The menu is available for three nights from next Wednesday to Friday. Book online at Greenacres.ie or telephone 053-9122975.

To win one of two pairs of tickets for dinner at Jacques French Bistro during the celebrations email your name and address with your idea for a St Patrick’s Day dish to justask@bordbia.ie. Entries need to marked Just Ask in the subject field and be submitted on or before noon next Monday, March 14th