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EATING OUT:The Stephouse is making a mark in Carlow's culinary wheel - Borris

BORRIS, by the River Barrow, nestling at the foothills of Mount Leinster, has thankfully changed little since my childhood. Mere mention of the village triggers a host of fond holiday memories for me, many of the surrounding food. Memories of sharing just-caught trout, spit-roasted on the river bank at dawn; savouring garden peas we shelled, blanched quickly and served with a knob of local butter; or being moved to enthusiastic exaltations, as much as a 10-year-old can be, by tender spring lamb, slow-roasted and served simply, in its own juices with gobsmackingly fresh vegetables. Those memories remind me of how amazing Irish produce can be, and how lucky we are to have a land as green and fertile as we do.