Food

Food File: the weekly food news round-up

Irish culinary student wins top Spanish prize; healthy eating; barista classes in Cork

Cocu on Upper Baggot Street is responding to the growing demand for healthy food that’s interesting and well-sourced

Marie Claire Digby's face
Marie Claire Digby
Fri Apr 3 2015 - 07:00

Irish student wins spot on Spanish training programme
Cormac Witero, a 26-year-old culinary arts student at GMIT, is one of 12 budding chefs worldwide who have been selected for a €12,000 training programme in Spanish gastronomy. The bursary covers a six-week language course in Spain, a course at the International School of Culinary Arts in Valladolid, a 13-week internship at a leading restaurant in Spain, and a two-week study tour to learn more about Spanish gastronomy, produce and culture. Joining the Galway student will be young chefs from Canada, China, Mexico, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, the UK and the US.

Making the healthy option easy
Restaurants have been rightly up in arms about calorie counts on menus, but a new Dublin spot is making a feature of having everything nutritionally assessed and calorie-counted.

Cocu at 9 Upper Baggot Street, Dublin 4 is one of a wave of new restaurants responding to the growing demand for healthy food that’s interesting and well-sourced.

Try the barista classes at ORSO Kitchen & Bar on Pembroke Street in Cork

Business partners John Roche and Emilia Rowan, who is a chef, have travelled extensively and worked abroad, and their lunch menu doesn’t feature bread, wraps or what they describe as “carb-heavy” options. Instead, lunchers build their own “Cocu Box” with a base of brown rice, baby spinach or sweet potatoes to which are added proteins such as Middle Eastern chicken with roast peppers, pinenuts and avocado, or charred beef flank with pickled veg. Cold-pressed juices and good coffee are also on offer. See cocu.ie.

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A better cup of Joe
You don't have to be looking for a job in a coffee shop to undertake a barista skills course, but it's a useful skill that travels, and of course your morning cuppa will improve immeasurably.

ORSO Kitchen & Bar on Pembroke Street in Cork has had such a level of interest in its three-hour classes that they’re booked out this month and next, but there are spots available on Monday, May 11th and Monday, June 8th. The three-hour class costs €70 and is a mixture of theory and practical. See orso.ie