Food File: Your weekly food news round-up

Crumble’n’Crunch is such a clever idea you wonder why nobody has thought of it before. No surprise that the women bringing it to market are food industry professionals who have held senior management positions at home and abroad with Kerry Foods, Aryzta and Statoil.

College friends Niamh Duffy and Aine Kinsella studied food science and food engineering technology. They have packaged finely crumbled cheese with a complimentary crunchy component to bring variety to salads, sandwiches, pizzas, quiches and any number of dishes. The resealable packs (€3-€3.80), contain enough for two servings, and the ingredients are sourced in Wexford and Cork.

There are three varieties to choose from: goat’s cheese with beetroot and walnut crumb; mature cheddar cheese with maple, bacon and oat crumb; and mozzarella, red and white cheddar and Parmesan with seasoned crispy onions. They are on sale in 15 SuperValu stores in the Dublin area, with nationwide distribution on the way.

Yummy fungus again among us
Dust off the wellies and grab a basket. Mushroom season is upon us, and Bill O'Dea's popular mushroom hunts at Killruddery House Estate in Co Wicklow (October 2nd and 9th) and at The Park Hotel in Kenmare, Co Kerry (October 22nd) are an excellent way to learn what's safe to eat.

Chefs JP McMahon and Pat McLarnon and Denise Dunne of The Herb Garden are collaborating on tomorrow's hunt. Morning refreshments, an introductory talk by Bill O'Dea, a 2½-hour forage, followed by ID of the 50-plus types of mushrooms that can expect to be collected, and a lunch cooked with the edible ones, is included in the €70 fee. Bookings at mushroomstuff.com

Recipes from Belfast
Belfast on a Plate is a hardback collection of recipes, interviews and photographs from 20 of the city's top restaurants. The restaurants, which each contributed three recipes are Coppi, Deanes Eipic, Deanes at Queens, General Merchants, Graze, Howard Street, Home, Hadskis, James Street South, Mourne Seafood Bar, Neill's Hill, OX, Saphyre, Shu, The Barking Dog, The Ginger Bistro, The Merchant Hotel, The Muddlers Club, Tedford's Kitchen and Zen. The book was written by Joanna Braniff with photography by David Pauley, whose idea the project was. It is now available in bookshops, from Amazon, and in the participating restaurants, for £25 (about €30).