Keep the tank topped up

FOOD FILE: Diet food that keeps you fuller longer . . . it sounds too good to be true. But following research undertaken by scientists at the Rowlett Institute of Nutrition and Health at the University of Aberdeen, Marks & Spencer has developed a "Simply Fuller Longer" range of low-calorie meals and snacks that rely on protein to keep hunger at bay.

So you’ll find crunchy peanuts in the roast chicken salad with noodles and satay dressing, and edamame beans in the appetising coconut and lime chilli chicken noodles (pictured). An explanatory booklet and meal planner is available in store and online at www.marksandspencer.com/health. The snacks cost from €2.50 and the meals are from €4.50.

Message in a bottle

A spoonful of Madeira, a drizzle of walnut oil, a splash of raspberry vinegar – my larder cupboard is crammed with bottles and jars that I use so infrequently (if at all) that they regularly end up in the bin, their use-by dates sometimes years in the past. So, it’s good to see a shop come to Dublin that will sell you small quantities, from 100mls, of a huge range of oils, vinegars, liqueurs and spirits.

Vom Fass, a franchise with more than 210 shops in 18 countries, has just opened at 15 South Anne Street, Dublin 2. The products are all sold from casks, and you choose the amount and the container you want it decanted into, from simple glass bottles costing from 70 cent, to more elaborate presentations. The bottles, which can be personalised with a hand-written message, can be brought back to be refilled.

It’s a perfect way to get hold of small quantities of products that you may need only occasionally or that don’t have a long shelf life, such as nut oils. The range is extensive and includes: fruit vinegars, such as fig, date, quince, cherry, raspberry, mango and apple; nut oils, such as hazelnut, walnut, almond and pistachio; and a variety of olive oils.

The vinegars start at €3.50 per 100ml, with 15-year-old Balsamic for €4.30 and 25-year-old for €10.50. The olive oils are less than €4 per 100ml, and of the nut oils the most expensive is pistachio, at €11.60 for 100ml, the hefty price tag reflecting the 1,000 nuts required to produce that amount of oil.

There are also row upon row of fruit- and cream-based liqueurs, and spirits will be added when the required licence is procured. An online shop is under construction, see vomfass.ie.

There's 33per cent off food bills at the Yo! Sushi restaurants in Clarendon Street, Dublin 2 and Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin 14 every day between 3pm and 6pm, and a super saver set – one blue, one purple and one orange plate – for €10, every day between midday and 3pm.

Detox tea time

“I’ve been drinking it for about two months, and I’ve lost 5kg.” What could it be? Prea Munian, customer-care manager with Solaris Botanicals in Galway was talking about the company’s version of Pu-Erh, the weight-loss tea beloved of celebrities. Solaris King of Pu-Erh tea comes from Yunnan province in China, where it is picked by hand before undergoing a process of fermentation, which Solaris says “helps activate health promoting ingredients (similar to pro-biotics)”. The tea is widely available from health-food shops, organic stores and supermarkets nationwide and costs €13.95.

WEB WATCH

www.worldfoodieguide.com

This excellent website and blog written by Helen Yuet Ling Pang is a wonderful source of recipes, restaurant reviews and travelogues. Sadly, the author recently decided to stop writing her blog, but the website will be kept live indefinitely, and the archives are full of excellent writing, including an unmissable section on the etiquette of eating various types of Chinese food.