Just reading a fax from Kilkenny-based chef Eugene McSweeney is enough to make the mouth water. Try this for a start: "Chocolate pecan pie, sachertorte, death by chocolate, chocolate crepes with plums and port, prune fritters with chocolate sauce, sticky chocolate and toffee pudding, chocolate cinnamon tuiles and chocolate hazelnut galettes."
Or how about: "Thai fish cakes with chilli jam, twice-baked cheese souffle, coq au vin, monkfish with crab and chive sabayon, tiramisu, Napoleon of chocolate and French coffee."
Eugene, proprietor and chef of the city's Lacken House restaurant and guesthouse, certainly knows how to get our attention.
He wasn't always confident he could, however. When he started his Cooking with Eugene courses at Lacken House last year, he admits he was "sure nobody would turn up".
But they did, in such numbers and with such enthusiasm that the chef, nationally known from appearances on RTE television programmes like PM Live and Pot Luck, is about to launch another round of courses for those who aspire to be more sophisticated in the kitchen. Whatever about their abilities in the kitchen, Eugene says Irish people have become infinitely more sophisticated in their tastes, mainly as a result of travelling abroad.
The first of the one-day courses, "The Perfect Breakfast", takes place next Wednesday and is geared for those in the B&B, guesthouse and catering sector. The following six weeks will see courses as diverse as "Death by Chocolate", "Cooking for Men Only", "Cooking for Only One", "Party Entertainment" and "Vegetarian Cooking".
Eugene's wife, Breda, named Ireland's "Sommelier of the Year" last year, will also give a tutored tasting of wines to match Eugene's menus.
The courses cost £40 or £50 each and there are also overnight packages with dinner available.