Sir, - What is the point of giving print space to the recipe featured in John McKenna's foodie column of October 26th, namely, Yan-Kit's Fish Fragrant Aubergine? Among the ingredients listed in the recipe were cloud ear Chinese mushrooms, Shaoshing wine, Szechwan chili paste and potato flour.
We are informed by Mr McKenna that the first three ingredients can be bought in Chinese groceries! Oh yes, of course, my local Chinese grocery, where else? I am fairly certain that there are no such purveyors of exotica in Galway, and I suspect that they're difficult to find even in cosmopolitan Dublin.
Although Mr McKenna's aim should be to foster in his readers the courage to try something new with their cooking, it is my opinion that he is going too far and succeeds only in creating the impression that there is a level of cooking to which ordinary Irish mortals should not aspire. Supplying a recipe such as this in a national newspaper smacks of an elitism which I find genuinely uncomfortable. , Yours, etc.,
Barna, Galway.