The Week In Food #22: From VAT rate woes to new food systems and healthier chocolate
BBQ season is here too with some handy recipes included this week.
Croissant to the left of me, coffee to the right, here I am another year older as I dive into this week’s helping of The Week In Food.
While turning 40 was a milestone in itself last year, turning 41 now officially puts me “in my forties”, something my 22-year-old inner self doesn’t quite agree with but they’ll just have to get used to.
Eating out this week, I've finally had a chance to try Caffe500 in Kilkenny, the sister to the Carlow restaurant of the same name, and it did not disappoint. An all-Italian affair with a window seat overlooking The Parade, let’s just say their pepperoni pizza is the business.
Keep it simple and all that.
On with the news of the week…
1. VAT rate woes revealed in new restaurant survey
More than nine in ten respondents said that the reduced VAT rate of 9% for the food-led hospitality sector, which increased to 13.5% last September, had been critical to the survival of their business, according to a new survey carried out by Interpath Advisory and the Restaurants Association of Ireland.
The survey shows that confidence across the restaurant industry is being tested with
51.2% expecting revenues to decrease over the coming 12 months
90.7% saying profits would likely fall
64% expecting to reduce job numbers over the next year
The Currency are carrying a free read this week on the VAT 9 campaign and where it sits as a possible election issue, though I can’t say I’ve heard much in terms of representation from candidates doing the rounds of late.
Read more: Increased VAT rate has restaurants worried about future survival
Read more: Most restaurants say VAT hike biggest threat to sector as insolvencies rise
Read more: VAT 9 Campaign details from LVA
2. €35m to transform Ireland’s agri-food systems?
This week, the Irish Government welcomed the launch of a new €35m joint research centre on sustainable food systems based at University College Dublin.
Funded by the Irish Government through Science Foundation Ireland and the Shared Ireland Fund, and by UK Research and Innovation and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, the new collaboration will bring together world-leading researchers from across the island of Ireland and Great Britain for the first time.
The newly-minted Co-Centre for Sustainable Food Systems will focus on research expertise in specific shared areas including food safety and production, nutrition, plant and animal science, behavioural change, data science, food system governance, and the political process of food system transformation.
Will it transform Ireland’s agri-food sector? Time will tell.
3. TooGoodToGo breaks the million barrier
There’s good news on the app front this week with food waste app Too Good To Go proclaiming that one million surprise bags have been rescued from waste from restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries and supermarkets around the country since their Irish launch in 2022.
If you’ve not tried it previously, Too Good To Go is a free app that enables users to purchase food from local eateries, shops, and cafes across Ireland that would otherwise be discarded at a significantly reduced price.
I know people who swear by it, whether for making savings on shopping, looking for a last-minute party option (you could get lucky), or just to get through the week. If you’ve not tried it yet, it’s worth a look.
Read more: Milestone achievement: TooGoodToGo rescues 1 million bags of food from waste
Visit: TooGoodToGo.com
4. Great Taste Awards take over Tipperary
Ham tasting at this week’s Great Taste Awards. Photo: Great Taste Awards/Facebook
As judging season for this year’s Great Taste Awards nears a close, Clonmel’s Minella Hotel played host for a few days this week to the usually held in the UK, post-Brexit rules are making things hard on the food front to get all of the Irish products into the Great Taste Awards judging process, so for just the second time, Clonmel had to take over hosting duties.
In all, three days of judging took place, consisting primarily of Irish products from smaller producers, the Guild Of Fine Foods declaring the week in Tipperary a great success. Nine UK coordinators and judges were flowing in to ensure consistency with the judging process as it would be in the UK, working together with local food and drink experts - some of whom you may recognise on the Great Taste Awards Facebook page this weekend - with everyone working together to blind test all the entries, a few with three stars.
Results won’t be made public until 30 July.
Read more: GreatTasteAwards.co.uk
5. A healthier approach to making chocolate?
Last, but by no means least, it looks like Swiss scientists and chocolatiers may have come up with a way to avoid using sugar in the chocolate-making process, ultimately swapping sugar for waste plant matter.
By mashing up the pulp and husk of a cocoa pod instead of just taking the beans, scientists “have made a sweet and fibrous gel that could replace the sugar in chocolate”, according to a report published in Nature Food and detailed in the Guardian this weekend.
Take said waste flesh and juice of the cocoa fruit, turn it into a gel, add it to chocolate instead of powdered crystalline sugar, and away you go. The results of the study could make chocolate healthier (by process) and more sustainable, while also giving farmers a new revenue stream.
Read more: Valorization of cocoa pod side streams improves nutritional and sustainability aspects of chocolate
Read more: Scientists developed method of making healthier, more sustainable chocolate
Extra reading this week
Although it was published a week ago, as someone who’s been spending a bit of time this year solo-dining, Glamour’s take on solo dating (with some mention of food, at least) makes for some novel reading.
Ali Dunworth has been meeting some of the new faces joining the ranks of a thriving Irish food and drink scene
In Cork any time soon? Yay Cork whipped up a quick guide for BBQ enthusiasts that might be planning a trip to the English Market in the not-too-distant future.
Planning a long-haul trip any time soon? Ever wonder what food or drink you should avoid consuming on a flight?
NY Mag take a look at 13 of the very best coffee grinders. Your kitchen needs an upgrade this summer, right?
5 recipes to try this week
The sun’s out, so we may take in some BBQ recipes this week!
Aubergine doesn’t have to be rubbish. In fact, it could turn out to be quite mouth-watering off the BBQ. Bonus tip: add some sourdough bread in the mix.
Ready in 30 minutes, these ultra-juicy grilled BBQ pork chops look the business.
Got yourself a shiny new Weber grill? They’ve got a handy guide on serving up crispy butterflied BBQ chicken.
For vegetarian diners, how about some grilled tofu skewers this summer?
Like your steak rare or blue? How about a garlic flap steak (skirt steak) where the secret is all in the preparation.
Podcast pick of the week
Where last week I was going mad on tacos, this week it’s burritos and it’s timely that The Food Chain dipped into the origins and evolution of the humble grab-and-go burrito, starting life in northern Mexico before taking over the world. Take 27 minutes, enjoy.
And that’s a wrap…
Actually, the above’s a wrap and it doesn’t look to bad either. But that is indeed it for another week - and the best thing about it all is that it’s a bank holiday weekend, so we (as in the Irish we) should be able to chill out for an extra 24 hours before getting back to the office on Tuesday.
As for me, it’s The Cat Laughs comedy festival weekend in Kilkenny so I’m off to find a few jokes and a bite of food before taking in some racing on Monday (all work-related, trust me).
Until next week, mind how you go,
K