So, you can't have a birthday without getting a present, but what do you give the girl that has everything? A lilac cardigan and a set of pearls as her 'old lady' uniform? No, that would never do!
I racked my brains, and eventually remembered something that another friend had told me about and highly recommended. And the best thing about this present was that I go to go to!
After a three month wait for a booking, and then a very disappointing postponement, our day out eventually arrived. We got a 'very early for a Saturday' bus into town, grabbed a quick coffee and a little walk down memory lane for Joan in Kylemore Cafe (she used to work in the building), then took our places at the appointed meeting place of the Spire in O'Connell Street.
It wasn't long before our guide arrived. A very pretty little French girl called Ketty, who was going to take us on a walking tour of Dublin. I know, I initially thought it was a bit odd too, getting up ridiculously early on a Saturday morning to walk around my own city with a French girl. But I should have mentioned that the tour was called 'French Foodie in Dublin'.
We were going to eat our way round our home town!
After a brief history of food and Irish eating habits over the centuries we were off to our first port of call.
A pub!
Well, it's a pub at night, but during the day, it's a coffee bar. We were very pleased, as the coffee we had grabbed earlier was horrible! We are both coffee drinkers and don't drink instant coffee, but even we were impressed by the science behind the coffee we got to taste. I didn't know there was a ratio between the coffee and the liquid, and that the temperature and brewing time were so precise. It was almost as technical as baking a cake. And the brewer had the best coffee maker that I have ever seen:
It looks like something you would see in an Opium den (not that I have ever been in one of those!) but it was actually very simple to use, and even tho all of the coffee was not to my taste, it did make very smooth coffee. It was like sampling wine, as he explained the different 'notes' and flavors that you could find in each cup that he brewed.
What a great way to start the tour, we were certainly on a high, even if it was caffeine induced one, when we left there.
Our next stop was an 'arty' cafe, where we had brunch of the poshest scrambled eggs on sour dough bread that I have ever eaten. After that it was along the street to a little bakery where we ate freshly baked scones with home made jam, that was spooned out of the pot still warm.
I suppose I should tell you that we didn't just eat, we did get a bit of the history behind each place that we visited. All the brewers/bakers and chefs we have met so far, have all left boring jobs in the Finance (or similar) industry to follow their dream of slaving over a stove to make food for the likes of me and Joan. I can only speak for my self when I say that I am very glad that they did! Although I do think Joan would agree with me.
Our next stop was the farmers market in Temple Bar, where I sampled a very tasty olive, then on to our next stop.
An ice-cream bar! And it's even called after Joan!
We had a very generous host at this location, where we sampled ice-cream made from milk from the Kerry cows. Apparently these cows are rarer than Giant Pandas! Some people would say anything to sell ice-cream.
I did like the caramelized brown bread flavor, but my favorite sample was the gin flavored one,...
By now we were beginning to feel a bit stuffed and we were only half way through the tour. All the time we were eating, we were also getting more information about the culinary explosion that is going on in Dublin at the moment. It's a great place to eat at the moment, but I wasn't sure I could eat anything else. What's that? Did somebody mentioned a chocolate shop...
Chestnut honey and strawberry and basil were the samples offered in the chocolate shop. I still can't decide if I liked the chestnut honey chocolate, but it was chocolate, so it would have been rude to leave it behind. The strawberry and basil, which are not two ingredients that I would put together, was like heaven in a little square! There were also macaroons in this shop, but we didn't get to sample those, as they were imported from France, and we were there to sample all things Irish!
I was ready to go home. (Or fall into a food induced coma!) There was no way she, our tour guide, could possibly surpass the chocolate experience.
Unless your next stop is the best fish and chip shop in town!
Just as well we were walking between eating sessions. We did protest, but our cries of fullness soon faded when presented with perfectly battered fish pieces and beautifully fried chips. We also got a brief history of how fish and chips became so popular in Ireland. I'm not going to tell you, you will have to do the tour to find out!
And then, there was more.
Next stop was one specially on the menu for Joan. A cheese maker! I didn't know how I was going to fit anything else in! I was sorry I hadn't worn my elastic waist-ed pants! Just as well the samples provided were very small. And very tasty.
At this stage we were on the other side of town to where we had started. I had reached my limit. I couldn't eat another thing.
But we had one more stop.
Whiskey tasting! Well, you couldn't have an Irish tour without Whiskey, could you? This French girl certainly know how to do a finale!
Not being a whiskey drinker, this one was a bit wasted on me. But Joan really enjoyed this bit. She's not really a whiskey drinker either, but was able to appreciate it better then I did. We did taste one brand that was made in Connemara, and we could actually taste and smell the bog. Drinking it was like sitting in a old farmhouse with a turf fire crackling in the corner throwing smoke out and covering everybody in ash. Seriously, we could taste all that in the liquid!
Our tour was finished. All the people we met along the way were very knowledgeable and interested in their chosen food/drink. I wish I was a passionate about preparing food, and not just eating it, as they all were. I know I speak for the two of us when I say we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
So, after all that walking, and eating, we had to sit down for a minute and have a drink...
And look! For the day that was in it, they even put a blackberry in my drink! I didn't eat it tho', I was too full....
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