Market Newsletter 29th July 2010

Welcome to this week's newsletter! We are just back from northern Spain, where we have spent the last three days researching new wines for our portfolio and visiting some of our current wine suppliers. We were also researching which other products we could import to sell at the market. So, watch this space for new exciting products over the next few months! The photograph is of vines which go to make our Vina Marro wines, and we have one of them on special this week

And yes, the weather was great, but we promise that we worked hard for the time that we were there!

Stallholder news:

Congratulations to Blazing Salads! Pamela (one of the three siblings who own the business) sent me this email:

We are delighted to inform you that our delicious Organic Spelt Soda won a gold star in the Great Taste Awards 2010.The great taste Awards is organised by the Guild Of Fine foods and is often referred to as the Oscars of the food Industry. They are a recognised mark of excellence that consumers can trust and rely on. I thought if you want to mention it in your news letter. We are also on twitter and people can contact us on www.blazingsalads.com.

Gannet Fishmongers:

Stephane has been telling me that things are fairly hectic in Galway this week with Galway Race Week, but he hopes to have a few specials on this week end. Expect Wild salmon, brill, lobsters and some fish from a small trawler off Cleggan but don't know what yet because their still swimming.... 

Wine specials:

I think that the mid-day sun in Spain got to Colm, as he is increasing our discount on the wines this Saturday to 20% off!

As already mentioned, we are doing a special on one of our Rioja wines this week. Our Vina Marro Rioja Reserva 2001 is normally priced at €18.70. With our 20% discount, expect to pay €14.96 on Sat. We are also doing a Spanish white on special - this is from Jumilla in South-East Spain and is down from its usual price of €10.50 to just €8.18. Check out the red here for more information and the white here.

Cafe news: As I am just in the door from Bilbao, I havent had time to think about what dishes to do, so it will be a surprise for Sat! As usual, it will be from whatever is seasonally available at the market, so having been eating Spanish food for the last few days, I need a little while to readjust to Irish fare. Over the next few weeks, we will be experimenting with brown bread recipes, so if you have a good recipe, then please send it to us to include in our experiments!

The Pantry and Tasting Table will have lots of goodies to taste, check out the market noticeboard or the website on Saturday for details. The bread-and-butter cucumber pickle went down really well last Saturday. Made from in-season Irish cucumbers, it is a simple and tasty addition to the store cupboard.If you want to try your hand at making it, here is the recipe.

Hope to see you at the market on Saturday!

Brid and Colm