Dec
23
Top Three (Last Minute) Foodie Pressies
Got a special someone in your life who loves their food? Has Christmas crept up on you slowly but surely, find you yet again with a week to go and no gift inspiration? Well, have no fear and join the club. Especially for folks like you (and me), here is a list of the top three ideas....
Budget between €10 and €30
Jams, chutneys, cheeses and hampers
All foodies love things like Apple & Pear Chutneys, Cheese Boards and hamper baskets full of delicious goodies. Marks & Spencer (in the Jervis Street Shopping Centre or on Grafton Street) have fantastic gifts for foodies that are both deliciously packaged and good value. For example, their Risotto Gift Pack not only includes all the neccessary ingredients for a beauitful risotto, but it includes a genuinely useful risotto pan.
Another place in the city centre offering lovely hampers is Fallon & Byrne on Exchequer Street. Their hampers tend to be filled with Italian style goodies such as Amaretti Biscuits and lovely coffee, and are priced between €10 and €30. You could alternatively make up your own foodie hamper by buying individual cheeses from Fallon & Byrne's well-stocked cheese counter, and pair it with some lovely chutney and crackers from the shop itself. You could pop these all in a well-wrapped shoebox and have your own Recession Chic hamper!
Budget of €20 to €150
Anything by Le Creuset
Le Creuset are to cooks what Les Paul's are to guitarists. They are the most beautiful, sturdy, life-long lasting pots and dishes that a cook can own. Depending on your budget, you could go for one of the much-sought after 22 cm Cast Iron Round Casserole (approx €130) - fabulous for casseroles and slow-cooked roast joints - or you could go for something small but equally stunning such as the Butter Dish (approx €15).
Arnott's in Dublin stock a wide range of Le Creuset products, and have a few of the most popular products on sale at the moment. However, if you have the time and the transport, I would strongly recommend taking a trip out to Kildare Village, the outlet shopping centre which houses a Le Creuset shop which stocks all of the desirable pieces at an average of 30% cheaper. A Christmas miracle that can be taken advantage of all year round. Now, if you're really skint, you can head into All Rooms on Liffey Street, where they sell a remarkably good Le Creuset butter dish fake for the grand sum of €5. Bargain!
Budget of €85 plus
A course at Ballymaloe Cookery School, Co Cork
If you can afford it, this is the best bet. And it has the MAJOR bonus of allowing you to book this on-line and present your lucky foodie with a print-out of the booking, thus giving your foodie a fantastic pressie without you really have to put in any effort at all. Win!
Ballymaloe has arguably the best reputation for cooking courses in the country - and its reputation spreads beyond our nation's shores - and believe me, any cook or foodie would LOVE a course at this reputable school. There is the much sought after 12-week certificate course, but the school also offers a great deal of shorter courses, perhaps more suitable for the more casual cook. These short courses range from 5 days to 1/2 day, and the prices run from €85 right up to €545. Have a look at their website for details of all the courses available.
And so, if you've left the present for the foodie in your life til the last minute, any of these will be a much-loved addition to their collection on Friday.
Happy Christmas!
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