Food file

All about food with MARIE-CLAIRE DIGBY

It's Mothers' Day next Sunday, and if you're looking forinspiration here are a few ideas. At Art Tea at Dublin's MerrionHotel, the fanciful cakes are inspired by the hotel's impressive artcollection ([euro]36, including a copy of the art catalogue). Tea atthe Radisson Blu St Helen's in Dublin 4 is another elegant choice,and on Mondays, the afternoon tea menu includes luscious Sicilianpastries called cannoli, made in-house by Giancarlo Anselmi([euro]21). Afternoon tea ([euro]20) at Longueville House in Mallow,Co Cork is a nice way to enjoy the comfortable surroundings of thehotel's drawing room and Mount Hillary room. In all cases vouchersare available and advance reservations are recommended.

TV3 chef Andrew Rudd's Diva Dinner at the Sugar Club in Dublin onMothers' Day (5.30pm until late) sounds like a livelier alternativeto afternoon tea. Prosecco and canapes, a sit-down three-coursedinner with wine, cookery demonstrations, and live cabaret withKristin Kapelli sounds like great value at [euro]55 per person. Bookat andrewrudd.ie.

One of the advantages of using the internet to learn about foodis that you have a virtual army of co-researchers (and fellowTwitter and blog addicts) sharing information about their excitingnew discoveries. PR director and food lover Sinead Ryan, whomasterminded the clever online campaign for Crackbird, the pop-upfried chicken restaurant in Dublin, recently directed her Twitterfollowers to a food blog written by Kay Bax, and it's a great one tobookmark. Bax, who lives in Gouda in the Netherlands, specialises increating step-by-step visual story boards, relying on her excellentphotographic skills to bring her recipes to life. "Two years aftermy son was born I started blogging, mainly to help out a handful offriends who wanted to learn to cook," she explains. "The step-by-step photos were useful in showing them what to do and what the foodwas supposed to look like at any given time during the cookingprocess.

"Before I knew it, my hobby got out of hand, my blog traffic wentthrough the roof and I was published in Reader's Digest, and Dutchmagazines, and was working on an online food magazine with a BelgianTV company. Kayotic Kitchen reached a million page views per month.It's been a crazy but wonderful ride," she says.

This is Bax's photo of a versatile and delicious Moroccan saffronsalsa called Tanane, the recipe for which you'll find atkayotickitchen.com.

mcdigby@irishtimes.com

The small but well-stocked food hall at Harvey Nichols inDundrum, Dublin 14 is a treasure trove of stylish gifts, and new andinnovative food products. On a recent visit I was delighted to findthe Easy Tasty Magic collection of beautifully packaged spice rubsand finishing salts designed by Laura Santtini, who also created theTaste No5 Umami Paste that became an internet sensation when shelaunched it last year. The Easy Tasty Magic collection includes anAlchemical Larder (right, [euro]28.95), which Santtini describes as"16 magical ingredients and some notions for potions". So, there's alittle bit of whimsy going on here, but underpinned by meticulousattention to quality - the spices are sourced from top-notch UKcompany Steenbergs, and the heavy, jewel-coloured glass packing isreally beautiful. The spice rubs ([euro]7.95), which you can use wetor dry or as a marinade, include White Mischief, a wonderful blendof jasmine, orange flower, chilli, sichuan pepper and smoky Chinesetea, and Carnal Sin, which has Persian rose petals, pink salt, pinkpeppercorns and tangy sumac. If Harvey Niks isn't your stompingground, you can order them for delivery by post or courier (tel: 01-2910420).