Food Matters GIY

Cork-born Karen O'Donoghue is a woman with a mission: to improve people's gut health through the bread she bakes at The Happy Tummy Co. in Westport, Co Mayo. Her baked goods are the culmination of a long and sometimes painful journey involving the loss of her mother to cancer, years spent suffering through poor mental and physical health, and ultimately teaching herself all about optimum nutrition. In this episode of Food Matters, Karen shares the fascinating story of how she healed hers...

Sally Barnes is both a force of nature and a champion for it. One of Ireland’s most iconic artisan food producers, Sally runs the last smokehouse in Ireland that deals exclusively with Ireland’s diminishing stock of wild fish. Sally started out by smoking fish in a tea chest in the early 1980s as a way of preserving unexpected gluts, and in the years that followed she has taught herself the techniques of the trade through trial and error and lots of experimentation. Today, Sally is...

Get the jars, vinegar and flavourings at the ready because Caitlin Ruth is about to inspire you to start pickling and preserving everything you can get your hands on. Caitlin worked as a professional chef in many kitchens in many places, but her childhood love of pickling and fermenting always came with her. She has now captured all of her favourite recipes and tips and tricks in a beautiful new book called Funky, which is published by the incredible Blasta Books – publishers to the star...

They say that size doesn’t matter, it’s what you do with it that counts. And when it comes to growing our own food, that’s certainly the case. Renowned gardener Huw Richards and highly accomplished chef Sam Cooper have spent the last two years working out how we can all grow as much fruit and veg as we can eat, on just a small plot of land. They share this perfect growing formula, along with practical tips, recipes and month by month growing plans in their new book, The Self-Sufficiency Garde...

Flahavans is one of Ireland’s most iconic family businesses. Having milled locally-grown oats in Co Waterford for almost 250 years, the family has built the Flahavans brand over seven generations and it is now synonymous with porridge and other nutritious oat-based foods. In recent years, Flahavans has invested heavily in expanding the product range, which now includes oat milk, flapjacks, mueslis and granolas. In this episode of Food Matters, Mick Kelly meets family member Johnny Flahav...

Most of us have grown up learning that bugs and bacteria are bad, but did you know that our bodies are packed full of little microbes that are working day and night to keep us healthy and happy? Collectively, we call this the microbiome, and the better we take care of it, the better it can take care of us. Dr Rebecca O’ Mahony of BiomiCare is one of Ireland’s leading experts on the microbiome and what we need to do to ensure that it is performing at its best. On this episode of Food Matt...