The Challenge Continues...

We hope you've been keeping tabs on Allan O'Sullivan's (aka Irish Food Geek) Green Saffron Spice Challenge! See our previous news on this site for details. If you haven't, Allan has set himself the challenge of cooking his way through the entire Green Saffron range. First time out, he cooked up a great version of our Bombay Aloo. His next cook up had us slightly worried: like many of us, he's very sceptical about cooking with ready made sauces from a jar - they generally don't yield anything like the results that cooking from scratch does. So, what was he cooking this time? Yes, our ready made cook-in Korma sauce from a jar! We awaited the results with nervous anticipation, knowing that Allan would pull no punches with his verdict. The results are in! Click here to see what Allan made of our sauce! Allan's main blog, Irish Food Geek, is a must for all foodies. Click h...

Spice Challenge Underway!

Allan O'Sullivan's spice challenge is under way. You may remember that Allan is planning of eating/cooking his way through the Green Saffron oeuvre, in a nod to the film Julie & Julia where blogger Julie Powell tries to cook her way through Julia Child's first book! His blog, Irish Food Geek, is a great read anyway, but his spice challenge is the icing on the cake for us! Read about his spice challenge here. Best of luck, Allan!

Our new videos!

If you’d like a little extra help with your spicy cooking, check out our new videos of Arun rustling up some great meals with our spices and sauces here.  A big thank you to Robin Murray of Nomos Productions for creating them. Let us know what you think of them!

Our Tesco stockists.

Lots of you have been asking which of the many Tesco's stores we are now stocked in. The list at present is: Tesco's that are currently stocking our newly packaged range of 5 Spice Blends: LISDUGGANMULLINGARSLIGONUTGROVEARKLOW SQUARENEWBRIDGE MOOREFIELDFINGLAS CLEARWATERTRALEE MANORNEW ROSSBALLINASLOE REPLCEMNTBALLYBEGSWINFORDPORTLAOISE1BLOOMFIELDSWILTON SQUAREBALLYBRACKMERRIONMAHONCLAREHALL EXTRADUNDRUM TOWN CENTREARDKEENWEXFORD SQUAREMAYNOOTH EXTRADROGHEDA EXTRAORANMORENAAS EXTRAROSCREA1BALBRIGGAN1CABRAKILDARE Tescos that are currently stocking our new Sauces:NENAGHBALLYBRACKTRALEE MANORPORTLAOISE1CABRANUTGROVEDOUGLAS EXTRAWILTON SQUAREDOORADOYLEARKLOW SQUAREORANMOREBALBRIGGAN1TALLAGHTDUNDRUM TOWN CENTREWEXFORD SQUAREDROGHEDA EXTRAMAHONCLAREHALL EXTRAFINGLAS CLEARWATERARDKEENMAYNOOTH EXTRANAAS EXTRA

Happy New Year!! (belated!)

Happy New Year to you all. Yes, we're a little late but we've been away! We've been in India on a mixture of business and pleasure - plenty of that! Unfortunately (only in terms of updating this news box) the whole family was there so there was no one around to update this. Sorry!!

Our award winning Christmas Puddings are even better value!

It's the same pudding with improved texture and colour. We're making more this year and passing the savings on to you! If buy 2 or more you'll also get a Mulled Wine pot for FREE! Our '1lb' pudding (390g) is E7.50 - 21% less than last year!Our '2lb' pudding (850g) is E14.50 - 26% less than last year! We've packed our award-winning handmade pudding full of juicy fruits macerated in Irish artisan ‘Stonewell’ cider and ‘Kennedy’ whiskey, vanilla, pepper and our unique blend of Christmas spices. Subtle but vibrant flavour combinations deliver a pudding of immense and innovative flavour, a modern take on the classic, evoking the taste of Christmases past and future. Light in texture and with nothing dodgy or artificial added, this is fresh thinking, delicious spice innovation to make festive taste buds twinkle! Stonewell Irish Craft Cider is lovingly made in K...

A quick catch up!

Beautiful rays of sunshine continue to cut through the cold autumnal days as we fast approach winter with all the festive joys the season brings. We're all well aware of the beautiful produce popping up out the ground, stressing branches and bursting with vibrant, flavoursome life: pears, quince, apples, squashes, artichokes, truffles, chestnuts, hazelnuts and the like. Not to forget all the wonderful wild game birds, local fish and delicious lamb! All beautiful, all delicious! To us, when they're combined with a little spice, a whole new world of flavour springs onto the scene! For pears, think black pepper and vanilla, for quince, saffron, for squash, carom seeds, for apples, black cardamom…..The list is endless and Arun's trying to get his book written so all (such wonderful combinations) will be revealed in that; in a little while yet! We've been busy beavers over the last couple of months perfecting our new range of delicious Curry Sauces, working on brand new design and pack...

Carom & Malden

Two recent bits of news: Arun loved meeting up with Balaji Balachander, head chef of Carom in London's Soho. Arun was there to spread the word about Green Saffron's Aged Basmati Rice, which is fast becoming a big hit amongst foodies everywhere. Foodepedia was there and seemed to enjoy the evening as much as the rest of us: click here Malden Sea Salt recently embarked upon a series of programs for their blog entitled Desert Island Dishes. We're honoured that our Butter Chicken/Murgh Oudhi dish was one of famous journalist and TV screenwriter favourites: click here. It's well worth a watch - as are all the episodes.

Dingle Food Festival

We're really looking forward to the Dingle Food Festival starting on Friday 5th October until the 7th. We'll be serving our delicious curries and wonderfully fragrant spice blends. There will be around 60 food outlets, music, wine tasting, workshops (including coffee, chocolate and bee-keeping!), and plenty of cooking demo's. All profits go to charity. 

Rice & Rogan Josh back!

After a temporary absence, we're sure you'll all be pleased to hear that our Rogan Josh spice blend and our famed Aged Basmati Rice are now both back in stock!

Another Green Saffron Gold!

We're proud and excited to announce that we've won the highly celebrated Sial d'Or (Sial Gold Award) for Ireland. Sial 2012 in Paris is one of the most esteemed and keenly anticipated events in the food world's calendar, with over 135,000 food industry professionals from over 200 countries in attendance. The Sial d'Or was created in 1986 in conjunction with 30 international trade magazines from the food industry and retail press. It's a highly coveted award, spanning 30 countries and hundreds of products, with a great deal of deliberation and attention going into it. We feel so honoured to have won the award, which is based on innovation and marketability whilst adhering to the Sial principals of "Responsible, fair trade products and procedures", and we're really looking forward to going to Paris in October to collect it!

Bloom 2012 (from May 31st)

We're back again at Ireland's largest gardening food and family event, Bloom 2012 in Phoenix Park Dublin, after having such a good time meeting everybody there last year. We'll be in amongst all the artisan food producers, the cooking demo's and the beautiful gardens from Thursday 31st May to Monday 4th June. Come and join us and we'll give you 3 sachets of spices for €10 or a spice sachet, a jar of chutney and a bottle of sauce all for €10!! It really is a great day out with loads for the whole family to see including children's entertainers and even special guests courtesy of Dublin Zoo! 

Green Saffron in Selfridges

We're very proud to be showcasing our products in Selfridges throughout April as part of their Delicious Ireland promotion running from April 10th to the 29th. It's probably best explained by Selfridges Food Director, Ewan Venters: "The Island of Ireland is rich in diverse ingredients, offering the finest heritage, produce and product. The Delicious Ireland event will bring all those credible qualities to London, offering our Food Hall customers the chance to taste, feel and see a snapshot of what Ireland has to offer. We hope our customers enjoy the experience as much as the Artisan Irish producers will, showcasing their products" Irish food luminaries such as Richard Corrigan, Darina Allen, Ross Lewis and Kevin Dundon will be joined by our very own Arun! He'll be giving two must see demonstrations on: April 10th & April 11th when he'll be sharing his knowledge and spicy cooking secrets with you. He'll also be very happy to answer any of your questions afterwards. Throughout...

Personal Cooking demonstrations with Arun

Throughout April, May and June, Arun will be joining Oliver Dunn and Louise Lennox at the Village at Lyons, Co. Kildare to give a series of personal cooking demonstrations in beautiful, relaxed surroundings. For further information please click here - you'll find the link to book a place at the top of the page.

April  Cookery Schedule

Saturday 7th April

10am - 4pm

Indian Cooking made Simple

Wednesday 18th April

10am - 4pm

Indian Breads with Spices

May Cookery Schedule

Wednesday 2nd May

10am - 4pm

Indi...

Arun at Corrigan's Mayfair

Arun is currently in the middle of doing some demonstrations at the prestigious Corrigan's Mayfair. One of Ireland's (and London's!) best chefs, Richard Corrigan, has long been a fan of Green Saffron. So much so that we now supply our spices to his much acclaimed restaurant in London. Richard invited Arun to give two evening demonstrations at the restaurant to impart his spice expertise to guests. He's showing how to cook with spices and how to incorporate them into dishes outside of those typically associated with them. The first demonstration went brilliantly and the second is later today. If you want to see the recipes for the dishes he created for his talks please click here and look for the recipes beginning with "Corrigan's". Richard, who was awarded a Michelin star in 1998, previously had Arun feature in an episode of his Channel 4 hit "Cookery School".

Christmas Hampers!

Green Saffron are proud to continue our association with Town & Country Hampers. You'll find our Luxury Midleton Christmas Pudding included in their fantastic Merry Christmas Hamper - here Established in 1991 by Oonagh Levis and Mary Leahy. Town and Country Hampers has been successfully developed, with great emphasis in sourcing only the finest Irish Products. Through this dedication, Town and Country Hampers received the Guaranteed Irish Award - acknowledging their support for small independent Irish producers where time honoured methods are still revered. Town and Country Hampers is regarded as one of Ireland's leading Hamper companies, and is highly acclaimed for its superior quality products and classic presentation - guaranteed to impress business associates, staff, and loyal customers alike.

Our Korma blend wins GOLD award!!

We’re so proud to have been awarded GOLD for our Korma blend at the 2011 Blas na hEireann, National Irish Food Awards. It’s brilliant recognition from the most important food awards in Ireland. Olive and Arun had a great weekend surrounded by some of the most fantastic food producers in the country. We’re also thrilled to have been presented with another award as well, this time during the excellent Midleton Food Festival in September: the prestigious “Sustainability in Business” award from the Environmental Protection Agency. This is in recognition of our desire to go the extra mile in trying to run our business on ethical and environmentally friendly lines. Simple things such as using biodegradable packaging at our markets: sugar cane bowls, starch spoons, recycled napkins and jute shopping bags, to our intolerance of all things polystyrene, and onto our self-imposed Carbon Offset Tax. It’s our way of making...

Mrs. Beeton returns...

Our good friend, Gerard Baker, is in the throws of launching his fabulous new book. It's an updated version of the seminal work, 'How to Cook', by Mrs.Isabella Beeton, celebrating its 150th birthday! Based on the recipes from her household management book, Gerard has added names of suppliers and other little tips to help the modern day home cook; a supplier or two with whom you may well be familiar! It would sit perfectly on your bookshelf next to Myrtle, Darina and Rachel's wonderful offerings - checkout Amazon for the best prices!! Read more about it here

Christmas comes early!

Our Christmas range production is already underway. Everything is made by our own fair hands in Ireland and we want everything to be done properly, so we're starting early to keep up with this year's massive demand! Our now famous and award winning ‘Classic Midleton’ Christmas Pudding will again be joined by our Gluten Free Christmas Pudding – endorsed by the Coeliac Society of Ireland. If you’re not a fan of the traditional puddings, we have a treat for you too: our Cherry Chocolate and Grand Marnier pudding. It’s totally decadent, moreish and moist. Perfect for a festive treat!

Watch Arun Rant at Abergavenny!

The Abervagavenny Food Festival was again a massive success, so congratulations to everyone who organised, exhibited, and attended! Arun was there giving a tutored tasting and, of course, spreading the Irish food love. He had a great time and it all seemed to go really well. Each of the guest speakers on the day are invited to get up on stage and rant for a couple of minutes on a subject close to their heart. Any guesses as to what Arun ranted about?! Correct, his (rightly) beloved fresh, raw spices !! Click here to check out his enjoyable rant. Whilst you're there, why not have a listen to a few of the other speakers? You're sure to learn a few interesting, new foodie bits and pieces.

Looking forward to an Indian Summer!

Summer Seasonal Goodies!! Warm days, sunny days, family picnic days; days spent pottering in the garden. Summer brings many fuzzy, happy thoughts. To me, besides getting to spend more time with friends and family as days get longer, summer means a whole bunch new ingredients; delicious produce to make into happy, lively, colourful meals. Beautiful berries, light salads, fresh fish, clean tasting vegetables all waiting for their little touch of spice to re-enliven, twist and just plain make them even more yummy! Here at Green Saffron, we’ve got some delicious spicy ideas to make your summer eating, entertaining and preserving simple, easy and fun. All this with the added bonus of impressing your friends and feeding your family with a flourish! Cover chicken and prawns in our Murgh Tandoori spice marinade, simply follow our recipe and pop onto the BBQ. Choose from our range of ‘So Versatile Sauces’, dollop generous am...

The Waterford Tall Ships Race

We’re  getting ready with the Tall Ships Race in Waterford being just a couple of weeks away. We’ll be there from Thursday 30th June until Saturday 2nd July making the crowd’s taste-buds tingle in anticipation with glorious smells of our beautiful spices and delicious special menu. The menu will change slightly each day so you can keep on coming back, meal after meal. You’ll find us camped out from 11:00am to 10:00pm on the city’s Coal Quay (opposite City Square Shopping centre entrance) with those brilliant people at the local food specialist store: Ardkeen Quality Foodstore. It’s shaping up to be a great day out. As a special offer for our loyal customers, we’re offering anyone who mentions that they read this news article a free pack of spices if you spend over €10 with us at this great event. PLUS we’ll be offering any 3 items for a tenner!! Yes, 3 bottles of sauce, or 2 spice packs and 1 bottle or….you get the picture - 10 Euros! Arun and Danny will be...

Bloom Prize Winners!

Congratulations to Laura Doyle, Kate McDonnell and Kerry Meehan for winning our prizes from the Bloom festival. A spicy hamper is on its way to each of you. We’ll be in touch through Facebook to get your addresses. We had a brilliant time at Bloom and everybody else seemed to be having a ball too! Well done to Bord Bia - such a great atmosphere, so many smiling faces, and some of the gardens were just stunning! Wireshark Cookie Dump: OKCancel

Join us at Bloom in Dublin!

We’ll be at Ireland’s biggest garden festival, Bloom, in Phoenix Park, Dublin. It’s on from now until Monday 6th June. Come and join us for a bite to eat between seeing the 27 amazing showgardens, some of Ireland’s favourite artisan food producers, and picking up lots of tips from gardening and food experts. The highlight of which will surely be Arun on the Main Stage at 12.30pm on Sunday!!! Olive’s been hard at work setting up over the last few days and she’s posted the pictures to prove it up on our Facebook page – check them out by clicking on our Facebook link in the ‘Spread the Love’ box next to the main photo above. We’re on stall FM23 in the left hand artisan food market tent and Arun will be joining her from Saturday onwards. Olive’s been chatting to the wonderful Valerie, Alan and Avril from Glenilen Farm on the stall next to her – the...

Green Saffron can help you lose weight!

Green Saffron can help you lose weight!

Our best wishes go to Chantelle as she embarks upon a new health regime which includes eating homemade Green Saffron curries! She's proving that eating healthily and enjoying your food can go hand-in-hand.

Find out how she does it and wish her well by clicking ‘here’ to read her wonderful blog.

As many of you already know, spices have all kinds of health enhancing properties so, to show our support and encourage Chantelle, a Green Saffron goody bag will be winging its way to her shortly!

We're 5 years old!!

As we celebrate out fifth year in business, a question that often crops up on our market stalls is “Where’s Arun?!” Well, we’re trying hard to get the Green Saffron message to as many people as possible. This means Arun having to spend more and more time meeting the great and good of the business and food worlds. Over the last few weeks he’s been organising better means of distribution for the future and spending time with various design companies. He’s also been busy working on the upcoming Green Saffron professional range as well as various new products for the markets and shops – one of which is the delicious new Ansari Gosht spice blend. Available now on the markets and coming soon to the website, it combines our amazing spices with a touch of lime pickle for an exciting new explosion of flavour in your mouth. Last week Arun was in London where he managed to catch up with some old friends between productive meetings with Green Saffron favourite Richard Corrig...

Welcome to our revamped website!

We hope you enjoy the changes and new features. Most exciting new feature? Well, we've finally added a fully functioning online shop!! We don't yet have our full product list available online, but we aim to keep growing it.Over the next few days and weeks we'll be adding more and more content and functionality, so please keep checking back. If there's anything in particular you'd like to see, just drop us a line and let us know. Thanks, have a little look around and enjoy!

Did you catch Arun's recent appearance on RTE?

Learn how beautifully sugar and spice can combine for an amazing pudding on this video clip from The Daily Show, RTE. Okay, we know that Arun can do Indian food, but how does he fare when challenged to a Mexican duel? Have a go at this recipe and find out, it's really quick. Arun: "I have a total love of Mexican food and its ingredients, though don't have a similar amount of knowledge on its 'construction'. On the show, I called the dish I made 'quesadillas' on account of the cheese used, however the correct term would be 'burritos'. That straightened out, I think these little 'parcels of joy' taste yummy, they're really economical and the salsa adds a lovely fresh zingyness!"

Watch Arun on Ch4's show 'Cookery School'

Arun’s recent guest appearance on Richard Corrigan’s brilliant new series ‘Cookery School’ was very hotly anticipated. He puts the contestants through their paces, teaching spice cooking techniques and demonstrating two recipes. One is an Indian dish, the other a modern spice twist on a classic British pot roast and accompaniments combination. Please follow this link to the 4oD Cookery School page for the episode.