Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Hi, real live Irish person here in Dublin this morning on Paddy's Day! My advice on soda bread is that the authentic route is best, otherwise probably best to make another type. The really straight up recipe for white soda bread is probably the one available on the Odlums (irish flour company) website, here it is: http://www.odlums.ie/Recipes/R_WhSodaBr.html For reference, odlums cream flour is white normal flour (think you call it cake flour), not bread flour (extra gluten unnecessary as not kneaded - ha, one reading of that is a terrible pun, I mean the literal one). Contrary to BaHa's opinion, that is the flour that's used in Ireland anyway. Couple of bugbears, there should be minimal fat, definitely no eggs and you've got to use bread soda - that's why it's called soda bread, people!

Raw tomatoes. They are so terribly awful I retch thinking of them. I'm not a food philistine, I like all tomato products, but the very thought of a caprese salad strikes fear into my heart! Also the concept of eating offal. To summarise: offal=gross!

I appreciate the criticisms of many here, but on a modified low carb diet,even during "induction", one's diet can be healthy. Drinking loads of water,eating moderate quantities of salmon, chicken, pork, beef, eating lots of green veggies and limited quantities of nuts and cheese, I can't really see how it can be dramatically bad for you? I understand criticisms of the old Atkins lets-eat-loads-of-cheese-steaks-and-grease type of diet that is obviously kind of stupid, but I query the idea that cutting out carbs in all forms,including whole grains, is a really bad idea. I mean you can get fibre from alternative sources,you avoid any blood sugar spikes at all, and the stuff about your brain needing pasta and all that is nonsense - CNS tissue metabolises both glucose and ketone bodies. To think that there is no glucose in your blood is a misconception - when glycogen is broken down you get glucose, it's just a constant steady release. The reports of modified sensible low-carb eating tend to show that there is stabilising of blood sugar in those who find it hard to control levels,lower levels of triglycerides and better levels of HDL(good) cholesterol.

Raisins and perhaps a little honey - a top notch topping in my opinion! I always feel wrong going overboard on the sweet stuff on porridge, it kind of takes away from the feel-good healthiness. This is somewhat hypocritical from someone who had two slices of buttery toast with jam for breakfast today...

I agree to some extent, Kbear. I really like iced coffe during the summer, but I've always found that Starbucks really overroast the coffee in their iced range and it tastes so burnt I actually can't drink it. However when I have hot coffee from Starbucks either it isn't so burnt or I don't taste it anymore (it's not the best coffee in the world,but I disagree with those who say it's the worst - let's all remember Nescafé Instant Decaf!).

Well obviously the Krispy Kreme hot plain glazed one, but also the delightful boston creme (plain donut,iced with chocolate sugar icing and filled with vanilla custard) available from the 911 shop in University College Dublin (the best university in Ireland!). It's right under the library and studying is so tough when you're so close to the deliciousness!

21 year old medical student (going into year 4 of 6) in Dublin, born and bred here. Love cooking to relax and also because I'm only ever home at weird hours when the options are cook something to eat or starve! My favourite thing to cook is fillet steak and my favourite thing to bake is white bread - both so satisfying!

Make sure that if you're sending them anything you don't send chewing gum! The Singapore gum ban is no joke and the fines are surprisingly hefty. Also, DocChuck,why are you so opposed to going to Singapore?

One of the best foodie things about being Irish is the amazing butter we have in this country,like Kerrygold and Avonmore,and because the one I'd use for toast etc purposes is salted it actually would last 7-10 days in a butter dish on the counter. Otherwise I keep it in the fridge and microwave bits as needed,but you have to really time it right or you have melted butter and there's no going back! What I'm curious about is what is a butter bell and what is it supposed to do?