John Torode's Ireland begins on RTÉ 2 on June 30. RTÉ Entertainment’s John Byrne catches up with the MasterChef judge to talk coddle and the craic.
It’s more than fair to declare that John Torode knows a thing or twelve about food. Celebrity chef, restaurateur and long-time judge on BBC’s grub-making contest MasterChef, the Melbourne native has impeccable kitchen credentials. No better man, then, to take a look at how we Irish feed ourselves.
Coming with the straightforward title of John Torode’s Ireland, this six-part series sees him start out in Dublin, before heading down to Wicklow and Wexford, on to Cork, then up the Wild Atlantic Way and even out to the Aran Islands.
From Michelin-starred restaurants to cosy local pubs to a pig farmer’s home kitchen, he samples Irish hospitality on several levels. He also looks at the food that’s been on Irish plates for many generations, as well as exploring more modern ways of how and what we eat.
Dialing his mobile number, it suddenly dawns on me that I haven’t had lunch yet. Maybe getting. Into a conversation about the consumption of grub isn’t that good an idea at this moment . .
John Byrne: Hi John. Obviously, there would have been a lot of research even before you landed in Ireland. What preconceptions did you come with that you lost along the way?
John Torode: The thing is, when you go to do a tour like that, what used to happen is that usually you go to a country for about six weeks. But we did this one over the course of about six months. We ducked in and out of Ireland, because Ireland is our neighbour, the UK’s neighbour.
So what happened was, the first time we went around we met people and had a chat and did various things. And then after that, as we met more and more people, more and more people said, try this this place, or do this or do that.
And one of the great beauties of Ireland is . . . everyone knows the Irish love to tell a story, but everybody was so welcoming and so wanting to show off what Ireland was all about.
And I think there’s a lot of people out there who maybe have been apologetic about Ireland, and Ireland’s food, for a while - but it’s an extraordinary place with amazing food.
Not bad for a small island on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. Sure we’re only about the size of Tasmania!
You are tiny! But you’ve got a population who have spread far and wide. And I think that influence from across the world has made a difference.
There’s been a lot of movement by the younger population, a lot of people who move backwards and forwards, but as people have traveled I think they’ve also realised that the opportunities in Ireland are so great, and there’s a lot of young people who are being influenced across the world.
The Irish are also a great influence on people in how they do things.
The first episode starts off in Dublin. Can you tell me a bit about that?
What happened in Dublin is that we went from one endif the scale all the way to the other. When you look at something like The Gravediggers [pub in Glasnevin] for instance, we looked at what Ireland was before and how Ireland had been. But that also still does exist with that great tradition and the great stories, and the craic.
Looking at that whole [Glasnevin] graveyard and the history of it was pretty extraordinary. And the fact that it was private. I didn’t realise that graveyards were private. It was a great revelation for me. And it cost people lots of money to get buried there. So somebody’s making lots of money out of the dead!
Did you try any traditional Dublin grub?
We had coddle - which was extraordinary. And discovered why pigs were so important. Why pork is so important to the Irish. And I’d no idea they were sort of the street cleaners of Dublin. Without pigs, the streets wouldn’t have been clean.
And what do you do with pigs when they grow up? Well they turn into hams and sausages and bacon and various things. And the Irish, of course, eat everything. The whole lot, which is brilliant. And then we move on all the way across the city and do various things, including the iconic Guinness brewery.
We also had a great time at Chapter One restaurant, where we see how Ireland has changed and moved on - and how food has come along. But its owners started in a place, twenty years ago, to fill a gap amongst buses and amongst tourists. That, for me, is one of the great stories about Ireland.
Traveling around the streets, the music and the people, and - for me - one of the greatest experiences that we didn’t show on camera was eating charcuterie and Irish cheese just outside the market in Dublin.
It was so, so fantastic. Sitting on the street, watching the world go by. And eating extraordinary Irish cheese. And with people who loved what they were doing.
And, of course, after visiting Dublin you then head off around the country. One of the things that fascinated me was that you discovered mead on your travels.
Mead is one those interesting things. We talk about mead and I now understand where it comes from, I know about the history of the word 'honeymoon’ and how that works. Now I get it when they talk about turning water into wine. We see that happen.
But you know, mead is interesting because it uses honey. Then I met Peter, in Lisdoonvarna, who told me how he first made mead from wild yeast up in the mountains.
We looked at all these great things that happened, all these traditions in Ireland that just happened. It was almost by accident that this world of food and various things came about.
One of the great things about Ireland is what they have given the world, in food and in drink. And great cheese, great butter - extraordinary dairy produce. And the seafood in Ireland is amazing. And so many people never ate fish!
John Torode’s Ireland begins on RTÉ 2 on Friday June 30 at 8.30pm
