There’s more to Irish food than spuds and bacon

DESPITE his many accolades, Galway chef JP McMahon doesn’t go about wearing his Michelin star on his sleeve. He aspires to a lot and has achieved monumental things in the worlds of food and cooking, but when it comes down to it, he’s human, he eats toasties and has Chinese take-out just like the rest of us.
There’s a phrase that’s much used, usually in discussions about our health, we are what we eat. Perhaps the hefty 430-page book just launched by JP can be summed up by asking, if we are what we eat, just what have we been eating for the past 10,000 years?
The Irish Cook Book is quite a mix. It’s not a history of Irish food as there’s plenty in it that will drive historians crazy, JP assures me. So, what is it? Primarily it’s a cookbook. He hopes it will inspire people to cook something, to learn something about food in Ireland (past and present) and that it is something that will bring its readers pleasure.

Read the full feature in this week's edition of The Tuam Herald