Gourmet Live Blog

Location: Dublin, Ireland

If you had to blog about one ingredient every day for a year, what would it be?
Butter, always butter. We’re blessed here in Ireland with some fantastic produce, but none better than the butter. Everything good starts with butter rubbed or crumbled in; melted and sizzling to fry with; whisked to emulsify in a sauce; or simply slathered on some toast. I love my butter.

I will never eat:
Life’s too short to live by absolutes, but there are a number of Scandinavian fermented fish dishes that evolve to become putrefied rancid flesh that really don’t sound too appealing.

Who would you love to have over for dinner?
Nigel Slater, author of the first cookbook I ever bought, and someone who I have always adored reading for his marvelous writing and recipes. 


What’s your go-to quick and easy dinner?
Hummus (homemade of course) swimming in a good olive oil with pine nuts and a hard-boiled egg. Super simple, always satisfying.

What’s your favorite restaurant and what do you order there?
Things change and I find myself eating out less and less these days. However, the one place I have eaten more often over the last couple of years is Crackbird in Dublin. How can anyone can resist good fried chicken is beyond me, and their buttermilk fried chicken is amazingly addictive. Genius place. I’ve celebrated my last two birthdays there — drunk, sober, and hungover — and I’ve always had a great time. It’s the type of place you love going back to, hanging out with friends, sharing fried chicken, and a few beers.