Russ Parsons

Sep 9, 2024 | irishtimes.com | Russ Parsons

It’s all well and good to be a genius creative cook, delivering inspired dishes for dinner every night of the week. Or at least it must be, I imagine. Despite 40 years of cooking, I can only dream of that. Truth be told, if you’re an everyday cook like I am, you probably have a short repertoire of recipes you fall back on for all of those days when inspiration is lacking. We all have our staple ingredients we keep in the refrigerator or pantry for those nights.

Jul 30, 2024 | irishtimes.com | Russ Parsons

Eamonn Lonergan’s light bulb moment came watching a documentary on RTÉ. It was the mid-1980s and he had taken over running his family’s dairy farm in the townland of Ballyneety, in west Waterford’s Knockanore parish. The show featured Veronica Steele from west Cork’s pioneering Milleens Cheese. The first thing that struck Lonergan was the process, which reminded him of his childhood visiting an uncle who worked at a dairy.

May 29, 2024 | irishtimes.com | Russ Parsons

It is a bright sunny morning on the upper reaches of Roaring Water Bay. The breeze is gentle and carries the bracing scent of brine. Jeremy Irons’ castle shines pink nearby and, Colin Whooley says, the pennant flying from the top means himself is in residence. If you want to know why Roaring Water Bay mussels taste so good, it could well have something to do with their upbringing. Of course, not every day in west Cork is so idyllic, but on mornings like this it’s hard to imagine any place better.

Apr 28, 2024 | irishtimes.com | Russ Parsons

Clad in a wool skirt and wellies, Marie Power carefully picks her way out the stony spit at Kilfarrasy Beach on Waterford’s Copper Coast. It is extreme low tide and she moves like a shorebird, quickly but surely stepping from rock pool to rock pool. From time to time, she bends low to get a closer look. Every once in a while, she pulls out what looks like a small pair of sewing scissors and carefully snips a few small leaves of reddish-brown seaweed.

Mar 13, 2024 | irishtimes.com | Russ Parsons

One of the pleasures of being a blow-in cook is the opportunity to explore a whole new world of ingredients. What probably seems boring and commonplace to someone raised in Ireland might well be an exotic treat to me. Take cabbage, for example. Other than, say, potatoes or bacon, is there a more common Irish ingredient? It’s something most cooks probably rarely give a second thought to. But the first time I went to the market here and saw Savoy cabbage, it was a thrill.