Cooking in County Clare, Ireland
August 2009Study cooking in Ireland? You’re kidding, right? Surely you mean France—or maybe Italy. Well, no, travelers to Ireland, particularly if Southern Ireland, discover the emergence of New Irish Cuisine—fresh, imaginative and full of fun.
Lucky if you’re planning a girls’ getaway, Berry Lodge in County Clare, offering cooking classes, can be reached from Shannon Airport in just 45 minutes. The special classes are an add-on to the usual business of Berry Lodge, which is to provide a well-located B & B with 5 star breakfasts. Book early, and the owner Rita Meade will create a class just for you and your friends.
One blustery spring afternoon, a class of eight gathers in the dining room of Berry Lodge, waiting to sample the feast they have been creating since eleven that morning. One participant, an experienced cook, has always been a bit intimidated by seafood, she says. That is why she signed up for Rita’s seafood class. “Fish is different,” the woman says, “because you have to be quick about it.”
Another, still trying to cozy up to eating seafood chimes in, “It can be very bland. But if you are dieting, it can be good…unless you add cream”
There is nothing bland about Rita Meade’s menu, which focuses on organic foods and local seafood.
- Crab with homemade basil mayonnaise and tomato compote.
- Grapefruit and avocado salad with olive oil dressing.
- Sea bass in a salt crust.
Rita grew up in this sprawling clapboard house when it was the center of life on a farm. She always loved cooking, and even as a little girl, found an innovative recipe for mud pies. “They tell me that when I was little I would make scones from mud and gravel and bake them on a rock. I used goose eggs to hold them together. And my mother was wondering why she was not getting any eggs from her geese.” Talk about organic!
Rita says she cooked at her mother’s side. “She was a plain, straight-forward country cook.”
9 thoughts on “Cooking in County Clare, Ireland”
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What a gorgeous setting. I haven’t been to Ireland, but we saw the same kind of cooking trend in England and Scotland – emphasis on fresh local ingredient with nothing overcooked. This sounds like a fun getaway.
Thanks for the comment, Martha! Doesn’t it sound lovely? Vera raved about this place to me and I was so happy when she submitted the story for our site.
Beautiful photos! The food sounds amazing–especially the homemade basil mayo. My mouth is watering.
Ready Mom: Rita is one of a kind, and so are her recipes. She not only is a master chef and a born teacher, but a neat and organized b and b keeper as well. And, Alexandra, she’s a master of P.R. as well.
Never would have thought of cooking for Ireland, but, hey, why not? Rita may be on to something, offering cooking classes to girlfriends who book early. Perhaps I’ll try that as a special next spring at my Cape Cod B&B!
How interesting! I love nothing more about traveling than taking cooking classes in new places. Thanks so much for this tip.
I wouldn’t have thought of Ireland as a cooking mecca, either. Thanks for profiling this for people to consider as a place to go and learn.
Love the idea! Girlfriends, eating and Ireland! Can’t be beat.
I love that the Irish love us Americans, they’ve all been here and have relatives here, and they’re just fun and friendly. And the countryside is SO beautiful.
Yes, they love Americans, and figure we’re all as Irish as we pretend to be on St. Patrick’s day. But the funny thing was that 90% of the Irish people I met had been to the U.S.–but only to Boston! We should rename it “The Republic of Ireland in America”.