IRISH PANTRY:

Traditional Breads, Preserves, and Goodies to Feed the Ones You Love

NOEL MCMEEL, EXECUTIVE CHEF at the exclusive Lough Erne Resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, is at the top of his game. He’s fed world leaders at the 2013 G8 summit and has a slew of TV appearances and food-writing gigs under his belt. But at heart he will always be a farm boy who grew up in a thatched-roof cottage, surrounded by a large family nourished by the hard-won bounty of the land.

“The Irish pantry is a treasure trove of wholesome, tasty delights with some keeping properties,” McMeel writes, describing his mother’s kitchen with a cooling marble slab and shelves laden with treats standing at the ready to sustain a constant stream of expected and unexpected guests.

I ate at some of the country’s finest restaurants during my road trip through Northern Ireland and there were many memorable meals but what elevated McMeel’s cuisine above the rest was the perfect marriage of rusticity and sophistication, with traditional, homemade breads, condiments, pickles, preserves and other handcrafted goodies playing an Oscar-worthy supporting role to marquee ingredients.

Irish Pantry is a paean to a traditional way of life that celebrates good food and family ties. It’s also a carefully curated collection of finishing touches and culinary flourishes from a chef with a very refined palate — a secret weapon for cooks who want to impress.