CATHERINE FULVIO
Mouthwatering recipes that will help see you through Covid crisis
with things. That’s how it is. Exam results bring either great joy or great disappointment. I remember getting my own results and there were tears that day. I will be there for her when her results come out — that’s all we can do.’
Predicted grades really have caused concern, particularly given what happened in Northern Ireland with the A-Level grades.
‘It’s not a good situation for anyone,’ Catherine says. ‘I don’t know if there will be any winners. Maybe if we had known it was going to be based on your last two years we would have been different in our approach to schooling but a lot of kids save their best ’til last. I was one of those — head down for the last few months and put my back into it and do as well as I can. Hopefully it will all work out.’
Things certainly have worked out for Catherine, anyway. ‘Isn’t life a little bit like sliding doors?’ she says, pondering how she got to the life she lives.
‘If I was told at the age of 17, “Catherine you will be cooking on television when you are older and you will be back where you grew up” I wouldn’t have believed them. If I had been told that I would have said that will never happen. But you take opportunities and see opportunities as life expands. You meet people, you hear people, you learn and you grow, and suddenly bits fall into place. You invite them into your life and expand on that. Before you know it, you’re running a cookery school,’ she says laughing.
For children, it’s important to realise that you never know how life will pan out but you have to be open to opportunities for things to happen. For parents, the secret is not to interfere too much.
‘I think we are all planning to just be there, to hug, to cheer along, have the tissues on standby. It’s really just to comfort or congratulate — that’s all you can do. The children themselves know what they want — whether they are going to take the college place they are offered or take the chance and repeat the year. There is the opportunity to sit the Leaving Cert later in the year. But I think it’s just going to be a decision for the children themselves and the parents will just have to sit on the sidelines, cheering them on and helping them navigate through life.’
So if there’s one recipe from the series Catherine could pick for the new Irish cooks that will make them feel like culinary kings and queens, what would it be?
‘I made lemon drizzle donuts with crumble topping,’ she says. ‘I tried them out at home and went to taste them and they were all gone. They are great fun to make and you can put any topping on them. It’s a bit of challenge and a bit of fun to make but something everyone will enjoy.’
O TASTES Like Home starts tonight on RTÉ One at 8.30pm
‘Parents just have to sit on the sideline cheering’