A TASTE FOR LIFE

Mike Denver

What did your mother make you? My mum cooked the mother of all shepherd’s pies. Also, her Sunday roast chicken was legendary growing up. I can never smell a roast chicken without thinking back to fighting over the wishbone! The innocence of youth. What’s the first dish you ever cooked? I think it must have been beans on toast or scrambled eggs . . . but plenty of pots were ruined over the years. What is your comfort food? That’s easy. Chocolate. I love it, love it. Straight out of the fridge is perfection. I am trying to be healthier, so a bar of Lindt 85pc cocoa solids is my current choice. What’s your hangover cure? Food. I’m not particular about what, but I would rather have dinner than breakfast. If you could only eat three things for the rest of your life, what would they be? Chocolate; roast chicken; and ice cream. What is the most appetising smell in the world? I love walking into a kitchen and smelling a good steak frying, like Aldi’s Irish Angus fillet beef steak, and let’s not forget the pepper sauce on the side. How important is food to you? Without it, my energy levels would be zero, obviously, but being up on stage night in, night out, you need it to make sure everyone gets the show they have paid their hard-earned money for. I am trying to be healthy at present, so packed lunches for me are the key to keeping me away from stopping into a chipper! You can go anywhere and have anything to eat with any one person. Where, what and who? The who would be my wife, Elizabeth; the where would be Koh in Dublin, which is owned by one of my best friends; and the what would be Pad Thai with either a beer like Heineken, or a glass of red wine. Worst meal ever? Definitely something I cooked myself! If you decide to eat healthily, what’s the regime? I try and start the day by eating porridge and poached eggs. I try to have a proper dinner in the middle of the day, before I head to a gig. I pack a salad in summer, and home-made vegetable soup for the winter months, to keep my diet on the straight and narrow. What’s your perfect family meal? The perfect family meal involves the perfect Sunday roast chicken with home-made stuffing and gravy. Plenty of gravy! A Mike Denver will be performing every day in the Aldi Marquee at the National Ploughing Championships in Screggan, Tullamore, Co Offaly, taking place this Tuesday to Thursday, September 20 to 22. See npa.ie In conversation with Sophie White Photo by John McMahon