A Taste for LIFE

Nadine Reid

“I lived on fresh bread, cheese and tomatoes for a year in Paris... j’adore!”

This TV presenter and make-up artist reveals her unusual Jamaican hangover cures, and her love of sushi and French bakeries

What did your mother make you?

Dishes from across the globe. But no pork.

What is the meal you will always remember?

Breakfast in Jamaica — breadfruit, yam, green banana, boiled dumpling, ackee [a fruit] and saltfish.

What was your defining food experience?

I’ve no defining moment, but I like a comfortable environment and good company.

What’s the first dish you ever cooked?

Apple crumble, made with apples from my aunt and uncle’s garden.

What is your comfort food?

Carbs and chocolate.

What is your hangover cure?

Fresh ginger, boiled, or a Jamaican ginger beer. What do you drink? Everything!

You can only eat three things for the rest of your life, what are they?

Chocolate; sushi; and spicy jerk chicken.

What is the most appetising smell in the world?

Onions and garlic frying.

How important is food to you?

It’s extremely important, but not in a food-snob way. Meat and potatoes, rice and some chillies, and I’m pretty much good to go.

You can go anywhere and have anything to eat with any one person. Where, what and who?

I’d bring my mom for high tea on the Orient Express.

What’s always in your kitchen?

Onions, garlic, tomatoes, chillies.

Favourite restaurant in Ireland?

A tough one, as I haven’t been to enough. I love a small, family-run Italian off Dame Street, Rosa Madre. They do great food and great service. Love it there.

And abroad?

I love French bakeries. I lived on fresh bread, cheese and tomatoes for a year in Paris... j’adore!

What’s your sweet treat?

Anything chocolate-based, but not dark chocolate — eewww!

What do you refuse to eat?

Not much, really. Slimy okra makes me gag a little.

Worst Meal Ever?

Dry turkey or chicken breast with no gravy. What’s your signature dish?

Quick noodle Japanese-inspired dishes, or quick pasta Italian-inspired dishes. I am careful it’s tasty.

Are there any foods you have had to cut out or cut down on that you miss?

Nope. I believe if you want it, have it. Or you will be waking up in the night trying to find what you wanted the day before.

What’s your perfect family meal?

Everyone sitting round the table, eating. I love Easter at my mom’s. The fish, the saltfish fritters, the cornmeal porridge for breakfast; the mood is full of gratitude. There isn’t that pressure to entertain and for everything to be perfect, like at Christmas dinner. Catch Nadine Reid weekdays on Virgin Media TV as a guest TV reporter with ‘Xpose’; and as the online roving reporter for ‘Woman’s Way’. Instagram @nadinereid In conversation with Sophie White