Darina Allen

Ireland’s food guru reflects on the many tastes of her life, from the ‘poncy’ to the sublime — and she reveals the food she won’t eat

“I eat everything, but life is too short to eat yucky food”

Your favourite childhood meal?

Mummy’s scalloped potato.

The meal you will always remember?

A simple meal of rice and cumin-spiced goat in a hut in the jungle near the ruins of the Mayan temple in Chiapas, Mexico. I went there for my 50th birthday. We arrived up the Usumacinta River in a dug-out canoe, ravenous. I’ll never forget the flavours.

Your defining food experience?

My first meal at Ballymaloe House in 1967. Spanking-fresh summer plaice from Ballycotton Harbour, with a little salad of leaves from the garden, freshly picked super-ripe tomatoes from the greenhouse, and a brown yeast bread. Simple and delicious. It might’ve been the first time I tasted really fresh fish — a revelation.

First dish you ever cooked?

Raspberry buns with Auntie Florence.

What is your comfort food?

A couple of freshly laid boiled eggs, crusty brown soda bread out of my ancient Aga, flaky sea salt and butter.

What is your hangover cure?

It’s so long since I had a hangover, I can’t remember — how boring am I?

What do you drink?

Natural wines; Campari with orange juice; Negroni; Fernet Branca; Angostura Bitters and sparkling water.

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

Floury potatoes; eggs; freshly caught mackerel — but can I also have some flaky sea salt and Irish butter?

Are you careful about what you eat?

I eat everything, but life is too short to eat yucky food. I am definitely aware of cutting down on my sugar intake.

How important is food to you?

Mega important.

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

Ahilya Fort, a small heritage hotel in Maheshwar in India, eating dosa [a thin-layered rice batter, cooked flat], with a selection of sambars, a lentil-based stew; and masalas, with my husband.

What’s always in your kitchen?

Extra-virgin olive oil, and lots of it.

Favourite restaurant in Ireland?

Assassination Custard on Kevin Street Lower in Dublin, or Inis Meain Restaurant and Suites on Inishmaan, one of the Aran Islands.

And abroad?

Breakfast at Daily Provisions on 103 East 19th Street, New York; lunch at Little Duck, The Picklery on Dalston Lane in London; and dinner at Etxebarri in Atxondo, Spain.

What do you refuse to eat?

Ultra-processed food.

Worst meal ever?

Poncy ‘cheffy boll**ks’ food in a three-star Michelin restaurant that shall be nameless.

What’s your signature dish?

I don’t really have a signature dish.

What’s your perfect family meal?

A beautiful roast organic chicken, from Mary Regan in Wexford, with a buttery herb stuffing, roast potatoes, and lots of lovely vegetables. Rhubarb tart with softly whipped cream and soft brown sugar melting over the top.