Pitmaster John sinks teeth into new tourism role

HE’S the young Kerry man done very good indeed; fresh out of Duagh aged 16 and into a special Jamie Oliver programme to train young chefs, which proved to be the making of his career.

Now John Relihan finds himself among a select handful of Fáilte Ireland Food Champions, tasked with selling the country as the lush isle of high-quality produce and cooking talent.

John juggles the new role with a dizzying portfolio of culinary work defined by his reputation today as one of the top pitmasters of these islands – which sees him at the helm of hot new Cork eaterie Holy Smoke, which is based in the Mardkye Entertainment Centre.

Holy Smoke is certainly tickling Cork tastebuds with its tender meats that fall away from the bone, sourced entirely in Ireland and all slow-cooked in the pit – an art John mastered in his time as head chef at Jamie Oliver’s BBQ restaurant Barbecoa in London.

John is the creative brain behind it, with Declan Walsh head chef. “A Cork company saw me from a video I did during the Big Grill Festival in Dublin and approached me with a view to opening a restaurant that would be a trend setting one for the city, but they didn’t know what exactly that trend would be at that stage.”

Fresh from his stint at Barbecoa and a period spent mastering the art of charcoal production with the Oxford Charcoal Company, John was interested in bringing just one trend to Cork – his métier barbecue.

Don’t mistake this with the kind of grub produced by a fella in bermudas in his back garden. That’s grilling. Real barbecuing is about the slow cooking of quality meats.

“We cook meats for up to 16 hours in some cases. I’m really about the hunter-gatherer ethos, encouraging the cooking of real quality meats and foods instead of the ready-made dinners that many go for in our busy lives these days.”

“All the meat we use is produced right here in Ireland. In fact I couldn’t believe it when I checked the origins of our chicken supply

- they were from the free range farm of Tom Daly in my home village of Duagh!”

Now as a Fáilte Ireland Food Champion John is learning more about the vast range of foods coming out of the country.

“The Food Champion programme follows on the success of the Wild Atlantic Way. There are over 20 Food Champions, all of us representing an extremely diverse range of fields in which we are experts. For instance one is a specialist in breads, another like Gabriel Faherty on Inis Mór, is producing some of the best goat’s cheese in the country and there’s another Kerry man as a champion, Mark Murphy of the Dingle Cookery School.”

Their mission - to shout about Ireland’s brilliant food product and harness their expertise to take the country’s burgeoning food tourism industry to new heights. You couldn’t find better than John for the mission, a man passionate about his craft.

“I always loved cooking, and my first job was under Armel Whyte in Allo’s Restaurant in Listowel before I got onto the Jamie Oliver programme in London. I probably got my drive working with my uncle Jimmy Relihan before all that though, landscaping and cutting grass non-stop. I went to Allo’s when I realised I wanted the warmth of the kitchen instead of the countryside!”

Duagh remains dear to his heart. John’s leading role in organising a summer festival there entirely around the BBQ theme in 2015 proved a phenomenal success, with pals of the pitmaster coming in from all over Ireland, the UK and beyond to lend a hand. “Reprising the Duagh Summer Festival is always in the back of my head as it really sparked something in me and I would love to do it again.”

ABOVE: LEFT: John in action on the flaming grill at the World BBQ Championships in Limerick recently.

BELOW: Serving up a tasty taco with the help of his mentor and close friend Jamie Oliver. Getting his teeth into a mouth-watering joint at Dublin Big Grill Festival.