Cook like a local: Ireland’s Atlantic coast

Head to the Atlantic coast of Ireland to find traditional dishes as well as artisan gins and creamy buffalo milk cheeses

Traditional Irish dishes with modern twists including potato and rosemary soda focaccia, Irish stew with pearl barley, and cheese and buttermilk scones

Ireland’s Atlantic coast has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, and a wonderfully rich food heritage. Ireland was once thought a nation of potato and cabbage eaters, but that opinion has gone, and the country's kitchens are now rightly proud of their culinary heritage, knowing that when classic Irish dishes are cooked with a delicate touch, they’re hard to beat. This is particularly true when those dishes are made with homegrown produce, Ireland being blessed in its unbeatable quality; from free-roaming sheep and cattle, to perfect, foraged wild garlic and watercress and sweet, delicate seafood caught in bitingly cold clean water. The Irish are also open to change, and the food culture is not rooted as firmly in the past as you might expect. While Irish distilleries continue to produce fabulous whiskeys, they’re also creating flavoured gins, and craft beer has really taken off here. Sheep and cattle provide milk for delicious traditional cheeses, but Ireland is also at the cutting edge of food production, with Mediterraneanstyle cheeses being made from buffalo and goat’s milks. Fortunately for the hungry visitor, farmers’ markets are thriving in Ireland, offering an easy route to tracking down some of this lovingly, patiently crafted produce.