Fingers crossed Darling Derry tastes success at the IFTAS...

I’M DELIGHTED that Derry Clarke’s Lords And Ladles has been nominated for an IFTA in the Factual category at next week’s awards.

The chef, better known to readers of his wife Sallyanne’s column in the Mail’s Femail Magazine every Thursday as ‘My Darling Derry’, richly deserves this nod. In Lords And Ladles he and fellow chefs Catherine Fulvio and Paul Flynn showcase Ire- land’s greatest country houses and our finest produce in a food-fuelled jaunt across the country and through the annals of time. It’s a well thought-out show that makes perfect Sunday evening fodder in the vein of Antiques Roadshoe and Time Team. I’ll be willing My Darling Derry and the team on to win next Thursday.