Cooking is made more accessible to all by Eileen’s courses and cook books
KEEP SLIGO IN BUSINESS AND KEEP BUSINESS IN SLIGO
MAKING cooking more accessible to more people is the passion of south Sligo native Eileen Kirrane. But what started out as a passion has turned into a career as Eileen, the founder of Eileen’s Kitchen Table, makes cooking accessible to the wider population through courses, cookbooks and catering.
Eileen has been actively involved in this industry since 2013, but cooking and baking has been a lifetime interest for her.
She explained: “I have been a tutor since 2013 and an author since 2016. I come from a family of what would be known nowadays as ‘foodies’, my mother loved baking, she did all her life and it became a big part of my life as well.”
Eileen said that making cooking more accessible came about as she noticed gaps in the market for making cooking easier for people with literacy difficulties – a novel idea which was quickly embraced to provide the foundation for Eileen’s Kitchen Table.
Her first book, ‘Just Look and Cook’, was ultimately published as a handy guide that could easily be picked up by beginner cooks, children, college students and people with disabilities. “Around 10 years ago I found through my work that there were no cook books designed for people with literacy difficulties and I decided to explore that.
“I brought the idea to the HSE and they liked the concept and I was also put in touch with the Mayo Sligo Leitrim Education and Training Board (MSLETB) to provide tutoring.
“Within three years I was able to get two books out and provided classes for a broad range of groups.”
Eileen’s cookery courses, meanwhilem have brought many local groups together over a number of weeks, but the Covid-19 pandemic threatened this.
At a time when social isolation was a real possibility for many people, Eileen did not sit still and chose to join the virtual revolution to bring her classes online.
“With the assistance of Sligo County Council and MSLETB I was able to move classes online. I provided a new video for people every day and treated it as a social cooking session. It was strange not having classes in person and doing it all through a stream instead, but I think it was beneficial for all of us to have that to look forward to every day at a time of such uncertainty.”
Providing cookery classes locally has proven to be a big hit for Eileen who said that she has seen the net positive influence it has had for groups of people – both groups who know each other, and strangers who met for the first time through the courses and have stayed in touch since.
“I cover a 30-mile radius and the local response over the years has been amazing. Recently we had a group coming in for six weeks and in time you saw it quickly develop as a social outlet with friendships being forged and WhatsApp groups being set up. Its fabulous how it can bring people closer together.”
If you are interested in ordering a book or enquiring about a course with Eileen’s Kitchen Table, visit www.eileenskitchentable.ie or call 087 2708627.
The front cover of Eileen’s first cookbook, ‘Just Look and Cook’.