Taste For LIFE

The award-winning chef and cookery-show host on why he will try any food once, and his hangover cure: a sausage sandwich

Mark Moriarty, winner of the World Young Chef Competition, on his faith in a sausage sambo

“I hate paying for crap meals. If the food is bad, you can usually find comfort in the wine list!”

What was your favourite childhood meal?

Chicken and broccoli bake, made by my mother.

What is the meal you will always remember?

In Tokyo, Japan, I visited a restaurant called Umi. It has two Michelin stars, and I enjoyed the 45-minute sushi menu.

What was your defining food experience?

Summers spent fishing with my father; learning how to prepare and cook the catch.

What’s the first dish you ever cooked?

It was probably in secondary school. In first year, I baked fairy buns in home economics.

What is your comfort food?

Spaghetti with garlic, chilli and parsley. Or anything braised.

What is your hangover cure?

A sausage sandwich with mayo and hot sauce.

What do you drink?

Guinness; white burgundy wine when I can afford it, and Tanqueray gin. And of course, I love diluted blackcurrant, too.

If you could only eat three things for the rest of your life, what would they be?

Crusty bread, Kerrygold butter, salt.

Worst meal ever?

I’ve had a few shockers, like everyone. I hate paying for crap meals. If the food is bad, you can usually find comfort in the wine list!

What’s your signature dish?

I don’t have just the one. I won the World Young Chef competition in 2015 with a dish of celeriac baked in barley and hay.

What is the most appetising smell in the world?

Freshly baked bread coming out of the oven.

What’s your favourite restaurant in Ireland?

Ireland has an array of restaurants to choose from, which I look forward to seeing reopen. A Monday lunch in Etto on Merrion Row in Dublin never disappoints.

And abroad?

Bistrot Paul Bert in Paris. It’s a small, cosy restaurant in the centre of Paris, that serves fantastic food and wine.

How important is food to you?

It’s almost everything: work, pleasure and focus.

What’s your sweet treat?

Anything made with puff pastry.

What do you refuse to eat?

I don’t refuse to eat anything. I will try anything at least once.

What’s your perfect family meal?

It would be a chicken and broccoli bake, with baked potatoes, and butter — and to finish, a roulade with raspberries.

‘Cook-In with Mark Moriarty’, sponsored by Bord Bia, airs on Wednesday nights, at 8.30pm on RTE One

In conversation with Chloe Brennan