Romancing Ireland is a six-part series that challenges volunteers from non-Irish national communities in Ireland to each cook their country's favourite meal - as voted on by their compatriots online. But there's a twist. Rather than using imported ingredients, with their carbon footprints, the volunteers can use only Irish produce.
The Brazilian
The Brazilian community in Ireland has voted decided upon a dish to represent their country, and Kika Chix, a dancer from Sao Paolo, has volunteered to cook it - using only Irish ingredients. A key ingredient is the root vegetable 'mandioca', which can't be grown in Ireland. Guava jam, for the dessert, is also going to be a problem...
The French
Cooking is second nature to IT intern Tanguy Escaron. But when he takes on the Romancing Ireland challenge to cook the French community in Ireland's favourite meal - using only Irish ingredients - he may have bitten off more than he can chew. With native Irish wine in short supply, he turns, reluctantly, to apple cider vinegar...
The Italian
Italian recipes, typically, have few ingredients. They depend on each ingredient being of the very best quality. When musician Arianna Siliprandi agrees to cook the favourite dish of the Italian community in Ireland, therefore - using only Irish ingredients - the stakes are high. The recipe calls for two Italian cheeses and Arianna must find alternatives that will stand up to the taste test...
The Romanian
Uța Nilas manages 'The Shack' - a popular restaurant in Dublin's Temple Bar. She's no stranger, then, to sourcing good food produce. But when she takes on the challenge to cook Romania's favourite dish using nothing imported, she realises that some of the ingredients simply don't grow in Ireland. Her first challenge is finding something that will replace the rice that the recipe calls for...
The Spanish
YouTuber, Marc Vila Terra, is from Catalunya. So when the Spanish in Ireland vote a typical dish of Madrid for him to cook, it's one that he's never even tasted. To pass the Romancing Ireland challenge he must cook it using only Irish ingredients. His journey takes him around the country, meeting some very interesting characters...
The Carbon in the Carbonara
Sustainability Specialist Johnny O'Neill Meehan explains why Irish fruit and veg is often quite tasteless and makes the case for a radical rethink in the way we consider our food. We also look at what each household can do to develop a relationship with food that's good for the body and good for the planet - grow your own, grow as a community and buy local.
THE STORY
behind the series
One of the most common complaints from immigrants to Ireland is that, while our fruit and veg look very pretty, they have little or no taste. In researching a paper for the Italian department in Trinity College Dublin (The Carbon in the Carbonara) I found out that there is some truth in this opinion. It was not so long ago that people cooked what was in season and local. That has all changed - much to the detriment of our environment and personal health. Modern Irish society depends, largely, on supermarkets for grocery shopping and these are supplied, largely, from global supply chains. It means that strawberries can be bought in the middle of winter - shipped in from places like South America, and that foods that are alien to the Irish climate are readily available in place of traditional Irish alternatives. Of course, such foods, in their natural state, don't stay fresh for too long, so foods are genetically modified to last longer and transported in diesel-burning, refrigerated vehicles - impacting both the flavour of the food and the amount of carbon being released into the environment. As the responsibility for tackling climate change falls on the shoulders of every individual, rethinking how we feed ourselves has become a compelling challenge. But does eating local, seasonal and sustainable food mean living off potatoes and cabbage? The Romancing Ireland series set out to show that Ireland has an incredible amount to offer in tasty, healthy and wholesome food. We found volunteers from countries with a rich food tradition and set them the challenge of cooking Irish versions of their country's favourite meals - using only Irish ingredients. The results were mouth-watering. Far from representing a restriction, sourcing the family's food in a way that favours local, seasonal and sustainable produce needs only a little imagination to delight the tastebuds with traditional or international fusion recipes that benefit the planet, the local economy and individual health.
