Taste of the green

NEARLY every year for the past 15 I’ve been to the US over the St Patrick’s Day period to promote Ireland and Irish food.

I head off with my suitcase packed with Irish goodies and my chef's knives. I've cooked in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington I even cooked some tempting puds for Bill Clinton Irish coffee meringue, Carrigeen Moss pudding with poached rhubarb, Roscommon Apple Tart, homemade vanilla ice-cream with Irish mist sauce .. All this in an effort to change the image of Irish food in the US as they seemed to be completely convinced that we live on corned beef and cabbage with liberal helpings of floury potatoes.

Well, at last the good news message about the revolution on the Irish food scene is getting out. This month, Saveur, America's most stylish food magazine, devoted almost its entire magazine, over 28 pages, to Ireland.