Foodie resolutions: Paul Flynn
It’s not too hectic, I try to have as much done the day before or even the day before that, because in the biz we are so busy feeding everyone else we hardly get time to feed ourselves. I sit down with Maire about a month before, have a glass of wine and start making lists, food is very relaxed I just minimise
Everybody’s up early. Not stupid o’clock. We don’t wake the kids, they tend to have a good sleep, then come up and see what Santa brought.
Breakfast is something light, croissants, pannetone. Last year, we went off to look at the Christmas swim. I absolutely do not partake, Jesus, no, I’m shrivelling up just thinking about it. Anyway, we get out and about for a bit of fresh air then back home for smoked salmon, crème fraiche, toasted brioche, a tradition.
We’ve opted for roast beef for the dinner this year, the in-laws who are coming are totally cool with that. I’ve tried duck and goose because a turkey once every three years is enough for me. Then it’s food coma time in front of the telly. And eat some more. It’s a nice day.
I regard Christmas as an indulgence so I like to think I’m going to eat foie gras at some point, maybe on Christmas eve. I’ll have a Vacherin Mont D’or [cheese] and a little jar of foie gras, very Celtic Tiger!
I do love chocolates and I hate being snobby about chocolates but Roses, which tasted so good to me years ago, don’t seem to now so I have some Cocoa Atelier chocolates, a really special sweet.
When I first went to England, I was working in a hotel, I was 18 in a new country and was down to work on Christmas Day. It wasn’t strange, it was sad. I hated every minute of it, I missed home. Christmas away would be nice but I like the cold weather, the fire, the Christmas jumper.
Morrissey. I am a big fan of his music but when I read the autobiography, I gave up, too much whinging. Now, I’d like to strap him down and make him watch me eat turkey [Morrissey is a fervent vegetarian]. Bruce Springsteen is a really cool man and Graham Norton would be good fun, the chair of the whole thing; Liz Fraser, singer with the Cocteau twins. I don’t know what she’d be like to talk to but when she sings in her own made-y up language, she could be pissed and you wouldn’t know. Nigella Lawson this year, to find out the truth of the whole shenanigans and give her a break from the media. And for a bit of statesmanlike gravitas, I’d enjoy the company of David Norris.
The older I get the less fancy I want my food to be, well-constructed simplicity is the order of the day, I believe. Morrissey wouldn’t get anything, I’d just waft all these smells in front of him, probably turkey. They’d have what I’m having, smoked salmon, gratin potato, beef. I’m not a caviar type of guy. How about a few crúibÃn? That would really make the whole thing exciting. We’d all be slipping around in the grease, trying to decipher what Liz Frazer is singing, and Morrissey would be locked away by then. I’d film the dinner and sell it to Channel 4, Come Whine With Me.
To continue to try and improve The Tannery and my cooking. That is something that never stops. And never should.
Preparation is the key. Have a gratin ready as opposed to doing mash. The day before bang it in the oven. People tend to cook too much food which leaves the kitchen a bombsite afterwards. I hate having way too many veg dishes, think of it like a restaurant: A plus B plus C; and maybe D. I think you’ll get a better dinner that way.
