Meeran Manzoor: How one of Ireland's top chefs is making his mark on Kinsale
Head Chef Meeran Manzoor
Meeran Manzoor is from Chennai, in Southern India, but his cooking career has brought him all over the world, and landed him in West Cork. He is the head chef of the Blue Haven Collection food outlets in Kinsale, and has recently been chosen as one of the top three chefs in Ireland at the Hotel and Catering Review Gold Medal Awards.
He left India to pursue his Bachelors of Culinary Arts in the University of London and from there went on to work with the Dorchester Group in London. He even worked with celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck in the Cut at 45 Park Lane.
“That’s where everything started for me” Meeran says.
Meeran’s cooking then brought him to Belgium, where he worked in the oldest traditional French restaurant in Brussels. He has also worked in Frenchmen’s Creek and Beach Country Club in Florida.
Travelling and working in these different places has had a huge influence on Meeran.
“Obviously I’ve been fortunate to travel so far, and work with a lot of chefs from different nationalities. I’ve tried to learn whatever I could from them.”
Meeran claims his own cooking style is “very plain”, and he enjoys cooking meals that can showcase the local produce in the area.
“We have the most amazing produce around us. We have fresh fish, meat, cheese and vegetables, depending on the season, and I want to show that in my cooking.
He likes to keep things simple, but understands that it can be good to take risks.
“Sometimes I like to leave things alone, but sometimes the dish requires me to put a bold touch in it.
“For example, we have two dishes of complete contrasts, a turbot dish with coconut and fermented chilli and chicken skin and all this stuff, and another dish is scallop, black pudding and cauliflower, which is more traditional, but I still make it my own.”
Manzoor finds Kinsale “amazing”, but understands that the people visiting the town are expecting big things.
“Kinsale is one town that has several restaurants and cafes and everyone is trying to compete, but in a good way. It’s healthy competition and everyone is trying to put their food together in the best possible way.
“Even when I tell produce sellers I’m based in Kinsale, they look at me like they know Kinsale is of a different standard, especially with the Blue Haven.
“We have been there 18 years and we have a great reputation. “
Meeran says the availability of local, quality produce in Cork is remarkable, and he hasn’t seem the same anywhere else.
“For me, as someone coming from the outside, I know how difficult it is for that to happen in the US or London.
“I can call the fishmonger, and he’s the guy who’s getting the fish from the boat and the same guy who is delivering the fish. I can ask for cauliflower, and he’s the guy who’s picking it out of the soil and then delivering it to me.
“These things don’t happen elsewhere, and it’s something I think is really precious and should be respected a lot more. “
On being chosen as one of the top chefs in Ireland, Meeran believes “recognition in any form is good. “
“It’s a motivation for me and my team, and the company and the brand. It was a great booster for the team. We have to keep moving for the next one and I have to keep pushing myself and my team to see what more we can achieve. “
