Potboiler: Chef Paul Flynn on cooking 15th-century food
In the era of the great Irish house little went to waste in the kitchen. And so cooks devised recipes that included lamb’s ears, cow’s palettes and pig’s bellies. Ox’s testicles also featured on menus. And it was here that chef Paul Flynn decided to a draw a firm line when cooking for RTÉ’s Lords & Ladles.
“It turns out that I’m the most squeamish chef in Ireland; I’d be saying can we please bin it as opposed to cook it.”
Working his way through up to seven daunting courses, there were times when he had to steady himself.
“Sometimes it was quite disgusting, quite frankly, but our job was to make it more than palatable — it had to be really nice but also stay true to what the recipe is.
“Sometimes the recipes are 400 years old; the oldest menu dated back to the 1300s.”
A father of two, he runs his Dungarvan restaurant, The Tannery, with his wife Márie “who runs the business end of things”. She is, he acknowledges, “the most important person” in the enterprise. “You keep each other strong.”
After eight difficult recessionary years, business is on the up and up.
It’s brilliant now. A lot of it is because of the Greenway — the penny has dropped and people are discovering Dungarvan, which is a great thing for everybody.
I’m going to a wedding tomorrow and half of the shirts I own won’t fit me. I’ll either panic buy or, like a jockey, I’m going to try and lose a few pounds before tomorrow. I’ll have to go into a sauna.
Since I was small, I have been constantly on a diet — unsuccessfully — because I’m a man who likes to say yes.
I do like to walk but I absolutely have to force myself — yet when I get into the groove, I really enjoy it. The Greenway is something that we do whenever we can — it’s an amazing amenity. But the bike has gone a bit rusty. I need to get my mojo back.
In the last few years I’ve lost 2½to three stone but keeping it off is really difficult.
Something that helped was to sit down and make time to eat properly and think about what you are going to eat in a day. I need to get that frame of mind back. I’m not as ill-disciplined as I was before when I’d swing by the chipper on the way home or get a Chinese — that never, ever happens now.
Also, late-night eating was something I did since I was a young chef because that’s the only time of the day you can get to sit down and relax. I don’t do that anymore.
However, I did it last night. In our environment, you rarely sit down and it’s always eating on the go. It’s that much ingrained in me I have to force myself to be more mindful about the whole thing.
I won’t say I’ve a terrible sweet tooth but sometimes you get this overwhelming craving for chocolate — more than cake or biscuits. And I’m a bit of a devil for the crisps. The key is to keep [the treats] out of the house.
Business. I’m a terrible worrier — it’s just the way I am.
I enjoy a pint with friends. I love eating — I love discovering new restaurants, It doesn’t have to be fancy, just a really well run operation. Ireland is just full of them now, which is a real joy.
I think it’s best to keep your heroes at arm’s length.
Bread baking is a gorgeous smell. Also, sausages cooking. And I love barbecuing — I think it’s a primal thing. It’s a really easy way to cook and it minimises the wash-up.
Today, definitely a smaller belly and you could take two chins away, thank you very much.
Maybe when we had our children — Ruth, 12, and Anna, 11 — were born. It took us a while to get them.
I don’t like when people are confrontational.
Impatience.
No. I’m a hypocritical atheist who sends his children to a Catholic school.
A happy restaurant — happy customers, buzzy, busy — that would absolutely cheer up my day. You spent so long trying to be busy it’s important to appreciate when you are busy.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
