Tricky to find a traditional dish

IN THE weeks preceding St Patrick’s Day we get a myriad of enquiries from food and travel writers from all over the world who are honing their copy for the March 17 edition.

After the preliminary questions about traditional Irish food and a request for recipes for their readers, the question I dread: “Where can visitors to Ireland find these dishes?”

Mention any Irish city or town and rack your brains. What are we like that so few of our chefs are serving our traditional dishes proudly. Of course there are a few exceptions, but as I write this I’m at a loss to remember any (hopefully I’ll have a flood of letters to tell me otherwise).