Lyndey Milan's Taste of Ireland

The region of Belfast breathes myth and legend when Lyndey visits the home of the most famous ship in the world, Titanic. Here you can see her last footprint, then dine from the 1st class menu of Titanic’s very last night. Further a field is the Antrim coast, filled with tales of fighting giants and a magnificent castle perched over a cliff. Then it’s back to the city with a tasty tour in Billy’s taxicab to explore St Georges Market before visiting Irish chef Andy Rae for a feast.

It is said you can taste the whole of County Cork at The English Market where Lyndey meets the shopkeepers in this Aladdin’s Cave of food. The discoveries continue roaming the stunning 100-acre organic farm of Ireland’s most influential “slow food” family, the Allen’s and cooking with their matriarch, Darina. Not far from the Allen’s farm is the charming seaside village of Kinsale, home to fish restaurateur Martin Shanahan who takes Lyndey hand fishing for mackerel before cooking it on the beach in sight of the historic Charles Fort.

The region around County Mayo is some of the most westerly in Europe and it’s here Lyndey meets a farmer of the famous Connemara lamb before working with butcher, James McGeough to create delicious spicy smoked sausage and unique air-dried lamb before cooking her own delicious lamb dish in a rustic barn on the shores of Ireland’s only fjord. Not far away is an exclusive island in Clew Bay with a unique take on whiskey and terroir, then it’s on to the town of Newport to make a hands-on traditional black pudding before enjoying the craic with famed flautist, Matt Molloy of The Chieftains.

On the Estate of Belle Isle Castle, Lyndey discovers the history and elegance of this 1600’s home that allows visitors to stay and live in a grandeur that most of us can only dream about. With her affable host Charles, Lyndey explores the estate, has a surprise in the garden and cooks an elegant afternoon tea in a magnificent hall. But just down the road in the heart of the County is a castle from another time where the manners of banqueting where written large. It’s on the shores of Lough Erne where today an island devoted to happy pigs is the starting point for butcher Pat O’Doherty’s famed Black Bacon.

Lyndey dives into her Waterford excursion at the local growers market meeting quirky characters and tasting a wide range of their unique and fabulous foods. Early the next day there’s a visit to a quaint village bakery with its ancient Scotch ovens before lunching on the rich, nourishing comfort foods that only a local Irish pub can provide. Lastly, a visit to the famed Waterford Crystal factory leads Lyndey to the harbour town of Dungarvan to cook a magnificent three-dish dessert with famed Irish chef, Paul Flynn.

The Burren is a wild and rugged land that is unlike anywhere else in Ireland. Lyndey joins walking historian and naturalist Tony Kirby on a journey to learn of the tragic history of the Famine Road and taste its wild foods before taking shelter in Cassidy’s Pub to cook a restorative Irish stew of goat. Then we’ll sneak a peak into the kitchen of Irelands chef of the Year, Mickael Viljanen before visiting the curious O’Laclainn’s Pub, with its eclectic whiskey collection made famous by film director, Steven Spielberg. Then it’s on for a taste of the wild Galway oyster and cooking seafood chowder that’s been served from the Moran’s restaurant kitchen for seven generations!