Elora & I were lucky enough to attend Foodcamp at Savour Kilkenny and got to meet Colman Andrews who had written a wonderful cookery book on Irish food called “The Country Cooking of Ireland”. Colman Andrews is an American writer, editor and authority on food and wine. He co-founded Saveur magazine and is a columnist for Gourmet magazine. He is known as an expert on Spanish cuisine, particularly Catalonian food (Elora said she will be the judge of that 
).
Colman had been flown over from America by Falite Ireland to attend Foodcamp and take part in the ‘Great Irish Food Fight’, a debate on the state of “Traditional Irish Cuisine”.
IRISH CHEFS must return to traditional food and put dishes, such as bacon and cabbage and Irish stew, back on Irish menus if Ireland is to raise its profile as a culinary destination - Colman Andrews
If Ireland wants to raise its profile, it must not be afraid to revive traditional Irish recipes or be ashamed of some of its best known dishes - Colman Andrews
Excerpt: The Irish Times
We saw a pile of beautiful looking recipe books by Colman Andrews and decided to buy one. Then an amazing synchronicity happened: our good friend and great chef JJ Healey with whom we were having lunch had a wonderful belly of pork recipe in the book. I grabbed a copy of the book and tore off the plastic cover and handed it to JJ demanding he sign my book .
A smiling JJ let the book fall open at the exact page and graciously signed his recipe for me. Its a great recipe that I shall be cooking many times in the future.
I then took the book over to Colman Andrews and asked that he sign my book too. Colman happily dedicated his book to me and I was well chuffed with my double signed copy as you can see in the pictures.
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- The Country Cooking of Ireland
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- John & Colman Andrews
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- Colman Andrews dedication
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- John & JJ Healy
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- JJ Healy’s Autograph
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- Fadge (potato cake)
I have since had time to pour over its contents and found it to be a wealth of information, eloquently written with beautiful pictures and great recipes. Bravo Colman you captured the soul of Irish food.
I went to the Virginia Pumpkin Festival two days later and tasted Fadge (potato cake/bread) and it tasted amazing and now thanks to Colman’s book I have the recipe, I just have to get a thick cast iron griddle and a bag of turf to cook with as I saw in Co. Cavan.
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