Weekend Cooking: Lords and Ladles

Remember a couple of weeks ago I mentioned I discovered a new food-related TV show? That show is the Irish series Lords and Ladles, directed by Maurice Linnane.

The show stars three well-known Irish chefs--Derry Clarke, Catherine Fulvio, and Paul Flynn, and each week they visit a famous Irish castle or estate and attempt to re-create a historic meal that had been or could have been served there. For each dinner, one of the chefs takes charge of the kitchen and another one scrounges up the ingredients (gathering, hunting, fishing, or tracking down a local artisan producer). The third chef tours the grand house and grounds and talks with the current owners, sharing both the beauty of the estate and the family history.

Clarke, Fulvio, and Flynn are fun to watch because their reactions to the ingredients and the kitchens seem genuine. And even despite some understandable grumbling, they're wonderfully good sports and manage to pull off the elaborate menus.

Each episode, I learned something interesting about grand meals of the past and about Irish history. I loved seeing how each head chef attempted to interpret ingredients and cooking techniques from 100 years ago and more. I also liked seeing the dinner guests--friends and family of the estate--taste the food and comment on what they liked and what they didn't like.

The entire first season of Lords and Ladles is available on Netflix. The castles/estates the three chefs visited are Birr Castle, Tullynally Castle, Castle Leslie, Westport House, Balywalter Park, and Cappoquin House. Besides the food, I learned about a woman pirate, a family that made their fortune in linen, and saw what was once the world's largest telescope. I loved getting to know the families and their histories.

The food Clarke, Fulvio, and Flynn had to cook included foods we still eat today, like roasted game, and some totally bizarre ingredients, like cow's palates. The amount of food served for just one meal is astounding. Bravo to the guests who found room to taste everything!

I basically binge watched all six episodes and plan to watch them again. Season 2 has already aired in Ireland, and I'm impatiently awaiting the USA release.

If you have any interest in Ireland or food history or just want to watch something fun and interesting, put Lords and Ladles on your viewing list. This is the very short trailer to the first season:

Note that we're celebrating my mother's 90th birthday this weekend, so I'll be very slow to visit your blogs. I will get there, but maybe not until next week.

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Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.

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