- 8 hours ago
Dermot O'Leary's Taste of Ireland - Season 2 Episode 6
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00:01The island of Ireland.
00:05Wild, welcoming.
00:07Sláinte. Sláinte.
00:08And full of stories I've only just begun to uncover.
00:11I'm so excited. We're literally on the Giant's Causeway.
00:13This place has always meant something special to me.
00:16We're a migrant home.
00:17It's where my roots lie and where some of my favourite memories were made.
00:21It's on. It's on, baby.
00:24Now I'm back.
00:25Woo!
00:26To explore more of this extraordinary island.
00:28This coastline, isn't it? Stunning.
00:30From the rugged beauty of the Causeway coastal route.
00:33Beautiful. So gorgeous, huh?
00:34To the sweeping drama of the wild Atlantic Way.
00:37How could you forget this?
00:39I'll be following the edge of the land,
00:41diving into the life,
00:43and occasionally the Atlantic itself.
00:45Oh, it's incredible.
00:47Along the way, I'll be meeting the people who bring this place to life.
00:51That is cracking!
00:53The farmers.
00:54Come on. Come on.
00:56Fishers.
00:57We're lobster fishing.
00:58And chefs.
00:59That's Nectar of the Gods.
01:01That is a masterclass.
01:03Slaying it.
01:04That is a dream.
01:04Who doesn't love a lobster roll?
01:06Go on, team.
01:07I'll be discovering the flavours.
01:09Like Winnie the Pooh right now.
01:10The traditions.
01:11This is so special.
01:13And the stories that define Ireland today.
01:16That was insane. It was so lovely.
01:18This is my taste of Ireland.
01:27We have travelled north, following the wild Atlantic Way,
01:30to the tip of the island of Ireland,
01:33and to a place that is uncharted territory for me.
01:37Welcome to Donegal.
01:39I can't tell you how excited I am to be.
01:42I've never been to Donegal before.
01:43Specifically, welcome to Marlin Hen.
01:46This is the most northerly point of the whole of the island of Ireland.
01:50It's pretty much as far away from where my family are from as you can guess.
01:55Donegal is called sometimes the Forgotten County,
01:58but looking around me already, how could you forget this?
02:03I've always wanted to come to Donegal,
02:04and so I can't wait to meet its people and eat its food and get cracking.
02:08So, if we can get off this peninsula, then let's do it.
02:13This week, we're going to dine out in Donegal.
02:17In the north of the county, around the Inner Shown Peninsula and Letta Kenny.
02:22This is wonderful.
02:24I'll don a bee suit to harvest honey.
02:27It doesn't get much more fresh than that, does it?
02:29The compliments are Syrian sweet.
02:31That is a thing of beauty, Abdul.
02:33Yeah.
02:34Follow me.
02:35I'll forage in the forest for chanterelles.
02:37I would have stepped on that.
02:38That literally looks like a leaf.
02:41Before I stretch my skills.
02:43Okay, now it's getting silly.
02:44I'm making pasta for a tantalising tortellini dish.
02:49That is beautiful.
02:51But I'm starting with a personal favourite.
02:54The old ambinetta.
02:56Now, I absolutely love honey.
02:59I was raised on the stuff.
03:00And my dad will tell you the best honey in our, if not the world, is from Wexford.
03:04But everybody says that about the honey where they're from.
03:07I'm off to meet a man today, however, who's doing some incredible things with the bees here in Donegal.
03:13Here in the heather-clad hills of Karn Dona, I'm meeting Abdul, a third generation beekeeper.
03:19Abdul, look at who you bump into on the top of a hill in the middle of Donegal.
03:24It's so nice to meet you.
03:25I've been looking forward to this for so long.
03:27I love honey.
03:27It's great.
03:28So, you know, just a heather honey we're harvesting today.
03:32So, we're harvesting heather honey today.
03:34Today.
03:35Abdul has been beekeeping since he was 15 years old in Syria.
03:39How did a man from Syria end up being the king of the bees in Donegal?
03:44This story intrigues me.
03:46How did it happen?
03:48So, we had to leave Syria in 2016 because of, you know, the war.
03:52Yeah.
03:52And we came across Turkey to Greece.
03:55And after that, in Greece, we did the asylum program.
03:59And Ireland chose us.
04:01So, Ireland chose you.
04:02It chose me, yes.
04:02I'm so glad we chose you.
04:07Listen, we'll talk about more about that, but I'm so intrigued by wherever these bees are.
04:11Just over there and you will put our suits now.
04:15And we'll get some honey out of them.
04:16Yeah.
04:17We'll steal in some honey.
04:18Yeah.
04:18And go home to process it.
04:20Steal the honey.
04:20Steal the honey.
04:21Steal the honey, okay.
04:22Getting that one?
04:23Yes.
04:24Abdul has 11 hives here.
04:26Each hive homes up to 40,000 bees.
04:31This is wonderful.
04:34Yes.
04:34This is not what I expected to be doing in Tottengol, that's for sure.
04:38It is.
04:39Yeah.
04:40And I'm a little bit scared.
04:41I'm not going to lie.
04:42How are they with strangers?
04:44Hello, bees.
04:45We have a stranger here.
04:47I'm just afraid you haven't met yet.
04:49I promise I mean you no harm.
04:52All right.
04:53What can I do that doesn't jeopardize the bees or my hands?
04:56I will do the work.
04:57Ah!
04:58Just, you know, brush the bees.
05:00Brush the bees off?
05:01Off the frames.
05:02Okay.
05:03Will they be all right with it?
05:04Oh, yeah.
05:05No problem with it.
05:06Just keep going with the smoke, baby.
05:07Ready now.
05:08Yeah.
05:08Okay.
05:09As they'll ever be.
05:13Hello.
05:16So that calms them down, does it?
05:17Yes.
05:19Explain to me.
05:20So that's the queen lives somewhere around here.
05:22Here, yeah.
05:23She's in one frame laying eggs.
05:25And here, all honey.
05:27All honey here?
05:28All honey, yes.
05:29Oh, God.
05:30Here we go.
05:31So this one of the other honey.
05:32That's quite a lot of them.
05:33Yeah.
05:35And now just to brush the...
05:37Just brush them?
05:38Will I hurt them at all?
05:39No, no.
05:39They're okay.
05:40Yeah.
05:42Nice.
05:42I love honeycomb.
05:44It's so beautiful, isn't it?
05:44It is.
05:45It is, yes.
05:48So now we'll just close the hive.
05:50I feel like a honey thief.
05:55Here we go.
05:56Here we go.
05:57Are you inside or outside?
05:58Yeah, that's it.
05:59I think the bees get mad now.
06:00If you're saying that, then we're getting out of it.
06:02Yeah.
06:04All good, Abdul.
06:04Where are we headed now?
06:05Home.
06:06Home.
06:06All right.
06:07Sounds great.
06:07Yeah.
06:08Let's go.
06:10We are heading back to town in Abdul's house with our honey heist.
06:15Okay, so where do we start?
06:16Okay, we take the flame out.
06:18Okay.
06:19So what am I seeing right there?
06:21That's the honeycomb.
06:22The honeycomb.
06:22The actual honeycomb, right?
06:24And tell me, before we start, how did this come about?
06:27Like, you settled here.
06:29Yeah.
06:29And then how did people find out about your love of honey and beekeeping?
06:33Well, Dermot, to be honest, you know, the bees, it was like a bridge between me and the community.
06:39So whenever somebody came to buy honey, we just said, you know, you want some coffee, tea, whatever.
06:46And the time they sat on the table, we became like friends.
06:49Mm-hmm.
06:50You know, people just love and having fun and joy.
06:53It's nice to hear, mate.
06:54Yeah.
06:54Now, honestly, in the world we're living in at the moment, it makes your heart sore when you see the
06:57people are kind and friendly to someone coming.
07:00It is.
07:00When you be more respectful for the country and the people inside, you will be more respectful too.
07:06Yeah.
07:06Yeah.
07:07Mutual respect, doesn't it?
07:08Absolutely.
07:09All right.
07:10Let's respect this honey.
07:11So now your time to do the...
07:13Hey, what do you mean my time?
07:14I was sweeping bees off you earlier on.
07:16It's been my time for ages.
07:21See this here?
07:23This goes down to the foundation.
07:25Yeah.
07:26Oh, what?
07:27Yeah?
07:27Look at that.
07:28And we just take all the honey.
07:30Look at the colour.
07:31That just looks delicious.
07:31It's the original colour, you know, the orange colour.
07:34Whoa.
07:35So now we just turn it like that.
07:38And it's your time now.
07:40Okay, lovely.
07:41Hard.
07:42He is not joking.
07:44This is quite the workout.
07:48Look at that.
07:49Beautiful.
07:50Abdul can extract two kilos of honey out of each frame, which equates to about four jars.
07:55Oh, it's just lolloping in.
07:59I'm just sort of eating any stragglers I see on the floor.
08:02Like Winnie the Pooh right now.
08:05Should I get...
08:06Yeah.
08:07There's a couple of bees in there as well, so...
08:09No bees in there.
08:12Come on.
08:14Now we press it.
08:16Ready now?
08:17Yeah.
08:17Bring it here.
08:19It's a great kit here, haven't you?
08:23Go for it.
08:23Go for it.
08:24Yeah.
08:24Harder, harder.
08:25Faster, faster.
08:27Now you see the magic.
08:29Look at that.
08:30It's like a really slow volcano of honey.
08:37It does get much more fresh than that, does it?
08:39No.
08:41To go with this next-level nectar, Abdul has knocked up a Syrian treat.
08:46Just for me.
08:48Oh, Abdul, what is this?
08:49What is this little number you've got?
08:51So, this Syrian kinafa.
08:53What's in it?
08:54It's very fine wheat with just grinders and cheese in the middle.
08:59Yeah.
08:59Amazing.
09:00It's homemade cheese, so...
09:02Homemade cheese?
09:04You might be the perfect man, you know?
09:06Yeah.
09:08Here's a catch.
09:09An absolute catch.
09:11What?
09:13I don't know how long does it...
09:14How do you make it?
09:15Well, it's not hard and...
09:19It's just like half hour.
09:22So, now the honey.
09:24Oh, yeah.
09:25Yeah.
09:27That is a lovely little Syrian-Irish Donegal hybrid.
09:33That is a thing of beauty, Abdul.
09:35Yeah.
09:35And just leave it now to, you know, to absorb.
09:38Oh, God.
09:39Really?
09:40How long have we got to leave it for?
09:41Yeah.
09:41This is torture.
09:42What are you doing to me?
09:44Finally, a sprinkling of bee pollen.
09:46So, here we go.
09:48All we need now is some proper Arabic coffee.
09:52There we go.
09:52Coffee.
09:53Oh, what a guy.
09:56Okay.
09:57Ooh, that is good.
09:58Okay, try the sweetener.
09:59I was planning on sleeping sometime tonight.
10:01Looks like that's nothing.
10:02Try the sweetener.
10:04Yes, I will.
10:05This dish is a Middle Eastern classic, with a Donegal twist.
10:08And now, I know why.
10:10That is perfect.
10:12Yeah.
10:12So, usually we put some, you know, sugar syrup on it.
10:17But for special people, we just use honey.
10:22You smoothie.
10:27There is something in the stars, Abdul, about you coming here.
10:32Given your skill set, and what a lovely, warm human being you are.
10:35Thank you, man.
10:36And now here, in one of the beautiful counties of Ireland, with this incredible bounty of goods they have here.
10:43It's a marriage made in heaven.
10:44What a pleasure to meet you, man.
10:45Thank you very much.
10:46Thank you so much.
10:47Thank you very much.
10:47Thank you very much.
10:47What a sweet story.
10:49But now, we're getting earthy.
10:51Foraging for fungi.
10:53So beautiful.
10:54To make a magnificent mushroom dish.
11:02My Irish culinary road trip has brought me to the wild Atlantic Way, in the north of County Donegal.
11:08So, I've left the heathered hills, and now here I am in the ancient woodlands of Donegal, to find another
11:13one of my favourite foods, mushrooms.
11:16Problem.
11:17I have absolutely no idea how to forage for them.
11:20Solution, I'm about to meet a man who definitely does.
11:24I'm in search of an elusive mushroom man, called Sean.
11:28Sean produces his prized fungi on his farm here in the wilds of Donegal.
11:32And forages for wild mushrooms in his forest.
11:36Hi, Sean.
11:37How are we?
11:38Oh, so nice to meet you.
11:39Well, very welcome to Donegal.
11:40Thanks for having me in Donegal, mate.
11:42Oh, it's our pleasure.
11:43What a spot you've got here.
11:45Yeah.
11:45Just a mountain in the background.
11:48It's a little bit of land that's been in my family for centuries, Dermot.
11:52Yeah.
11:52It's absolutely amazing.
11:54I'm so proud to have it, and so blessed to have it.
11:56It's so lovely.
11:57So, how did you come to love mushrooms?
12:01Foraging has been a part of my life since a child.
12:03But growing up in this type of woodland, you know, mushrooms are ever present.
12:08You'll find lion's men, pearl oysters, elm oysters, pachini mushrooms, chanterelles, all through these woods.
12:14And my dad, because he's a vegetarian, he's always loved mushrooms.
12:17So, we'll be out on a walk when I was a kid, and he'll just pick something up in the
12:19forest and just eat it.
12:20And I'll be, like, blowing my mind.
12:21I'll be, like, how do you know what's the mushroom and what's the toadstool?
12:24How do you know?
12:25To warn you, Dermot, I will say that there are old mushroom foragers and there are bold mushroom foragers.
12:32But there are no old and bold mushroom foragers.
12:36So, just to be aware of that, watch what you're going to pick up.
12:39Mushroom foraging is serious business and can be deadly.
12:44Shall we?
12:45Yes.
12:46Follow me.
12:47So, if you're going to do it, you need a man like Sean.
12:52Today we are on the hunt for chanterelles, which Sean assures me are easy to identify.
12:58For the strong peachy smell and blunt, shallow, ridge-like gills.
13:03I mean, it's so wonderfully enchanted.
13:06Enchanted doesn't even come close to it.
13:08Yeah.
13:09This stream, look at it.
13:11So beautiful.
13:13To the untrained eye, yours truly, spotting these fruits of the forest is no mean feat.
13:19In fact, my mean feet are the problem here.
13:23Here's some chanterelles now, Dermot, so...
13:25Sean, I would have stepped on that.
13:26That literally looks like a leaf.
13:30Unfortunately, the leaves do tend to camouflage them a little bit.
13:34Yeah.
13:34They're a stark bright colour, aren't they, the chanterelles?
13:36That's it.
13:37They're golden chanterelles, so they are packed full of vitamin D.
13:41They're like nature's little solar batteries, storing the ultraviolet light from sunlight into the actual mushroom fruiting body.
13:48And then, Sean, when you harvest, year on year, how do they pollinate and spread?
13:52Well, these mushrooms are mycorrhizal.
13:54What does that mean, sorry?
13:55They actually form a relationship with the trees that they grow around.
13:59Yeah.
13:59They will propagate into the air and blow along to the next little tree sapling and form that relationship with
14:06that tree and nature continues.
14:08Great.
14:09Okay, Sean, show me how it's done.
14:11So I'm just going to catch the stem of the mushroom and I'm just going to go under it with
14:14the scissors and just give it a wee snap.
14:16What would you do with that? Just saute that and have it in a...
14:19Yes, saute and then a beautiful cream sauce and that is absolutely delicious.
14:23Lovely.
14:25This is delicate work.
14:27Thank you so much, Charles.
14:29Sean simply brushes off any earth.
14:32You just give them a little clean, right? You don't wash them, do you?
14:34No, no, you wouldn't wash mushrooms.
14:37You know what they say? Teamwork makes the dream work.
14:40And our Sean Terrell count is rising.
14:43This is wonderful. What happens now? What do you normally do with it?
14:45Well, you are going to take them to my friend Chris in the lemon tree.
14:49Sounds good.
14:50And he is going to make something absolutely delicious out of these mushrooms.
14:53Cannot wait. Shall we?
14:55Yes.
14:57From forest forager to delivery guy.
15:01I'm bringing our bounty to one of Donegal's most celebrated restaurants, run by the Malloy family.
15:07Mushroom man's here.
15:08Hey.
15:09Hey, guys.
15:10Hey, how's it going?
15:11How are you?
15:11Good.
15:12Head chef Chris is going to work his mushroom magic.
15:15So, we're going to make mushroom tortellini with mushroom broth.
15:19Some simply sauteed chanterelles that you picked this morning.
15:23Yeah.
15:23It'll be super tasty.
15:24Great. All right.
15:25Let's go.
15:25Beautiful.
15:26Let's go.
15:29Okay, so, where do we start?
15:32So, basically, I've got the ingredients weighed out.
15:34200 grams of double O pasta flour.
15:36All right.
15:37In goes the good quality pasta flour, followed by a pinch of sea salt.
15:41And then in with three egg yolks.
15:43Lovely colour on them, aren't they?
15:46One full egg, three yolks.
15:50That should all come together.
15:51You kind of want, like, a sandy texture.
15:55So, you just start bringing in all your mix.
15:57So, you're almost kneading it.
15:58Yeah, you're just kneading it, yeah.
16:00Give me a go.
16:00Yeah.
16:01So, it's a lovely colour to it, isn't it?
16:02Yeah, it's a lovely colour.
16:04You just work it for maybe three or four minutes.
16:07Once the four minutes is up, the pasta dough comes together.
16:11So, that's kind of, that's beautiful.
16:13Is that right?
16:13So, we'll just wrap that up now and pop that in the fridge.
16:16Perfect.
16:16Whilst the dough chills, we are on to the mushrooms.
16:19Chris chops up a mixture of chanterelles and king oyster mushrooms.
16:22So, you can just go over them again in with your knife.
16:25Fingers on top.
16:25Just go like that.
16:27That's my M.O.
16:29And then, it's a finely chopped onion.
16:33That's the trick, isn't it?
16:35This is sofrito style.
16:37You're on it.
16:39Ah!
16:39What's the thing?
16:40It's like a stuntman.
16:43So, we want to really cook them down, eh?
16:45And then, the finely chopped onions go into a sizzling hot pan.
16:48Okay, I'd be worried now about those onions burning.
16:51Nah, once the mushrooms go in, you'll see the amount of water that'll come out of the mushrooms.
16:56Put in a little bit of thyme as well, if you want it.
16:58And then, just a wee bit more of the vinegar sea salt.
17:01Once the onions have softened, Chris chucks in a spoonful of mushroom puree.
17:05And then, just mix it all together.
17:07And, if it comes together, like, that you'll be able to spoon it into the pasta, it's ready.
17:11And then, we'll just put that there mix into the fridge to chill down again for another while.
17:16So, the pasta's in the fridge.
17:17This will be in the fridge.
17:17And then, we'll just start bringing the dish together, then.
17:20Yeah.
17:22And now, the moment.
17:23I've been slightly dreading.
17:24So, first of all, for the pasta to go through the machine, we just want to thin it out a
17:28wee bit.
17:29I love the feel of flour in the hand.
17:31I should have been a sumo wrestler.
17:33True.
17:34We lightly flour the pasta dough, and then roll it out.
17:39So, what you want to do is really just hold the top of the pasta with your left hand, and
17:43then, as it comes out, take it with your right, yeah.
17:47Oh, it's beautiful, isn't it?
17:49Just watch your thumb towards it.
17:50Oh, yeah.
17:52And then, once you've put it through once, you just keep changing the settings, and the pasta will get bigger
17:57and bigger and bigger.
17:58Right.
17:59You kind of, like, steer it with your left hand.
18:01Yeah, just right as to what happens.
18:03I'd be a natural at it.
18:04Yeah.
18:04It's not that hard, is it?
18:05Is it?
18:05It's very hard.
18:07That's perfect.
18:10OK, that's getting silly.
18:11Are you just taking the mick now?
18:15Italian nonis will be proud.
18:16Oh, my friend Paolo will be watching this and be so proud.
18:19Good job.
18:22So, we can turn off our machine now.
18:24We're ready to cut squares out of the pasta.
18:27We cut the pasta into squares, and then a little egg wash on the sides.
18:32It's not too heavy on the egg either.
18:33It makes it easier.
18:34Oh, no.
18:35A spoonful of a mushroom mix.
18:38Bring it in like a wee triangle.
18:41That's perfect.
18:42And then bring the left side over on top of the right side.
18:44Hey, chef.
18:45Look at that.
18:46Yeah, you did good.
18:46And then repeat.
18:49Left over right.
18:50Left over right.
18:52And then just bring it nicely together.
18:55All right, shall we cook some?
18:56Yeah.
18:57So, the next stage is what we have to do.
18:59We've got our mushroom broth on here, which is just a load of dried mushrooms, a small
19:04bit of soy sauce, and just boiled up just to enhance the flavour.
19:08What does the soy sauce do?
19:09This gives you that more, like, saltiness.
19:11Yeah.
19:11You know?
19:11And I've got some soft egg yolk as well that I've confit for 45 minutes at 65 degrees.
19:17Okay.
19:18We're going to have...
19:18Are we on a timer now?
19:19Yeah.
19:20We'll need four minutes.
19:21Exciting.
19:21Kind of like Mission Impossible.
19:23A lovingly made tortellinis are plunged into boiling water.
19:26Mmm.
19:26So, while they're in cooking, we're going to make, like, a mushroom tea as well.
19:30So, we're going to put some of these dried wild mushrooms.
19:32You've got an awful lot to do in a couple of minutes.
19:34I've got confidence in you.
19:35What have you got there?
19:36Dried porcini, isn't it?
19:37Dried porcinis in there and some shiitakes.
19:39A wee bit of fresh chevril.
19:41Yeah.
19:41And some thyme as well.
19:42Thyme as well, yeah.
19:43I don't know about you, but I can't say the word shiitake without doing an impression
19:46of Sean Connery saying the word shiitake.
19:48Shiitake.
19:49Shiitake.
19:50Very good.
19:52Chanterelles into a pan.
19:53And then a small bit of the sea salt in as well.
19:55Mm-hmm.
19:56Oh, yeah.
19:56Fried off with a little butter and thyme.
20:00Chris passes the mushroom broth through a sieve.
20:02And then we can pour this onto our...
20:09So, the pasta's in there now for four minutes.
20:11If you want to just scoop them out there onto our landing mat.
20:15And then to finish...
20:21And then we can pop our egg yolk onto the middle.
20:25They look great.
20:27Yeah, they look beautiful, don't they?
20:29And then some fresh chevril.
20:33Finally, some mushroom powder, and it's time for the broth.
20:38Really lovely, mate.
20:40Yes.
20:40It's great.
20:43All right, here we go.
20:44Get some of the yolk.
20:45Very excited about this.
20:50Very beautiful.
20:52Can I serve that in the restaurant?
20:54Are you joking?
20:55Yeah.
20:57Thanks, Jeff.
20:58And the best afternoon.
20:59Really appreciate it.
21:01That dish was a revelation.
21:04Much like this county.
21:06And to top off my day, I've climbed up to the impressive Grianan of Eliech to take stock.
21:13What an incredible spot to end an incredible day.
21:17A day of honey.
21:21Mushrooms.
21:22Lovely.
21:23I'm so glad we chose you.
21:24And just the most inspiring people.
21:27It's just the most wonderful place to start my journey down the wild Atlantic way.
21:31I can't wait to see what's next.
21:33Next time.
21:34Welcome to South Donegal, and one of the pearls of the wild Atlantic way.
21:38Let's go, Malloy's.
21:39Things are going to get a little bit fishy.
21:41Well watching.
21:42I'll savour a sensational seafood spread.
21:45I've never had mackerel like that before.
21:46I'll help make an old Irish classic dessert, and even learn a little Irish.
21:50Let the hall.
21:52Let the hall.
21:53Let the hall.
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