Is there any better judge of a country’s food than a seasoned diplomat used to the fine lunches, dinners and cocktail parties that we imagine punctuate their rarefied world?
We asked seven such experienced operators based in Ireland for their views on Irish culinary offerings and what they miss most about the food at home.
Ambassador Melitta Schubert, Austria
When ambassador Schubert is coming back to Dublin from a trip home, she likes to bring “a loaf of dark bread fresh from the oven”. This, she says, is the one food item she misses from her native country, with all her other favourite foodstuffs and ingredients generally available in Irish supermarkets.
The only exception is quark, which she uses for her “beloved” topfenpalatschinken, or sweet pancakes made with a creamy quark filling.
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“The available fat-free quark is just way too healthy,” she says.
Ambassador Schubert loves discovering new Irish restaurants too and has particularly enjoyed seafood at King Sitric in Howth, Co Dublin and chowder at Johnny Fox’s in Glencullen, Co Dublin.
She also namechecks Aqua in Howth – “best fish with a great view” and steak at Fire Steakhouse in Dublin 2. For pizza, she likes Little Pyg in the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre.
“The list is being extended with every new experience,” she says.
Chowder is the dish she recommends most to fellow Austrians visiting Ireland, along with “surprise, surprise”, fish and chips as a “classical Irish dish”.
“And for meat lovers of course the excellent steaks and Irish stew.”
Has anything surprised her about Irish food? “I did not know that so many different ways of serving potatoes exist; you always find them on your plate,” she says.
Does she have a guilty Irish food pleasure? “Tons of Irish butter.”
Ambassador Anna-Carolina (Lina) Holmström van der Weyden, Sweden
Swedish ambassador, Anna-Carolina (Lina) Holmström van der Weyden is a particular fan of the Irish breakfast, which she acknowledges probably shouldn’t be an everyday indulgence.
“There is something hearty and deeply satisfying about taking the time to enjoy a proper fry-up with rashers, eggs, black and white pudding, grilled tomatoes, toast – and a cup of strong Barry’s Tea,” she says.
The ambassador also enjoys a traditional Irish stew, which she says reminds her of kalops, a classic Swedish beef stew with allspice and root vegetables.
“Another similarity I discovered is the black pudding! We have a similar version of it, called blodpudding – literally blood pudding – and it’s typically served sliced and fried, with a side of lingonberry jam made fresh from the forest.”
Mention of lingonberry jam naturally leads us to Swedish mecca, Ikea in Ballymun, Dublin 11, which ambassador Holmström van der Weyden greatly appreciates when she craves ingredients from home, such as Swedish meatballs.
She also visits Lotts & Co (in Dublin 3, Dublin 4 and Dublin 6W) to stock up on Swedish sweets, crisps and crispbread. And in the run up to Christmas, it sells seasonal soft drink, julmust.
Back in Ikea, the ambassador can get her cinnamon bun fix for an afternoon fika, or tea/ coffee break with sweet buns or biscuits. She says fika is “one of our most cherished traditions to socialise with family, friends and colleagues”.
On her travels, she has had the chance to visit Co Clare, recommending the smoked organic salmon at Burren Smokehouse, which was founded by a Swedish-Irish couple.
Swedish “pick and mix” sweets top her list of things to bring back to Ireland after a visit home. She also likes Zoéga’s Skanerost coffee - from her hometown of Helsingborg, Santa Maria taco spice mix for Taco Fridays and kaviar, or smoked fish roe in a tube.
Norimasa Yoshida, deputy head of mission, Japan
Like the Swedish ambassador, Norimasa Yoshida’s favourite Irish food is the traditional breakfast, where the different components allow him to “make it a bit different” every time.
“I especially like Irish soda bread and butter,” he says, adding that his guilty pleasure is the humble chicken fillet roll.
“It is such a simple food but really delicious. A lot of people in Japan enjoy fried food, including chicken, in sandwiches as well, so the chicken fillet roll is a perfect blend of something new yet familiar. I try not to use too much mayonnaise,” he says.
In general, he finds Irish ingredients to be “excellent”, but he does miss some Japanese home comforts.
“Some of my favourite sweets in Japan use an ingredient called anko, which is a very sweet paste made with azuki beans. These can be quite hard to find in Ireland,” he says. He also misses soba, the Japanese buckwheat noodles.
He says it can still be hard to find specific Japanese-made ingredients for cooking at home. When he does make it back to Japan though, his focus is on omiyage or gifts and souvenirs, which he says are taken “very seriously”.
“Omiyage can be sweets, locally-themed items, stationery, and so on,” he says.
“I always make sure to buy a big box of Japanese sweets to hand out to everyone at the embassy when I return from a trip.”
When people visit Ireland from Japan, he recommends that they try chowder, oysters and Guinness.
“We love seafood in Japan, and so this is a perfect introduction to Irish food for us.”
Like ambassador Schubert from Austria, he was surprised at how many potatoes Irish people eat.
“Not only do they eat them often, but they prepare them in so many different ways. I think it is similar to how much rice we eat in Japan. I was also surprised by how sweet the vegetables are in Ireland. They are truly delicious.”
And his favourite restaurant? He appreciates local service, singling out The Merrion Inn in Dublin 4, which is close to the embassy.
Ambassador Nicola Faganello, Italy
Ambassador of Italy Nicola Faganello misses the cheese from the mountains of his native Trentino in the northeast of the country and, so far, hasn’t been able to find it here.
“It’s similar to pecorino but it’s a cow’s milk cheese, different from Gouda or Emmental; we eat it with potatoes and polenta. The two varieties I love most are asiago mezzano e stagionato, cruccolo and vezzena, which comes from the area that borders Trentino and Veneto, where a part of my family comes from and where I spent many summer holidays when I was young.”
Mostly though, he finds it easy enough to source his favourite Italian ingredients here, albeit often at higher prices or of lower quality. Freshness can also be an issue, with some foods losing their best qualities when not eaten fresh.
“For instance, in Italy we try to eat buffalo mozzarella or ricotta within 24, or max 48 hours, after they are produced.”
Aside from his favourite cheese, ambassador Faganello likes to bring back grappa from Trentino - a grape-based brandy - when he returns from a trip home. His preferred Italian coffee might also sneak into his suitcase, along with “sugar-free and 100 per cent fruit jam from my region”.
He works hard to promote Italian food within his role and says he has found some good Italian restaurants in Ireland.
“Italian cuisine is not just food but also a set of social practices, habits, and gestures that lead to considering the preparation and consumption of a meal as an authentic moment of sharing and meeting, also with our Irish friends.”
Within Irish cuisine, he has noted “the very high quality of Irish meat” (particularly beef and lamb), salmon and other seafood “which I would recommend to everyone”. He admits to particularly enjoying Irish beer (in moderation) and says he appreciates the “subtle taste difference” between Guinness and Murphy’s, while preferring red beers.
His biggest surprise about Irish food though will not be surprising to Irish readers: the provenance of many of our fish and chip restaurants.
“I was of course surprised when I realised that Italian emigrants – coming from a specific small area of central Italy in the province of Frosinone (south of Rome) and particularly from the little town of Casalattico and other nearby villages – are the ones that brought fish and chips to Ireland,” he says.
Ambassador Leena Gardemeister, Finland
Bread is a recurring theme when it comes to thoughts of home, with Finnish ambassador Leena Gardemeister particularly wistful about Finnish rye bread: “There’s nothing like it anywhere in the world and no bread tastes as great,” she says.
And the ingredients needed for this special food are not always easy to find in Ireland.
“There are some special Finnish ingredients like dark treacle and beer malt that are essential in making malted rye bread that we serve with smoked salmon at our events. I always bring some from Finland,” says the ambassador. She also likes to bring back salmiakki - the strong salted Finnish liquorice she identifies as her “guilty pleasure”.
“I’ve loved it since I was little but it’s not exactly ideal for the blood pressure.”
Like others, the ambassador enjoys seafood in Howth, saying she’s had some of her best meals there. She has also loved seafood in Liscannor, Co Clare and, for a touch of luxury, recommends Chapter One in Dublin, where the kitchen is run by fellow Finn, Mickael Viljanen.
“I knew the food scene here was meant to be quite lively and modern, but I’ve been genuinely impressed. Everything’s so tasty, and the ingredients are always fresh and varied – it has been a lovely surprise,” she says. Independent coffee shops bring her particular joy, but she wishes her tummy would tolerate more lattes.
Ambassador Ibiyemi Aisha Ajiboye-Roberts, Nigeria
Nigerians are the largest African group in the State, according to the last census, which means there has been a huge expansion in the availability of Nigerian foods here in recent years.
Ambassador Ibiyemi Aisha Ajiboye-Roberts says she has no difficulty in finding ingredients from home in Ireland because “there are quite a number of African stores where Nigerian foods are sold”.
When she visits home, however, she likes to bring back a local spice called iru, which is popular across west African cooking. Made from fermented locust beans, iru is aromatic and has a rich, robust flavour used to enhance soups and stews.
[ West African food is finally taking its place at Irish tablesOpens in new window ]
The ambassador singles out three dishes she particularly misses about home – amala, gbegiri and ewedu – saying “the originality of the food can only be got back home in Nigeria”.
Amala is a “swallow food”, or dough-like staple made from yam and cassava flour, or unripe plantain flour, while gbegiri is a soup made from beans or black-eyed peas. Ewedu, also a soup, is made from jute leaf.
Ambassador Ajiboye-Roberts says she is “still searching” for her favourite Irish restaurant but she has managed to find a guilty Irish pleasure in apple tart: “I feel quite guilty about that.”
She notes, however, that apple tart may not qualify as an Irish food because it’s “basically English”.
Ambassador Chantelle Taylor, Australia
Unusually, ambassador Taylor does not like to bring food back to Ireland after visiting home because Australia’s strict biosecurity measures to prevent invasive pests being introduced mean Australians are “very well conditioned to respect that risk in reverse”. She says that if she could, she would love to bring back “a huge tray of ripe Kensington Pride mangoes from Queensland”.
Fresh produce and seasons are intertwined in Australia, the ambassador says.
“Sweet mangoes and crisp apples signal winter is finally over; juicy fresh watermelon and berries are the fuel of summer holidays; creamy avocados and juicy plums remind you to turn the heating on soon, and an abundance of mandarins and lemons are the perfect tonic for that first winter sneeze or cough.”
With her restrictions on imports, ambassador Taylor is forced to search for her quintessential Aussie products in Irish shops, with Tim Tams, Vegemite and Australian wines easy enough to source.
“Some of the Asian-inspired staples that are very common in Australian supermarkets can be harder to find, like Ponzu sauce or sesame dressing,” she says. “They are out there, you just have to hunt for them.”
Every pub we’ve gone to, no matter where in Ireland, has treated us like we are family returning home
— Ambassador Chantelle Taylor
Again like ambassador Schubert, ambassador Taylor has particularly enjoyed the “great food and warm historic atmosphere” at Johnny Fox’s. She also likes DeVille’s in Dalkey, Co Dublin “for its delicious steak and great Irish coffee”. And like ambassador Gardemeister from Finland, she is patriotic for special occasions, picking D’Olier Street in Dublin 2, where executive chef and owner James Moore is Australian. That’s not the only reason for visiting, she emphasises: “The food is incredible.”
Her favourite food recommendation for Australian visitors to Ireland is mussels, which she says have helped her to get over missing Australian specialities such as barramundi. Her guilty Irish pleasure is Toffee Brittle from Second Street Bakeshop in Cork. “I can’t actually have it in the house – it’s too tempting.”
Her other favourite experience is the welcome she has universally received in pubs and restaurants.
“The atmosphere and warmth you feel when you walk into any Irish pub or restaurant in Ireland is a national superpower. Every pub we’ve gone to, no matter where in Ireland, has treated us like we are family returning home.
“Every restaurant experience leaves you thinking – well, is this now my favourite?”
