Late April is the point in the year that flirts with the idea of summer, while struggling to shake off the clingy winter weather. One morning you wake up full of enthusiasm, the glow of the sun and its warming embrace. The next you’re being pounded by freezing rain and gusts from some storm named after your uncle (we’ve just left Dave behind).
In recognition of both, I’m cooking two simple dishes that will warm your cockles in the cold and bring a feeling of summer in the sun.
First is a luxurious seafood chowder. This dish epitomises summer in Ireland, evoking visions of wooden benches by the sea, and pint glasses half filled with chilled porter, the creamy head hugging the edge of the glass.
By its nature, chowder is also rich and comforting, especially with slabs of brown bread and butter on the side (you can find my recipe for this here).
The key to a decent chowder is in the quality of the stock. I try to sweat off my vegetables and aromatics before adding the stock to add another layer of flavour. It’s then lightly thickened with a roux base along with some cream and white wine for fragrance. This leaves a beautiful soup base that would be great as is. At this point, I add thick chunks of white fish, salmon, mussels and prawns. These poach away in the chowder and add another layer of flavour as they cook. This is the magic of classical cookery, layering flavours on top of each other until it tastes intensely of the main ingredient: seafood. A great chowder should have a 50:50 ratio of seafood to soup. If you can add the cold pint of stout and brown bread, it’s a meal in itself.
The second soup is fiery and packed with flavour. Perfect to fuel you up in the cold but would be equally delicious as a light lunch or dinner al fresco. And let’s face it, who doesn’t love a tomato soup? The key is to pre-roast the tomatoes in salt and good olive oil, the oven will remove any excess water before they get further cooked out in chilli flakes, garlic and tinned tomatoes. It’s blended with a touch of cream for texture and finished with some crispy croutons, basil and olive oil. Close your eyes and you could be on the Med.
I believe the next storm name in 2026 is “Eddie”. Here’s hoping we never have to meet.
Recipe: Luxurious seafood chowder
