Who would trust a skinny chef? Not the head of the Restaurant Association of Ireland, who's chef at the King Sitric in Howth, writes Melanie Morris
How did you get into food? "Through my mother, I suppose, but what's interesting is that when I became a chef, my father got into the whole thing too. He did that with all his sons' professions. We opened the King Sitric in 1971, initially with six meat dishes and one fish dish on the menu, thinking that the Irish didn't like seafood. Within a year we were able to change it around completely."
Where do you shop? "I always recommend Nicky's Place at the end of Howth Pier. He has the only original kiln for smoking salmon and the results are incomparable. I also love Beshoffs and Wrights for excellent produce and good supplementary items too."
What's your failsafe recipe? "If I were to cook for myself, it would probably be something like sole on the bone, pan fried with a little bit of butter, new potatoes and baby carrots in a bunch. But now that it's summer, there's a lot to be said for barbecued salmon. I suggest marinating stakes or tranches of fillet in chilli, soy sauce and garlic for a few minutes. Then cook on the grill, but not for too long. You want the centre rare. Add new potatoes, a salad and some mayonnaise on the side and you've a real treat out of that."
Do you cook from books? "I like to keep up to date. Right now I'm reading Ferran Adrià's El Bulli book, which is amazing."
Do you entertain often? "Not at home, but a lot in the restaurant, especially in winter. We sit down around 2 p.m. for a cold starter, then fish or maybe some nice roast beef or lamb, followed by cheese. Lunch goes on until 8 or 9 p.m.."
What's the secret to good entertaining? "Wine ... and more wine."
Your favourite restaurants? "In Dublin, I love the Top Four - Guilbauds, l'Ecrivain, Chapter One and Thorntons - for celebration meals. We're in The Blue Book, so it's nice to travel around the country and visit other members. Dunbrody House in Wexford particularly stands out, in terms of cuisine."
What's your big treat? "It depends. I'll often have fish or game to see how other chefs prepare it. Or I might go to the other extreme and have something we never cook, like veal."
What is your favourite comfort food? "Corned beef, cabbage and potatoes."
What's in your fridge right now? "Lots of artisan cheeses, melon, orange, two bottles of white wine, four pork chops, rashers, sausages, Shaw's black and white pudding, mayonnaise and Ballymaloe Relish."
Do you eat at home much? "In fact, we live next door to the restaurant, so most meals are taken at work. Breakfast is something like fruit, cereal or maybe a rasher sandwich. Our main meal is lunch, and we have that after service, around 3 p.m.; usually two courses that Joan and I enjoy together. We mightn't eat again for the rest of the day, but of course I'll be picking at things in the kitchen."
Do you diet? "Unfortunately yes, but not often, because it's so difficult. I've done the Cabbage Soup diet a few times, and last time lost a stone in a week, which stayed off for a good while. It's hard, especially when I'm surrounded by tempting things to taste all the time. But who'd trust a skinny chef?"
What would be your death row last meal? "I'd start with crab, followed by a whole grouse, roasted with the innards in it - to be taken out at the end and eaten as a paté. I'd have Potatoes Anna with that (thinly-sliced, moulded into a pan, fried, and finished off in the oven), and a bottle of Mouton Rothschild 1982. Then, so I can have another bottle of wine - this time a Côte Rôtie La Mouline from Guigal - I would round things off with a selection of Irish farmhouse cheeses."
If you are what you eat, then Aidan, you are ... "A fishy customer."