What do the people of Ireland cook every day?

Neven Maguire is Ireland’s most trusted chef. His recipes are made day in, day out by people up and down the country for one simple reason: they work. Now in his fantastic new cookbook, Neven has assembled his all-time top 100 recipes. What do the people of Ireland make every day? You might be surprised.

I have been cooking since I was the age of 12. I have been fortunate to learn from my mother, to train abroad, to try new flavours and new influences and to keep working on my skills as a chef. I absolutely love and enjoy what I do. And I also love that I get to travel the length and the breadth of the country every week doing cookery demonstrations and meeting people who enjoy cooking and want to better themselves.

Every year I do hundreds of cookery demonstrations from Belfast in the North to Wexford in the South, from Galway in the West to Dublin in the East. I meet thousands of people from all walks of life with all levels of skill in the kitchen. I meet people who have been cooking for years: mothers who put food on the table day after day; men who want to learn the latest technique. I also meet plenty of novice cooks who simply want to learn where to begin in the kitchen.

However, regardless of the person’s level of skill or experience in the kitchen, I have discovered that people, for the most part, all want the same. I am repeatedly asked for the same things. What is my recipe for the perfect brown bread? Or my definitive method for the Christmas turkey? Or my failsafe recipe for chocolate cake, or mushroom soup, or the perfect steak?

And so here are my top 100 all-stars. The most requested recipes, the classics, the definitive versions of the food that we make and enjoy in Ireland every day.

We all experiment. Many of us try to get better and achieve restaurant-standard cooking with our foam and our jus. And yet, we always come home to the classics. I know I do when I am at home. After a day of demos or cooking in the restaurant, I want simple, tasty food. I know what it’s like to cook for a hungry child, or a tired wife, or for entertaining friends and family – when you actually want to enjoy them rather than spend the evening in the kitchen. What you want is food that you know will work and be enjoyed, that always turns out as you’d hoped. And I hope the recipes in this book will do that for you.

So I’ve taken these 100 recipes and refined them. Tested them. Tasted them. Added something. Taken something out. Freshened them up. Brought in new influences. Referred back to cookery bibles. Until I’m certain that they’re as close to perfect as they can be. Until I can say to you, this is the definitive collection.

What do the people of Ireland make every day? You might be surprised. You will find Bacon and Cabbage and Vegetable Soup for sure, but you will also find Chicken Tikka Masala and Granola Bars for life on the go.

I hope this book will be splattered with sauce, will have notes in the margin, will have the pages folded down. In short, I hope it becomes your trusted friend in the kitchen that you turn to time after time.

Most of all, that you enjoy good food shared with your family and friends.

Neven Maguire

’The Nation’s Favourite Food’ by Neven Maguire is now available from the Gill Books Online Bookshop and all good booksellers nationwide.