Lords & Ladles takes the viewer on a historical journey to celebrate our past through the wonders of food and the glories of cooking. The series features three of Ireland’s finest Chefs: Derry Clarke, Catherine Fulvio and Paul Flynn who are as oddly complimentary as the Top Gear trio, with egos to match.
Each week the Chefs arrive at a Great Irish Country House and must recreate a grand dinner from its history while tantalising the TV audience with sumptuous descriptions of the treats that are on the menu. But first they must Draw Lots for the division of labour – one will Gather the ingredients, one will Cook, and one will get to Dine with the Gentry.
The Gatherer must source the ingredients for the feast from the local environs – hunting, shooting and fishing feature strongly, as do cow’s lips and eyes, lamb’s stones and lots of tongue! TheCook will familiarise themselves with the workings or not of the kitchen, check out the original house cookbooks – some fine old tomes filled with mouth-watering recipes from the past – Birr Castle boasts a cook book dating from 1666.
Meanwhile the Diner gets to explore the house with its owners and caretakers, learning about its place in the history of the area and the Island, the trials and tribulations of the family seat and of course help lay the table using the finest silver and china from the house safe.
The Cook’s work all done, the meal will be served with all the pomp and ceremony it deserves, to the audible delight of the diners who can’t help themselves from gasping at the spectacle as the sumptuous banquet is laid before them.
Each episode is set in one of Ireland’s many stately homes.
Episode 3 – Castle Leslie
This week our merry trio Derry, Catherine and Paul, are in Castle Leslie in County Monaghan, one of Ireland’s most exclusive hotels and the home to Sir Jack Leslie and the force of nature that is Sammy Leslie, his niece who almost single-handedly saved the estate from ruin. The chefs are fishing for some swan gobbling pike and stalking deer, as well as admiring one of Winston Churchill’s baby dresses and finding out the best use to for the discarded canopy of a Harrier Jump Jet.