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 5 – Ballywalter Park
This week our culinary wizards fly north to Ballywalter Park on the beautiful Ards Peninsula in County Down, the home of Lord and Lady Dunleath – the family were once the greatest linen barons in the world and the house is simply stunning. But there’s butter to be made, turkeys to be plucked and there’s a fighting chance of getting to bang a drum that saw action at the Battle of the Boyne. Oh and after dinner there’s an outside possibility of being asked to step onto the weighing scales.