Episode Two of Twelve – RTÉ One, September 30 at 7.30pm
Rachel Allen continues her culinary tour of the coast, and arrives at the pretty harbour town of Kinsale.
Local restaurateur Olivier Queva has invited her to go free-diving. And the first challenge is to get into the wetsuit he’s provided.
Full of enthusiasm they head out in search of crabs. Back on dry land they set up an outdoor kitchen on the beach, and prepare a delicious treat of crab and blood orange salad.
Refreshed, Rachel travels to the village of Ballinspittle to pick up some bread and walnut oil for her raw beetroot soup, and there she hears about a microgreen business in Ballinadee – Till and Bloom – who can provide some pretty edible flowers for her recipe.
After preparing the colourful soup, Rachel is in need of a bit of relaxation and joins Jim Kennedy for an evening of kayaking out near Skibbereen.
His wife Maria lays on a spread of treats made with seaweed, and their daughter Jessie serenades Rachel as the sun sets on this part of her trip.
Series Overview
In this new series Rachel takes to the road visiting the south and west coasts, hunting down the very best of the abundant local produce; foraging and, at times, battling wind and rain. Rachel cooks as she goes, for her crew and participants, usually outside in the elements and subject to the vagaries of the Irish weather. Taken away from the relative comforts of the kitchen, Rachel’s Coastal Cooking plays to her natural curiosity and sense of fun while showcasing some of the best of Ireland’s produce and the people behind it.
This food and travelogue series marks a real departure for Rachel, as she challenges herself to explore landscape, culture, social and culinary history in a way she has never tried before. The series also sees Rachel immersed in local communities, meeting incredible characters and exploring a mix of traditional and contemporary approaches to food production, from a state of the art Abalone farm to foraging for Woodruff in ancient woodland.