William O'Callaghan

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There is a voracious element of the pastoral in William O'Callaghan's cooking, a sense that he wants a super-sensory overload of the natural world in his dishes. Partly, this is because of his good fortune in having the fruits of Longueville's 500 lush acres to feed his kitchen - everything from fish to pork to apple brandy, all their own, all characterised by true provenance, the Longueville terroir.

But it is just as much on account of the fact that he is a true countryman: he is an expert mushroom hunter; a grower; an orchard keeper; a fish smoker, and his culinary skills take all these ingredients and transform them into a multitude of delightful things, not just dishes for guests, but also foods for farmers' markets. He tries to bottle the pastoral, does O'Callaghan, he is after its essence.

He learnt at Cathal Brugha Street, but it was Raymond Blanc who showed him the ropes at close quarters, and O’Callaghan was lucky to be there in the mid-1980’s, when Blanc, and Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons truly meant something radical, as opposed to the showbiz it has become. Back in Longueville, he has brought the kitchen to a peak, working with his wife, Aisling. He has a monastic mien, as indeed the house itself does, and it explains why he remains known only within the industry.

 

Longueville House, Mallow, County Cork
022 26411
http://www.longuevillehouse.ie