Behind The Pass
Tony Keogh
Ingredients, Recipes and Indulgence… We go Behind The Pass with Chef Tony Keogh of Cornucopia on Dublin’s Wicklow Street.
Ingredient
This changes frequently and for different reasons. Sometimes it is to do with the season and sometimes something new comes my way and I get a bit obsessed. At the moment, I am loving Schezuan peppercorns. If overused they are awful but in small doses can add a really interesting backdrop of flavour to a dish.
Recipe
I am a huge fan of comfort food and when I cook myself I love to make savoury pies with homemade flakey pastry and various spicy fillings.
Trick of the trade
These vary but two that I am currently using quite frequently are countertop fermentation to make interesting pates and curdling plant milks and yogurts to make ricotta and labneh.
Food Hero
There are a few depending on which book I am flicking through – Rich Landau of Vedge and, of course, Miyoko Schinner.
Best meal
There have been so many over the years, but the most notable this year were in Veginity here in Dublin – Mark is an amazing chef – and, prior to that, in Terre à Terre in Brighton.
Food memory
My mam used to make a Cherry Madeira to die for.
Indulgence
I have a serious sweet tooth which I indulge quite frequently; ice cream, chocolate, marshmallow anything that can be veganised.
Overrated
Coconut blossom sugar. It’s sugar, pure and simple.
Food Bible
They are too numerous to mention.
Fav. instagram account
I am not really on instagram.
Unlikely pairing
A few that spring to mind – parsnip, banana and chilli; mushroom and blueberries; or coffee and beetroot.
Utensil of choice
I could not live without an electric scale and a very good blender.
Table for two
Any of the Gate restaurants in London.
19/20 Wicklow Street, Dublin 2
Cornucopia: The Green Cookbook is the new vegan cookbook from the chefs of Cornucopia, out now, published by Gill Books, €29.99.