Granny recipes from our friends in the food world
“My Nana, Mary Crowley, comes from a little village called Ballyhooly in county Cork. She used to run a little pub and look after eleven kids, which is completely incredible.”
“It’s at our grandparents where we can enjoy doing nothing and dreaming away. Every day at my grandmas we would have a delicious breakfast - with cocoa, pancakes or freshly baked pies.”
“Lobscows is a traditional Welsh hearty dish made with meat and any vegetables available. There are many versions of this recipe, often handed down through the family and vary from town to town throughout Wales.”
“This is one of those simple yet satisfying comfort food recipes that fills me with nostalgia whenever I cook it; reminding me of loving hugs from Nana.”
“Every Friday we’d all gather at ‘Nani Ma’s’ for lunch where there would be a spread laid out that featured a multitude of dishes, all stemming from our Indian heritage – daals, biryanis, meat curries, rotis, grilled chicken and more.”
“During cold winters in Saint John on the East Coast of Canada, she used to send me outside while I was still quite small to shovel the snow in her driveway. When I came back inside her house was warm and cosy, the smell of cinnamon, apple cider and candy canes.”
“My sister and I spent lots of time at my grandmother’s house, she would always feed us the most delicious ox tongue and onion sandwiches when we visited her. It doesn’t sound great, but they were delicious. Now I serve this sandwich at brunch in my restaurant from time to time as it reminds me of really happy times as a child.”
“This recipe is adapted from something my grandmother made for my 28th birthday. It was a magic, mousse-like texture that disappeared from your mouth as you ate it, leaving behind only the delicate flavour of chestnuts, forest floor and rum.”
“She would cook the Sunday roast and then do the washing up with a cigarette in her mouth, have a nap, read the papers then spend the rest of the afternoon baking and making tea for an army.”
“The problem with Grandma is that she doesn’t have a single recipe. She just does what she thinks is best, using pure intuition and it is, always, the best. Her dishes are always full of flavour, full of fat and she never wastes a single thing that passes through her kitchen.”
“At the age of 83 my grandma has somewhat unreliable hips, but I have never seen her move so quickly to the dining table as when this curry is on the menu.”
“Sunday dinners at my nan’s were quite something. Dinner was in shifts, and as the littlest we always got to go first, which filled my heart with joy because it was a guarantee of one of Mam’s Yorkshires.”
“ To me, the rice in this dish makes it one of those dishes that feeds the soul. Although it’s really not just about the dish itself, it’s the ceremony that goes with it.”
“My grandma came over from Cyprus to help my dad in his restaurant. It’s where I found my passion for cooking.”
“Paula Thompson was a walking piece of art. Her ability to knock up an apple pie in the blink of an eye made her the envy of her friends.'“
“Granny always laid on a nice home cooked meal and often made this cucumber and tarragon salad, laying it out on the table with some cold cuts. It’s adapted from a very old Penguin Cordon Bleu cookbook and it might just explain my lifelong love of tarragon.”
“I can only thank life for such a loving Grandma who taught me taste and left me, as inheritance, a reverie of ripe peaches that no other child has ever had.”
“Growing up, my most vivid memory is of my grandmother cycling on her red bike, the front basket full of food from the market.”
“My Nonna has always made everything from scratch, from rolling pasta out on the kitchen table to infusing lemon rind in alcohol for months on end to make the best limoncello I’ve ever tasted.”