IRISH chef Anna Haugh is the star of a new television series which explores the culinary delights of her homeland.
The Dubliner, who is the chef patron of Myrtle Restaurant in Chelsea, is a regular chef on BBC One’s Morning Live and also a host and regular guest chef on BBC One’s Saturday Kitchen. She has also acted as a judge on MasterChef: The Professionals.
Born in Tallaght, the mother-of-two has been based in London for many years, but she has returned to her roots for the new BBC production Anna Haugh’s Big Irish Food Tour.
Anna Haugh's new BBC series starts next weekThe series, which kicks off on BBC iPlayer and BBC Northern Ireland next week, sees Haugh take a range of her celebrity friends along with her as she tours the Emerald Isle.
Among them are Katherine Ryan, Dennis Taylor, Ed Byrne, Shayne Ward, Laura Whitmore and Carl Frampton.
During each episode the celebrities will share their Irish food memories and don their aprons to help Anna prepare a special meal.
“Irish food is my passion and it’s a passion that took me from Dublin to London to pursue my dreams,” Haugh said of the show.
A host of celebrities have taken part in the show“In this series I am returning home to rediscover what is incredible and unique about Irish food.”
In the first episode, Katherine Ryan joins Haugh in the city of Cork – deemed the ‘foodie capital of Ireland’ - where memories of her grandmother’s "over-boiled and under-seasoned" dinners have left the comedian with a bad impression of Irish food.
Episode two sees snooker legend Dennis Taylor return to the snooker hall in County Tyrone where it all began before embarking on a spot of fishing and doing some outdoor cooking with one of the area’s most unique delicacies - the Lough Neagh eel.
Later in the series, in her native Dublin, Haugh meets actor Eilish O'Carroll, from Mrs Brown's Boys, in an area of the city where traditional markets mix with global street food, and in County Antrim she visits a Ballycastle farm with garden designer Diarmuid Gavin.
Other well-known faces joining the chef on her tour include presenter Vanessa Feltz, Father Ted actor Pauline McLynn, wildlife broadcaster Liz Bonnin, rugby legend Bundee Aki and The Saturdays star Una Healy.
Anna Haugh’s Big Irish Food Tour starts on January 6 at 8pm on BBC iPlayer and BBC One Northern Ireland.
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