One to watch: Cork chef aged 20 with a passion and excitement for job

I KEEP reminding myself that Nell McCarthy is 20 years old. Articulate, erudite, insightful, with an insatiable appetite for learning and a work ethic to be admired... if Nell represents the future of Ireland, the rest of us have very little to worry about.

Nell’s home in Kilcoe, West Cork, has been in her family for five generations. It stands proud, looking out over green fields and, in the near distance, the craggy coastline of Roaringwater Bay.

It’s a place surrounded by farms, not just dairy and beef, but mussels too. A stone’s throw away are good neighbours, the Hickeys, who rear award-winning free-range poultry at Skeaghanore farm. At night, Fastnet’s beam streaks across the sky.

Nell has always loved food. At school, her favourite subject was Home Economics, and it was her dream to teach it. She didn’t get enough points for the college course she needed, so she dusted herself down and pivoted into MTU’s three-year degree in Business and Culinary Arts. But that’s not all.

Nell is currently working part-time as a Demi Chef de Partie (assistant chef) at the prestigious five-star Cashel Palace Hotel and has been selected as a Taste the Atlantic Ambassador in a unique educational programme backed by Bord Iascaigh Mara, Fáilte Ireland and Chef’s Network. All while completing her degree.

“I remember the first day at college; everyone had huge ambition. I thought, this is crazy – I’m never going to cut it! 

Eventually college lecturers started saying they thought I was pretty good, and I guess it started to sink in a bit.

A lecturer got her first placement at Cashel Palace Hotel in Tipperary and the experience sparked a fire in Nell for cheffing. For the first time, she could see the scope of what a career in the industry could be.

“I came out of it with just oomphs of passion and excitement,” Nell says, “and that’s just down to people. I think about that all the time, actually – what if I didn’t meet that one person, would I be doing something different? And I could have been, but I’m finding such enjoyment in it.”

Sometimes, you must leave a place to truly appreciate it. That’s how Nell feels about the food in West Cork since spending time in Cashel.

“We have crazy produce down here, but I just thought that was the same everywhere. But then I see the fish Cashel Palace are sourcing is from Glenmar Shellfish (Union Hall), that’s when I realised, I had taken it all for granted before. It’s stunning produce.

"Seeing that produce through a chef’s eyes and then coming back down [to West Cork], is that realisation of how amazing it is. 

I just really undervalued it before, and now I have a much greater appreciation for it.

Nell was recently selected to be an ambassador for Taste the Atlantic, a collaborative initiative to promote Irish seafood producers and their products along the Wild Atlantic Way.

“Cheffing is all about learning, and I’m hungry to get that learning perspective from the producers,” says Nell.

“I’m delighted I got onto the programme; it’s an exceptional learning experience. Our last outing was to Sligo. We visited multiple farms and local food producers; we met a past ambassador and now head chef at Hooked in Sligo, and she’s only two years older than me.

“If nothing else, that’s a huge inspiration about what you can get from the industry, and I really believe if you put yourself in those positions, you can only get rewards from it.”

Taste the Atlantic also aims to encourage people to eat more seafood. Despite being an island nation, Ireland has a love/hate relationship with fish. Overshadowed by connotations of fish as famine food or penitential religious food (fish on Friday), we are slow to fully embrace fish in our diets in the same way our continental neighbours do.

“I think people need to not be afraid of cooking fish. We should eat it at least once a week. I visited a lobster farm, and he said he could sell the lobster for €12. I don’t know why people find it so daring to eat it, especially when it is such good quality. It’s a shame to see it being undervalued.

“When it comes to restaurants, be creative with it. It’s never really given a chance in Ireland sometimes - it’s always fish and chips, isn’t it?

I love fish and chips, but let’s have more variety!

A Cork chef that Nell most admires is Aishling Moore of the pioneering fish restaurant, Goldie.

“At Cashel Palace, an important job is cutting down huge fish into portions. Seeing Aishling working with different types of fish through her Instagram, breaking them down and how creative she is with her dishes... she creates stunning food with combinations I would never think of, and that piques people’s interests to try a dish because they’re intrigued by what’s paired with it.”

Nell says although the cheffing community is hugely supportive, sometimes, living in a place like West Cork the opportunities to push open doors in the industry can be difficult.

“I felt like I was very ‘down here’ in West Cork while everyone else was doing things up in Dublin. It never felt hugely accessible. 

So, when a door opens [like Taste the Atlantic], I just really wanted to jump right in and take the biggest advantage I can.

Nell says that getting to meet the producers and hear their stories is like unlocking a secret ingredient she can take back with her to the kitchen.

“Usually, produce comes in a box, it’s there, you’re working with it. But to come and hear the back stories makes it suddenly feel more special; makes what you do with it feel more special.

“I know for some people what I’m doing is ‘just cooking’, but if I can make my job feel important, it’s much more enjoyable. I do so much better, it can only make my dishes better, give me more passion for the industry, work harder and be more respectful of the produce. That’s what I hope to get out of it.”

As an ambassador, Nell has been paired with Réalt na Mara Shellfish, a mussel and oyster farm based in Killorglin, Co Kerry.

“I’ll learn about how they process and pack the shellfish, then, when the tides are out, I’ll wade out into the bay to see the oyster beds and maybe shake a few bags.

“I see and work with oysters every day, but never realised they take three years to grow and every day someone shakes every bag of oysters by hand to get a nice shape on them. When I think of that now, suddenly oysters become really special.”

Back at Cashel Palace Hotel, Nell works under the guidance and mentorship of Darren Mulvihill, Head Chef of Banqueting, and Stephen Hayes, the Director of Culinary for the hotel.

“Darren is my head chef. Arriving at Cashel last year was so intimidating, but he took me under his wing. I kept thinking I couldn’t do it and I was terrible, but Darren just kept saying I could. 

Having a person like that tell me I can do this, that it’s available to me, is an industry I can excel in and get a lot from; I feel like I owe him that I’m doing any of this.

“People talk about fancy places they’ve worked, but I realise it doesn’t mean a tap if there isn’t someone there who’s willing and wants to teach you. You could get into anywhere and be put into a corner peeling spuds, so to have mentors like Darren and Stephen is unbelievable.

“I’m learning that this industry is a confidence game, which I feel like I struggle with. But to go and just attempt something is good enough, even if it’s not perfect or exactly how you hoped it would be. Just go and do something to the best of your ability, people are going to appreciate that. It pushes me, and I get confidence from people giving me a pat on the back.”

It suddenly seems odd to ask someone barely out of the blocks what ambitions they have for their career, but, nonetheless, I ask!

“I have no answer to this question - but in the most positive way! There are so many options: I could open a restaurant, work in kitchens across the world, open a food business. But what I’m learning more and more is to put myself totally out there, maybe make myself a bit uncomfortable because that’s the only way I’m going to get something out of it.”

The cheffing industry is having to do much to shake off old perceptions as a relentlessly tough workplace, but change is in the air. Today’s young chefs are the agents of that change. Those, like Nell, who have found their vocation in kitchens view it as a true profession with limitless opportunity.

Nell has found a positive path forward and is clearly loving every minute of it. That’s not to say it doesn’t require serious amounts of hard work.

Right now, there are a lot of opportunities so chefs shouldn’t undervalue themselves and their work. 

"It’s OK to change kitchens a few times, to find someone who’s willing to work with you; find that positive working environment; find something you like out of it.

“Never think too small, because you can really go big, fast - especially if you’re someone who is passionate about the industry.”