Cork chef: 'I wanted the recipes to be conversational... that's how my brain works'

We all know life is busy, yet we still need to find time every day to pull together a meal that blasts the hunger pangs, does the nutrition bit right, and tastes delicious, too.

Some days, that can feel overwhelming, when we are stuck in a rut or faced with random ingredients and no idea how to turn it into a meal. For any of those situations, Orla McAndrew is your only woman!

The Cork-based caterer and zero waste wedding specialist has just released her first book, Larder, to kick off season five of the phenomenally successful Blasta Books.

A busy working mum running a successful business, Orla has ploughed all her know-how for keeping her family well-fed into a book all about those brilliant, but unsexy, larder staples that are key to unlocking a little kitchen magic.

Larder focuses on 13 key larder staples such as eggs, tinned fish and pulses, and whips up 100 different ways to turn them into delicious dinners.

“A well-stocked larder is the tool I’ve developed to manage my family and busy work life,” says Orla. “Without it, we’d all starve!

“My ADHD means I’m not very organised, but if I can, in this one area we’ll always eat well and it takes away any panic for me.

“I’m proud of developing this system for myself. I have lots of good quality food items in my cupboards and freezer so I’m not under pressure to constantly have fresh food in, but still knock up a delicious meal.”

“Everyone has random things in their cupboard,” says Orla. “We buy new ingredients but don’t know what to do with them, so they end up sitting there forever until we throw them out! Larder is a guide for making use of those things to create something delicious to eat – even if you think you don’t have anything in.

“There isn’t a recipe in the book that couldn’t be done by anyone who thinks they can’t cook. They’re simple, but every single one produces a delicious meal. Larder is a book for anyone who is a bit nervous of cooking. It’s a nice introduction to creating dishes simply without making huge investment using standard things most of us will have lying around.”

Recipes are written in short snappy paragraphs rather than the usual format of ingredients followed by a method. In Orla’s easy style, cooking seems approachable and achievable.

“I wanted the recipes to be conversational; like I was guiding gently so they don’t seem as overwhelming,” says Orla. “That’s the way my brain works. I see patterns where there’s chaos, so it makes sense to me to write the recipe like a story or a narrative. When I see a recipe written in a standard format, I glaze over.”

Orla hopes Larder will help people feel more confident cooking in the kitchen.

“It’s about having more than one use for an ingredient. If you’re going to the trouble of making pesto, don’t just associate it with pasta - it can have lots of other uses. It’s a nice slow and easy way to delve into the world of cooking.”

As well as 100 recipes, Larder includes Mind Maps to illustrate how to get the most out of larder staples: From the capsule larder of must-have versatile ingredients, to many ways with one ‘Veggie-Packed Pasta Sauce’, the colourful ‘Build A Bowl’ guide to creating delicious one-bowl wonders, or the very doable ‘Dinner in 10’.

“Dinner in 10 came about because I was thinking about really simple ways to feed the family if I was under pressure. And it really is dinner in ten,” says Orla. “The secret is having everything prepped and ready; it’s about having that larder well-stocked. Ever since I started my business, my freezer has always had pesto, tapenade, veggie tomato sauce, hummus, sausage rolls, goujons - things I’ve made myself and are quick that, if I haven’t time to make from scratch, at least there’s a nutritious meal on the table for the kids.

“That was the kernel of the idea for Larder: How I feed my family well when I’m too busy to cook from scratch every day.”

In her business, Orla has established herself as Ireland’s first zero waste caterer, and follows her own advice to reduce food waste at home.

Larder helps with that, too.

“I never have my fridge overfull,” she says. “If the fridge is overfull, you can’t see what’s in there, so you’re more likely to waste what’s in the back. I keep a minimally stocked fridge so then having a well-stocked press and freezer balances that out so anything in the cupboard will compliment whatever is in the fridge.

“Having a well-stocked larder is a less expensive way of running my budget for the family. I do a shop every ten days instead of every five and so knowing what to do with the bits that are there helps to drag that out even further. I’ve often found myself wondering what I can do with this absolutely pathetic-looking carrot, just so I don’t waste it!”

For all the ease and confidence with which Orla talks about intuitive cooking, fridge-raiding and wasting nothing in the kitchen, it wasn’t always the way.

One of the core ingredients she enjoys cooking is cous cous, and she recounts how this larder staple was one of the first things she ever cooked in a professional kitchen at the age of 28 – later than most. I was keen to know why.

“I lived in London from the age of ten to 20, but left halfway through a degree in International Business and French, thinking I could pick it up in Ireland in another college, but it wasn’t easy at all. I spent the next few years working to establish myself in Cork and getting to know people.

“I’d always been into food; when I was 18, I catered my mom’s second wedding for 60 people, but had been put off food as a career because of the long hours.

“Aged 25, I was watching Oprah, and she said if you closed your eyes, thought about what you always wanted to do, if money didn’t matter but it was something that really lights you up, what would it be?

“I knew it was food, so I signed up to the very first Culinary Arts Degree in Tralee. It was a great experience, but it was mostly a business degree. 

Orla graduated at 28, saying she came out “a worse cook than I went in”, thrust into the world of professional kitchens without the necessary professional cookery knowledge of her peers.

“I was very enthusiastic, but so nervous and acutely aware of my lack of skill and knowledge. It was a horrible time. I stuck it out for about a year and a half but found it so discouraging. I just didn’t have what they needed, and in such a fast-paced environment no-one has time to take you under their wing.

“I still wanted to do food, so I started my own farmers’ market stall aged 30, and for a year made and sold sweet and savoury tarts because I love pastry. But my enthusiasm for feeding people got the better of me, the range grew and grew until I was working 16 hours a day, seven days a week. I was completely exhausted with so much food going to waste. I burned out completely.”

Orla worked the deli counter at her local Supervalu while figuring out what was next. She ended up meeting the man who would become her husband, and had two children, relishing being a stay-at-home mom.

“I was still really interested in the world of food, but had no idea how to make that fit for me. I was in the wilderness, professionally, for about nine years. I was feeling very lost until I met that girl.”

Orla is referring to the fateful day she met a young woman in her local park panicking about not having a caterer for her wedding a few weeks later.

This was Orla’s lightbulb moment – she had the skills and knowledge to help this person out.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Today, Orla is a happy, busy, working mum to three beautiful children with a doting husband and a successful innovative catering business, and is a regular on national TV and festival stages, confidently giving cookery demonstrations.

Orla can now add cookbook author to her credentials.

“I really enjoyed writing Larder. It was very daunting at first, but as I got into it, the book almost wrote itself. It was odd for me to try and organise my brain, but once I decided it should be ingredient-led and decided these were the ingredients I’d most frequently cook with, then writing it became much easier.

“Although,” Orla says, “I wrote it on my phone – I wouldn’t recommend that to anyone!

“I am so thrilled with Larder, especially considering where I started all those years ago with no background, and now there’s this little book out there in the world.

“I really hope Larder will be a book people feel offers really useful, usable inspiration for everyday ingredients.”

Larder is out now, €17, available from www.blastabooks.com

Orla has shared these simple recipes from Larder. 

Coconut & Lime Dressing for Chicken or Noodles

Blitz 1 small grated shallot, the juice of 2 limes (or the zest and juice of 1 lime if that’s all you have), 6 tablespoons coconut milk, 4 tablespoons oil, 5 teaspoons fish sauce and 1 tablespoon light brown sugar together in a blender or food processor.

This will keep in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to one week.

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Chickpea Fritters

Drain and rinse 1x400g tin of chickpeas. Put half the chickpeas in a food processor and blitz until smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the whole chickpeas and 1 grated carrot; 3–4 finely chopped spring onions; 1 large bunch of fresh coriander, chopped; 90g plain flour; 1 teaspoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon ground cumin; ½ teaspoon paprika; ½ teaspoon ground turmeric; ¼ teaspoon salt; and ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Stir to combine, then pour in 80ml water and mix to create a stiff batter. Heat some oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Carefully add spoonfuls of batter to the hot pan, making sure you don’t overcrowd the pan. Shallow-fry fritters for 4–5 minutes on each side, until golden brown.