‘Food is an expression of comfort and love’

This article is part of our West Fork supplement, which features 15 easy-to-prepare recipes from local experts using West Cork ingredients – read the full supplement via our ePaper.

Up-and-coming chef Nell McCarthy grew up near Skibbereen and cites her parents as major influences on her career path

A YOUNG West Cork woman is embarking on her culinary career in one of the country’s top hotels and is relishing every moment of it.

Nell McCarthy from Kilcoe is currently working in the five-star Cashel Palace Hotel, while also studying for a bachelor in business in culinary arts in MTU.

As if that wasn’t all busy enough, she’s also been chosen as one of Bord Iascaigh Mhara’s (BIM), Taste the Atlantic Young Chef Ambassadors. The aim of the ambassadorship is to select five of the country’s finest young chef talents and take them through a four-month programme, introducing them to the finest seafood produce and producers along the Wild Atlantic Way.

Not that any of it seems to phase this grounded 20-year-old who started her own cake business when she was in transition year in Skibbereen Community School.

‘I used to make birthday cakes for my friends, and my home economics teachers really encouraged to develop my interest and so ‘Nell’s Cakes’ was born. Looking back now, that probably had a role to play in me in choosing this as a career,’ she said.

She’s currently part of a team of five in the banqueting department in the Cashel Palace who spend Monday to Friday meticulously preparing for weekend weddings and events. It’s actually her second stint at the hotel having completed a work placement there last summer when it first opened.

‘It can be really complex work,’ she said, ‘but it’s also really enjoyable and it’s good to challenge yourself. There can be a bit of pressure as the standards are so high, but that feeling after getting through it is so rewarding! It’s probably how a player feels after winning a football final, there’s huge satisfaction and every day is different.’

Nell, who coincidentally lives between West Cork’s Michelin restaurants Dede and Chestnut will be a familiar face to many as she’s worked in various food businesses throughout West Cork, including Field’s SuperValu kitchen; Kalbos in Skibbereen; front of house in Antonio’s, Ballydehob; The Town House O D’s in Schull and most recently in the award-winning Dock Wall in Union Hall.

‘That was an amazing place to work. I remember my first night of service there and just being in such awe of the three chefs who work so well together. They gave me a lot of responsibility and respect and actually put me in charge of starters.’

Working in the Dock Wall, she said, helped to develop her interest in food.

‘The chefs there are all about making connections with the food producers, and it was a real full circle experience and not just about being confined to the kitchen,’ she said.

As part of the BIM programme Nell is getting some social media training which she says is becoming a bigger part of the job. ‘We’ve also been enjoying “behind the scenes” tours with producers and learning the stories behind different ingredients which is great as you start to have so much more respect for food, and all the love that goes into produce before it ever gets to the kitchen,’ she said.

Living in West Cork, not surprisingly she’s passionate about fish and sea food and would like to see it celebrated more on menus.

‘There’s so much good quality fish available here but I think people are still afraid when it comes to cooking it. And it’s the same for menus where there often can be just one “tick the box” fish dish, but there’s so many ways to be creative, and to incorporate fish into other dishes to pique people’s interest.’

Nell is the youngest of four, and the only one who works in the food industry.

‘My oldest brother is a data analyst, my sister has a masters in radiography and my other brother studied maths and science! I couldn’t be more different!’

However she singles out her parents Dan and Rita as being her role models.

‘They’ve had a massive influence on me, as they both have such a strong work ethic. We live in a 100-year-old farmhouse which dad restored and he has a carpentry business nearby. Mum works with him, drawing kitchens and also works as a receptionist in a school. They’re both amazing.’

Home cooking was a constant in her life growing up.

‘Mum is a great baker and in our family, food is about expressing comfort and love with something like a cup of tea and cake,’ she said.

Head chef in Cashel Palace Darren Mulvihill has also been a big influence on her career, and the likes of Aishling Moore, chef at Cork city’s Goldie is also someone she admires.

‘Perhaps at one point I would have thought that women in the kitchen could only progress to a certain level but not make it to head chef but Aishling and Jess Murphy in Galway’s Kai have totally disproved that.

‘On the other hand I’ve worked mainly with male chefs and found them most respectful and positive.’

Fortunately, she said, the culture of abuse in kitchens is changing, as are working conditions and options.

Despite having already achieved so much so soon, she still admits to having slight imposter syndrome.

‘I actually wanted to be a home economics teacher but I didn’t get the points and on my first day in MTU. I remember walking in and sitting in a back corner of a lecture and thinking that I wasn’t going to be cut out for it at all.

‘Slowly but surely I started to believe in myself but I remember being really intimi- dated when I started my work placement in Cashel Palace and finding it very intimidating but thankfully Darren took me under his wing and that kindness is something I’ll remember to pay forward to another young chef when the time comes.’

Right now she’s dedicating herself fully to her blossoming career.

‘I used to sail and play football with Ilen Rovers but right now everything is about cheffing. Everything I watch and listen to is about food but because I enjoy it so much it doesn’t feel like work at all.’

Come September she’ll be starting her final year in MTU, so what’s her ultimate ambition?

‘I’ve no idea! It’s such a hugely exciting industry and the opportunities are endless. In a year’s time I could be working in a farmers market, in a Michelin restaurant, or be anywhere in the world in a food business.

‘That’s a huge part of what I love about the business, the versatility, and why I’m so passionate about it.’

This article is part of our West Fork supplement, which features 15 easy-to-prepare recipes from local experts using West Cork ingredients – read the full supplement via our ePaper.