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| St. George's Market in Belfast |
When my Canadian husband and I were first married, we would take holidays to N. Ireland. For me it was a way to stay close to a country I had left behind, to see friends and family I’d missed. For hubby, it was a nice cheap holiday with lots of fun, laughs and pubs. Fantastic scenery too of course and rain. What we didn’t expect was fine dining. And we weren’t disappointed.
Food at home years ago was not fine. It was good, filling and basic and––dare I say it, a bit bland. Luckily, back then we weren’t looking for fancy. We stayed with friends and family mostly, except for times we went off on trips and stayed in B&Bs. This brings me to my first traditional N. Irish dish. The Ulster Fry. Usually made for breakfast, it can be adapted for all day dining. I describe it in my new book, Blood Relations. Ryan and his on-again, off-again girlfriend Bridget are having an Ulster Fry for dinner…
“…is it okay to have wine with an Ulster Fry?” Bridget got busy in the kitchen.
Ryan set the table, and they tucked into plates of bacon, eggs, fried tomatoes, fried bread, and mushrooms. Thankfully, no black pudding, which he wouldn’t allow in the house. Bridget was appalled, but let it go. They had a bottle of red wine with the meal. “This has to be breaking a few cosmic rules,” he said as they finished.
Fried bread, or a ‘dipped piece’ as we called it, was thick white bread, placed in the pan used to cook the bacon, then fried to a nice crisp brown colour on both sides in the bacon fat. So bad for you, yet so delicious.
Nowadays, there has been a resurgence of sorts and N. Ireland’s restaurants, bars and hotels enjoy a fantastic reputation for fine dining. Lots of food shops, too, and markets to service the restaurants. St. George’s, in the middle of Belfast, is a fine example of that, and a great place to visit. Lots of farm-fresh vegetables and meats plus baked goods and cakes. Fresh cheeses and fish. All used by local bars and restaurants and everyday shoppers getting away from supermarket produce.
I didn’t want my policeman hero to have a major interest in cooking. He loves to eat but doesn’t have much time. He’s too busy solving murders. I decided his sister Erin would be the one to provide a little bit of culinary interest to the book.
I have Erin as a food blogger, a wonderful cook, and in Blood Relations she’s about to open a specialty food store. A few years ago that wouldn’t have done so well, now Belfast is bursting with them. Here are some photos of a terrific shop in the middle of Belfast, the kind of place I see Erin starting.
As an author and reader I’m always a tiny bit disappointed when I read a book and there’s no mention of food or eating, especially if it’s set abroad. What do you think, do you like reading about meals and visits to restaurants and pubs?
A DS Ryan McBride Novel, Book 2
Belfast, Northern Ireland: early spring 2017. Retired Chief Inspector Patrick Mullan is found brutally murdered in his bed. Detective Sergeant Ryan McBride and his partner Detective Sergeant Billy Lamont are called to his desolate country home to investigate. In their inquiry, they discover a man whose career with the Police Service of Northern Ireland was overshadowed by violence and corruption. Is the killer someone from Mullan’s past, or his present? And who hated the man enough to kill him twice? Is it one of Patrick Mullan’s own family, all of them hiding a history of abuse and lies? Or a vengeful crime boss and his psychopathic new employee? Or could it be a recently released prisoner desperate to protect his family and flee the country? Ryan and Billy once again face a complex investigation with wit and intelligence, all set in Belfast and the richly atmospheric countryside around it.
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