This week (19th October) in episode seven of Tastes Like Home, Catherine Fulvio looks back at her trip to Roosky, Co Roscommon and onto Vancouver, Canada. Our contributors this week are Mary McGowan and daughter Lisa McGowan, Mary is a sheep farmer in Roosky, and Lisa now lives in Vancouver with her partner Ian.
In this episode Catherine got to meet orphaned Grizzly bears Grinder and Coola in Grouse Mountain, took a trip to the famous Granville Island market and tasted “Nanaimo bars” a Canadian dessert, a variety of Asian fruits, some NYC style pickles as well as food and beer pairings at the Granville Island Brewery. We also learn all about Sushi and Catherine makes Smoked Salmon Nigiri and California Roll and Mackerel Temaki as well as Chicken Nanban, with a Tartar Sauce, Asian Slaw, Tare Dipping Sauce. Other recipes from this episode were Mary’s Spring Lamb Cutlets with Apricot Barbecue Glaze, Roast Vegetables with Couscous Salad and Harissa style Dressing and Catherine’s original recipe of Grilled Prawns with Mango and Papaya.
Catherine Fulvio said of her Vancouver experience “I felt very much at home in Vancouver – it’s a deliciously foodie city with a leaning for the great outdoors. You can hike, cycle, ski, paddleboard… anything depending on the season. And that works up a great appreciate for delicious food. The city did not disappoint. The Granville Market (on Granville Island) is a place where you could disappear for a day! Tasting all sorts from Asian to sweet bakes – it was there I fell in love with Nanaimo Bars! Another reason to return!”
We meet Mary and her husband Tom and their son Ronan on their sheep farm in Roosky, set on the River Shannon near the meeting point of Roscommon, Leitrim and Longford. Sheepfarmer, Mary tells us about how much she misses her only daughter Lisa who’s been living abroad for over two years and how much Lisa misses home cooked foods, especially her favourite Roscommon Spring Lamb. Mary teaches Catherine her recipe for a modern twist on a family favourite Roscommon Spring Lamb Cutlets with Apricot Barbecue Glaze, Roast Vegetables with a Couscous Salad & Harissa style dressing. Catherine then travels to Vancouver to try and replicate this dish by trying to find the next best thing to Roscommon Spring Lamb Cutlets! And hoping to bring a taste of Roscommon to Lisa’s home.
Lisa works as a Nurse and lives with her fiance Ian McCarthy, from Kinsale originally. Ian works as a Doctor and has extended Irish family in Vancouver. Lisa is a big fan of GAA and once trained with Roscommon County and also played for the local team at home. Today, she’s a member of the Vancouver Ladies GAA Team.
Lisa McGowan said of her experience, “I really enjoyed tasting a wide variety of foods with Catherine for example just in our filming at Granville Island I had eaten a pickle, a Nanaimo bar and had a beer and all before 10am”.
Proudly sponsored by Belling, Tastes like Home, the new eight part series Catherine Fulvio visits families across Ireland who show her how to make their favourite family dishes, before travelling to locations around the world to recreate these ‘tastes like home’ for family members now living abroad. In the past two weeks episode’s Catherine has visited South Africa and Canada and in the coming weeks will visit San Sebastián and Barcelona in Spain, as well as Dubai & Portland, Oregon to capture eight individual stories, from contestants who refuse to let the physical distance from home curb their appetite for home-cooked meal that “Tastes Like Home”.
The fifth series of Tastes Like Home is sponsored by Belling, Darren Quinn National Sales & Product Manager for Belling appliances said, “At Belling, we love not only the show’s incredible cooking but the sense of unity, family and cultural diversity. This week’s contributors, mother and daughter Mary and Lisa, oozed warmth and portrayed what the show is all about.”
