Northern Ireland is renowned for its phenomenal food and keeping it local is what’s it’s all about when it comes to delivering the most amazing fare the island has to offer.
From Lough Neagh eel, to Portavogie Prawns and everything in between, Northern Ireland has a world renowned food industry, from farm to plate.
We asked local chef, Andy Scollick from Bangor how he got into the world of food and why he loves to showcase the best of the best in his stunning dishes.
Andy is the Head Chef at The Boat House Dining, which is located on the beautiful Marina of Bangor, Co. Down. The Boat House is situated in one of the most unique and historically interesting buildings in North Down, dating back to 1849.
At the young age of 27, Andy has the explosive combination of tremendous talent, ambition and passion to make our island ingredients sing.
Andy, you are such a remarkable young talent in our food industry today, what made you fall in love with food and how did you decide to become a chef?
I grew up with a granny who loved to cook so I was always in the kitchen with her making our breakfast. My parents are both in the industry, with my mum being a part-time waitress and my Dad, a chef, so I followed in my Dads footsteps.
I started out as a kitchen porter for a number of years then I fell into THE CHEF LIFE (no more weekends off), but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Looking through the menu at The Boat House, it’s clear to see that you love to utilise the best of the island when it comes to local ingredients. Is using our local produce something that is important for you?
Local produce is important to me as it’s certainly fresher and tastes better! Local produce is harvested at its prime and can be on the shelf within a day or two unlike imported produce, some of which is harvested underripe. When you buy local, you are supporting local farmers and putting money back into the local economy. This means buying directly from your farmer or a locally owned business. And the produce we have here at home rivals anything you could possibly get anywhere else in the world anyway, so of course local ingredients is a big factor.
When you’re not looking after The Boat House diners, what do you like to eat? What’s your favourite dish?
Honestly I don’t have a favourite dish, I like all food; but if I was to go for dinner or what I would love made for me would definitely be a medium rare sirloin steak, brandy pepper sauce and triple cooked chips… cooked in beef fat! Every chef loves meat but I find this is definitely more my expensive comfort food.
Having a chef in the family must be amazing and I’m sure you’re always in demand – Who do you love to cook for and what sort of dishes could we find on your table at home?
I love to cook for my fiancé when I have the time, so it’s a bit of a special occasion when I get a weekend night off during these times. We have recently started making a Bangor bay crab garlic and chilli linguine which is very tasty so that definitely a number one dish. The others would have to be a Sunday roast, because Sunday is the best day (Family day); homemade Yorkshire puddings, roasties and honey roasted root veg.
So, we have all found ourselves in the middle of really strange times, how have you been keeping yourself occupied while you have been out of the professional kitchen?
The past few months have definitely dragged but I have also really enjoyed having time of with my three year old daughter. I’ve recently started training again and running to try and keep my spirits high definitely helps to clear the head. I’ve been using the time to constantly learn more about food, different techniques and styles; I’m constantly trying to improve but nothing beats being back at work. We opened the doors a month ago to do our Sail away menu which was certainly a huge success which was amazing. We had chosen to do a three course meal plus the extras that helped to bring that luxury dining experience to our customers own homes during lockdown. Of course now with the re-opening date given for July 3rd, we are now able to focus on getting ready to welcome our diners back into the restaurant again, which is brilliant! Social distancing measures have been well thought through and are in place for everyones safety and well being.
I’m sure that we will all see a lot more of you in the years to come Andy. How do you see your future in the industry developing?
I don’t know where the future will take me but hopefully I will have my own restaurant one day, that’s my dream. But for now I am very happy in The Boat House, I have a great team behind me of young talented guys pushing for success.
Bangor Bay Crab Linguine, Chilli and Garlic
Ingredients
- 250/300 grams of fresh crab meat
- 2 garlic cloves 4-6 cherry tomatoes
- Fresh coriander Salt / pepper
- Half a lemon
- Olive oil 25 ml Butter 50g
- Start of buy bringing a pot of water up to the boil with some salt for you linguine to be cooked . Once boiled add linguine for 10 to 12 minutes
- while you linguine is cooking start cutting your , garlic , coriander , tomatoes in quarters , and fresh chilli .
- start but placing your pan on the heat and sauté your garlic ,chilli and coriander with a touch of butter and olive oil for 4 to 5 minutes on low heat
- Once the garlic , chilli and coriander is ready and the crab and tomatoes , followed by the cooked linguine . Cook for a further 3minutes on medium heat and season with salt pepper and lemon juice .
- ready to serve
