TV Chef Catherine Fulvio lends her support to National Potato Day and speaks of her love of the Irish potato.

“I love the tradition of potatoes. It brings fun to the kitchen and has many health aspects,” said Mrs Fulvio speaking to AgriLand on a recent visit to her famous Ballyknocken House Cookery School in Co Wicklow.

“There is space in all our kitchens for a mixture of international and Irish cuisine. There’s always that low carbs thing isn’t there? But you forget about all the nutrients,” she added. Indeed an average portion of potatoes contains the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C.

Demonstrating several recipes containing potatoes; including potato, kale and cannelloni soup, cider chicken and ham potato pies, and patata bravas with roast cod, the award-winning chef hopes Irish people will get more adventurous with how they use potatoes when cooking.

“The recipes we’re working with are traditional recipes mixed with Spanish influenced recipes. There is so much scope for how we can enjoy potatoes in Ireland and introduce new ways.”

Fulvio uses as much Irish produce as possible when in season, sourcing herbs and vegetables locally and tomatoes from An Tairseach Farm in Wicklow, run by Dominican Sisters.

National Potato Day supported by Bord Bia takes place on 23 August with events taking place around the country. For details on events, recipes and nutritional information about potatoes go to www.potato.ie.

Pictured TV Chef Catherine Fulvio 

By Colm Mc Glinchey