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Try some regional recipes
Barmbrack
Soda Farls
Stout and Demerara Glazed Whole Ham

Home cooking at its best
Springy, soft batch bread with caramelised crusts sandwiching succulent stout-baked ham. Dappled fried potato bread, served with thick and salty dry cured bacon...

This is the 'plain' food that characterises Northern Ireland, a largely rural region with steadfast, traditional tastes. Unlike most other parts of the UK, butchers and home bakeries thrive here.

They have a loyal local following for their excellent, trustworthy meat, dry cures and champion sausages or the unique vernacular griddle breads, which must be eaten on the day they are made, or fried in bacon fat and served with a huge Ulster fry.

Quality counts
Prawn cocktail and steak are the dishes the majority order in restaurants, and with good chefs, the prawns will be super-sized, sweet beauties from the pristine waters of Strangford while there is no practically no question that the beef will be grass fed and properly matured as long as they shop with a trusty local butcher.

Salmon is almost everyone's favourite fish dish, and here it's not that surprising to see a rural convenience store with a gleaming wild fish in the refrigerator. However, when you can't get hold of wild salmon, organically farmed fish exercised by the almighty currents off the Antrim coasts make a very acceptable alternative.

Underwater treasure
As with any region spoilt for a particular foodstuff, locals have traditionally tended to ignore the fantastic fish and shellfish from our clean coastline.

Oysters and mussels from Strangford and Carlingford are exported to London and beyond. Silver or brown eel from the River Bann and Lough Neagh are shipped off to Holland preventing their widespread usage at home.

Again, however, we're 'catching ourselves on': dedicated seafood restaurants are flavour of the day, and fish such as ling, mackerel as well as turbot and brill are making appearances on their menus. Eel, as well as salmon, is being smoked by a new generation of artisans, to be served in salads or on buttered wheaten, another Northern Irish food icon.

Ardglass potted herrings
You'll find pockets where there's always been an uncommon zeal for ancient recipes. Ardglass potted herrings, found in butcher's shops and at the stalls of fish traders in Co Down, are marinated in vinegar, rolled with bay leaf and baked with breadcrumbs to be eaten as a snack.

Fried eels
Eels mostly found in mid Ulster are dipped in flour and fried, leaping as if alive in a hot buttered pan, and then served up with oniony white sauce and creamy mash.

Wholesome rolls
Vegetable roll - sliced 'sticks' of fatty, but flavoursome boned out brisket chopped and combined with onion, leek carrot and lots of white pepper are served with buttery swede or turnip and more mash.

It's unfortunate that these are often only domestic dishes, beaten to the restaurant or pub tables by equally comforting liver & bacon, bacon & cabbage or stout enriched beef stews or pies.

Game on the menu
Tastes are developing, of course, with a renewed interest in promoting our plentiful game - namely venison and rare breeds. They often find their way into smart sausages and burgers, or are cured to produce excellent rind-on bacons.

Even the desire to have meat well cooked is ebbing, and it is not unusual to see carpaccio of venison or beef for sale.

Home cooking is best
However, sometimes it's hard to beat a plate of dark green Pamphrey leaves, braised cabbage or leeks, squeaking in butter, or sweet carrots mashed with potato. And let's not forget potatoes - often served three ways: big boiled 'balls of flour', mashed with milk and scallions (champ) and handsome, golden sautéed fries.

Wee buns
Nor should we ignore the north's sweet tooth. It starts at 'elevenses' when wee buns, tray bakes or short breads are bought out to accompany cups of tea, and continues through the afternoon with rich fruit cakes, tea bracks, or a slice of cake.

Yellow man
Sugary hits of fudge or 'yellow man', a bubbly golden confection are also popular.

Tea and supper
At 'High Tea' bread, butter and jam will be served alongside savoury food and followed by desserts - say lemon meringue pie or a piece of apple & rhubarb crumble.

'Supper' - just before you go to bed - might be sandwiches and another wee bun. On evenings out, there'll always be room for an Irish coffee, laden with whiskey, sugar and whipped dairy cream or a nightcap of Black Bush.

Those who are driving can slake their thirst on the purest of apple juices, squeezed from the fruits of Northern Ireland's orchards.

Caroline Workman