Paula McIntyre’s Hamely Kitchen USA
Date Posted: September 9, 2024
Chef Paula McIntyre (right) sits out on a porch with Rachel Parton George (left) during filming for Paula’s new series.
Paula McIntyre returns for a new six-part series, Paula McIntyre’s Hamely Kitchen USA for BBC One Northern Ireland and BBC iPlayer from Friday 20 September, where she travels to the United States on a food adventure, to look at the influence of the Ulster-Scots on America’s table.
Over time, they became known as the Scots-Irish and their foodways and the ingredients they brought with them have become an integral part of American cuisine.
The series is made for BBC Northern Ireland by Clean Slate Television, with support from Northern Ireland Screen’s Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund.
Paula went to culinary school in Rhode Island many years ago and learned the classical style of cooking there. When she returned to Northern Ireland, she combined these classical skills with what has become her trademark style of cooking traditional recipes with a modern twist.
However there’s a part of the American food story which she never had a chance to explore until now – the ingredients and recipes which, thanks to the Scots-Irish, have ended up becoming part of America’s diverse food culture.
Ingredients like buttermilk, kale and moonshine, are just some of the staples from the Scots-Irish larder which are still used by home cooks and chefs in the States today.
This six-part series takes Paula from the coast of New England to the Smoky mountains in Tennessee, following in the footsteps of the Scots-Irish, visiting some of the places where they settled and meeting producers who are preserving traditions such as clam digging and moonshine distilling. And, of course, she cooks up dishes inspired by her travels.
In episode one, Paula visits Franklin, Tennessee. A huge Dolly Parton fan, it’s a dream come true for Paula as she meets Dolly’s sister, Rachel Parton George. Known as the family cook, Rachel serves up Paula’s first ever catfish. Paula also enjoys the best of southern BBQ in Gatlinburg and experiences the thrill and spills of the rodeo.
Against the stunning backdrop of the Smoky Mountains she cooks two dishes in her outdoor cabin kitchen – river trout with grilled green beans, crispy country ham and almond dressing and grilled peaches with bourbon smoked salt sauce on waffles.
In the second programme, Paula visits Belfast, Maine, the town named by two Scots-Irishmen. She goes clam-digging, tries New England’s celebrated clam chowder, finds syrup heaven at a maple syrup farm and museum and meets a hardworking fisherwoman and cook, famous for her lobster rolls. Against the backdrop of the Maine coastline, Paula cooks coal baked quahog clams with leek, apple and kelp butter and Scotch pancakes with blueberries and smoked maple syrup.
Episode three finds Paula back in the South where she tastes a breakfast so big it’s served in its own skillet. She visits Lodge Cast Iron in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, where she sees her own skillet being forged; and takes in breathtaking views of the Smoky Mountains from a sky high cable car. She meets Appalachian cook Stephanie Foley and learns the art of making the perfect cornbread, and she visits a distillery where traditional moonshine is fused with some surprising contemporary flavours. In her Smoky Mountain cabin, Paula makes two corn-inspired dishes – grape compote with orange cheesecake cream topped with skillet popped popcorn with an orange vanilla glaze and hush puppies fried in the skillet with Smoky Mountain relish.
In episode four, Paula travels to Merrymeeting Bay in Maine, where she meets Brad McFadden, whose Ulster-Scots ancestors left Aghadowey, where Paula is from, in the early 1700s. Brad – who shares Paula’s affection for spuds and butter – cooks her a traditional family meal with a surprising twist. She also visits a New Hampshire distillery and samples some delicious fruit liqueurs and makes a final stop at a historic orchard, founded by a Scots-Irish family, to taste some of their famous apple-cider donuts. In her kitchen on the Maine shore, Paula cooks a mushroom-stuffed potato farl and an apple dumpling coated in hazelnut and cinnamon.
In episode five, Paula is in Kentucky on the trail of one of her favourite ingredients – buttermilk. She visits Lauren Angelucci McDuffie, a food writer with Scots-Irish heritage, who uses it in a traditional Southern fried chicken dish; she enjoys buttermilk ice-cream at a local dairy farm; and meets with chef Jeff Carter who serves up a delicious buttermilk cheese. In her mountain cabin kitchen, Paula uses buttermilk as the base for a tasty lima bean and bacon soup and skillet biscuits with watermelon, strawberry and coconut jam, finished off with whipped buttermilk cream.
In the final episode, Paula is in Nashville, the home of country music. In search of good music and good food, her first stop is a Nashville institution famous for its meat and three veg inspired menu. Paula samples the house special meatloaf with turnip greens and goes behind the scenes to see how Chef Kahlil Arnold makes the restaurant’s famous fried green tomatoes. Paula visits a live music venue with a reputation for great desserts, where she’s treated to a performance by Kirwan, a singing duo from Northern Ireland who have made their home in Nashville.
After a visit to the Nashville Farmer’s market Paula makes a BBQ pork shoulder with corn, kale and squash in her mountain cabin kitchen – along with a delicious traditional cobbler.
Her final stop is at Second Presbyterian Church, Nashville, for a pot-luck lunch celebrating the congregations’ Scots-Irish heritage. Paula tries a kale-based dish and impresses the local cooks with her sugar plum and hazelnut cobbler.
The entire series will be available on BBC iPlayer from Friday 20 September. The first programme will be broadcast on Friday 20 September, BBC One Northern Ireland, 7.30pm.
