Anna Haugh’s Big Irish Food Tour
Date Posted: December 16, 2024
Starts Monday 6 January
BBC iPlayer and BBC Northern Ireland, 8pm
Celebrity chef Anna Haugh is embarking on a culinary journey from Ballycastle in County Antrim to Cork city for the new BBC series Anna Haugh’s Big Irish Food Tour. Anna will be travelling around Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, exploring the culture and cuisine of her home. In each episode, Anna will be joined by a celebrity guest to meet the people behind some local produce and sample an array of ingredients and flavours the island of Ireland has to offer.
Anna Haugh’s Big Irish Food Tour was commissioned for BBC Daytime and BBC Northern Ireland as part of the Hot House initiative with support from Northern Ireland Screen.
Throughout this 15 part series celebrity guests including Katherine Ryan, Dennis Taylor, Ed Byrne, Shayne Ward, Laura Whitmore and Carl Frampton share their own Irish food memories and don their aprons to help Anna prepare a special meal.
In the first episode, Katherine Ryan joins Anna in the city of Cork – the ‘foodie capital of Ireland’ – where memories of her grandmother’s ‘over-boiled and under-seasoned’ dinners have left the comedian with a bad impression of Irish food.
In episode two snooker legend Dennis Taylor returns to the snooker hall in county Tyrone where it all began and after a spot of fishing, Anna and Dennis do some outdoor cooking with one of the area’s most unique delicacies – the Lough Neagh eel.
Later in the series, in her native Dublin, Anna meets actor Eilish O’Carroll from Mrs Brown’s Boys in an area of the city where traditional markets mix with global street food, and in County Antrim she visits a Ballycastle farm with garden designer Diarmuid Gavin.
The pair are put to work during potato planting season, and Anna later creates a goat hotpot for Diarmuid using these local spuds.
Far from the bright lights of London, Anna explores the rugged landscape of County Mayo with presenter Angela Scanlon and travels to Portrush on the north coast to meet actor Ian McElhinney.
In the seaside town, Ian reminisces about childhood holidays spent enjoying dulse, a local seaweed snack.
Other well-known faces joining Anna on her tour include, presenter Vanessa Feltz, Father Ted actor Pauline McLynn, wildlife broadcaster Liz Bonnin, rugby legend Bundee Aki and The Saturdays popstar Una Healy.
Anna’s journey comes to an end with singer and actor Shayne Ward in County Louth. Shayne is keen to connect with his Irish Traveller heritage and Anna introduces him to one of Ireland’s last surviving tinsmiths. They also visit a local farm where Shayne gets his hands dirty picking cabbage.
The series, made by Below The Radar TV starts on Monday 6 January at 8pm on BBC iPlayer and BBC One Northern Ireland. The full series is available to watch on BBC iPlayer after episode one airs and will be broadcast on BBC Daytime in Spring 2025.
