The Dubliners, unexpected babies, fleadhs and Tayto (oh and a recipe for crips)

 During my youth we frequented pubs quite often. Before you think my parents were dragging me along so they could go on the lash I should point out that this was usually at the weekends in early to late summer. Culminating in late August. Why were we going to the pub? To listen to Irish music. 

My parents were big into the trad scene in the early 70s when the lived in Dublin and would often go of a Sunday to hear the Dubliners play in a small cramped watering hole before the work week would take off again. 

When they moved back to Mayo and got married they continued to follow the scene, going to session in Foxford, Pontoon, Ballina, Westport...basically anywhere musicians appeared. 

When I came along (somewhat unexpectedly as I was so kindly informed) they decided to try and make a musician of me. I started to learn the tin whistle at age 4, the keyboard at age 7 and the flute at about 10. They failed miserable. Even though I have a sack of medals from féiseanna and fleadhs, I'm not musical. I wish I were. I love music. But can't read it. And don't have an ear for it. 

Part of this musical induction was to attend fleadhs across the county and country. For those of you not familar, fleadhs are basically music festivals with music in pubs and on the street and competitions for musicians in all types of instruments from under8 to over 18. I still love going to fleadhs, the craic is great and if you want to experience something truly Irish then I would suggest going to one during the summer months. You can find details of various fleadh's on comhaltas.ie 

What has this got to do with food I hear you ask? Well..when I was younger I wasn't so fond of the pub. Even with the music. The reason for this was I HATED the smoke. See, this was in the day when every second person in a pub was blowing pewtrid smelly smog into the atmosphere. It hurt my eyes and made me cough. And I hated coming home and smelling of it.

 So to keep my quiet for a bit, and as a Sunday treat, I would be bought a bottle of coke and a bag of Tayto cheese and onion crisps. Then I would sit on  my stool and listen to the music, the smell of smoke temporarily replaced by the pungnant smell of oniony goodness. If you've never had Tayto it's really hard to describe what they taste like. 

They're not really normal cheese or onion tasting. It's like a intense hit of flavour that reminds me of the Araomat seasoning. And they make your breath stink. SO bad. But, there's nothing like a bag of Tayto. None of your fancy smancy handcut, exotic flavoured ''potato chips..good old Tayto will see you through the bad and good times. 
In fact..they are so loved in here that they've opened a theme park based on them. A potato theme park in Ireland. Obviously.

Crisps are the universal snack of choice for parties, and as I am planning a weekend of partying I decided to experiment on making my own. I wouldn't dream of trying to imitate the ''unique'' flavour of Tayto..no mere mortal could, but aren't crisps in essence just really thinly sliced, fried potatoes..so off I went.

You will need:
4 cups of vegetable oil
1 head of garlic, unpeeled and slightly crushed
4 large sprigs of rosemary 
4 small or 3 large potoates (thinly sliced using either a mandolin or sharp knife)
salt

1.pour the oil into a large pan. Toss in the garlic and rosemary and heat up until a thermometer reaches 180c.

2.Remove the garlic and rosemary carfully with a long spoon.
3.carefully place some of the potatoes into the oil. Stir occasionally until golden brown and crispy

 Place on a paper lined tray and sprinkle with salt. Continue until all the potatoes have been fried.

EAT! (or store for a few days in an airtight container :-)