Cookery Feature - Seed to Supper

Well known from her previous Dublin food businesses, The Cake Café and Slice, and for establishing the social enterprise Our Table, supporting people living in direct provision, the wonderful Michelle Darmody also has a following as a food writer - notably for her weekly column in The Examiner – and is nothing less than inspiring in her role as a sustainable food education expert.  

Appearing bang on cue at the start of the new school year, her first book Seed to Supper: The Journey of Your Food from the Ground Up is published by boutique publishing house Nine Bean Rows, and brilliantly illustrated by Ruth Graham who – as publisher Kristin Jensen said at the launch - “somehow gave the bare words a life of their own”.

Jam-packed with bite-size information, DIY activities, interesting anecdotes and fascinating facts to help 9 to 12-year-olds learn, grow, cook and eat their way to a better planet. Michelle takes young readers through every stage of food’s journey from its start as a seed in the soil to the table via the kitchen and everything – and everywhere! – in between.
Young readers will learn how to grow, buy, and cook food while also learning how what we eat affects the world we live in and how people eat and share food at dinner tables around the globe. Featured recipes take inspiration from all cultures and help promote connectivity through food,
with favourites including a universally loved and easy Magic Tomato Sauce, a Big Pot of Chilli, Rice Paper Rolls, a vibrant Kale, Golden Raisin and Parmesan Salad, and a gorgeous Apple and Blackberry Crumble (see recipe below).

Seed to Supper is a fun and engaging read, it’s packed with DIY activities from growing a seedling and building a bug house to being a food miles detective to see how far food has travelled to get onto your plate.

Michelle describes Seed to Supper as a true labour of love, saying, “I love food. I love eating it, cooking it, learning about how it grows and seeing where it comes from. I have put this love into writing Seed to Supper. It is the culmination of five years of research for a PhD and many years of experience working in food and education. It’s full of information that will help kids in the garden, in the kitchen, or around a table. It also talks about how food connects people, no matter what part of the world they come from. I hope it will also encourage early conversations about food marketing to children, the environmental impact of food waste and what the future of food
could look like.”

A must-have book for every family home this autumn.
Seed to Supper: The Journey of Your Food from the Ground Up by Dr Michelle Darmody,is a fully illustrated 128pp hardback, RRP, €20; available from all good bookshops and many independent retailers around the country and online at https://ninebeanrowsbooks.com/

SEASONAL SAMPLE RECIPE: Apple and blackberry crumble
This delicious crumble uses blackberries that you can pick from the hedgerows at the end of the summer, but you can use another type of berry instead.
Serves 4

420g cooking apples (such as Bramley apples)
l00g fresh blackberries
1 dessertspoon maple syrup
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
juice of ½ orange
For the crumble topping:
55g cold butter
85g plain flour
40g brown sugar
50g porridge oats

1 Preheat your oven to 200C (80°C fan).
2 First, make the crumble topping. Cut the butter into small cubes.
3 Mix the flour and sugar together in a large bowl, then add the cubes of butter. Start to rub the butter, flour and sugar between your palms. The aim is to combine them all so the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. It will take a minute or two. You shouldn't see any big chunks of butter when you're done.
4 Stir in the porridge oats and set the bowl aside.
5 Peel the apples, cut them in half and cut the cores out of the centres. Cut the apples into large dice.
6 Use a baking dish that can go into a hot oven and that the crumble ingredients will fit into. Put half of the apples and half of the blackberries in the dish. Pour over the maple syrup and sprinkle with half of the cinnamon.
7 Add the rest of the apples and blackberries. Pour over the orange juice.
8 Sprinkle the crumble over the top so that the apples and blackberries are all covered. Press it down lightly, then sprinkle on the rest of the cinnamon.
9 Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes. Push a butter knife into the centre to make sure all \the apple chunks are soft.
10 Let the crumble cool for about 15 minutes before serving. This is nice with custard, cream or ice cream.