Well, here it is – the post-political Gerry Adams. A book full of real and succulent recipes, n spiced so heavily with very-Gerry interjections, it’s hard to concentrate on what you’re putting in the pot. Even the title is spiced up. As the final page tells the reader, a range of alternative names for the book were considered: Long Quiche, Come Out You Rack of Lambs, The Peas Process, The Frying Column, the Carmel Lite and the Salad Box, Blackened Hams and Turkey Ar Lá.
Like all good cook books, there are mouth-watering close-ups of the dishes the recipes will deliver. But there’s more. The book is ‘by the former Sinn Féin president, with a little help from his friends Ted Howell and Pádraic Wilson. Which allows us to view a black-and-white picture of Pádraic Wilson being seriously manhandled by a number of riot-geared cops, with the caption beneath it: ‘Pádraic being dragged away from his stove’.
It’s important to stress that all of the recipes are for real: Breads, Salads, Cold cuts for salads, Stocks, Soups, Beanz, Pies, Mains , Desserts. There’s also a lengthy introductory section where the former SF president compares the grub made available by the cooking staff at Stormont and the grub made available by the Irish government. And how Ted Hamill took over the catering for the Sinn Féin negotiators.
In addition, there are a multitude of pictures you’ll not have seen – Gerry Adams apparently asleep on a couch with what looks suspiciously like a half-empty glass of whiskey on the floor beside him, Gerry Kelly about to swallow whole what looks like a green cream bun, and an astonishingly young and respectable-looking Jim Gibney in profile, doing nothing in particular. And did I mention that the entire book is bi-lingual? English and Irish all the way. Clearly a deliberately provocative act intended to offend unionist politicians.
No, I can’t tell you what price it is, but I’m sure they’d tell you at your local Sinn Féin office. In two languages, probably.
This is a big, funny and practical book. Politics’s loss is the kitchen’s gain.
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