Domestic cooking, Kylemore Convent style

A Flavour of Kylemore Abbey

by the Sisters of the Community (Columba Books, €24.99)

When this book came to hand, I turned over the pages to see what made this cook book different from all the others that flood the market. My attention was immediately taken by a recipe for Frangipane Mince Pies, the last one in the book. This is simply delightful, a tempting new version of the traditional Bakewell tarts made at home by my late mother that were a childhood delight. This version sound like a very tasty variant on the traditional item of Christmas fare and I cannot wait to eat one.

These are the recipes for the food used in the community refectory and in the visitor café. They represent the sort of old fashioned domestic cooking that was once enjoyed by the whole country, but which in the ready-made world of today has largely vanished.

But it is domestic cooking raised to a new level though, but one which is still a possibility for all homes, without the fancy ingredients and even fancier styling of the TV cooks.

Daily 
life

It comes to mind that no less a person than St Térèsa of Avila wrote about “domestic spirituality” among the pots and pans of daily life – this is what the nuns of the Kylemore community have achieved in this delightful book.

The book has additional feature pages devoted to pictures of the nuns’ daily life and the lovely surroundings and amenities of the Abbey. Here we can see the calm, contented nature of their elective yet workaday faith.

The book provides food for both body and soul.