Pat Whelan of James Whelan Butchers on his life in food

What are your earliest memories of food?

Driving in the car with my mother, Joan, delivering food to our rural customers. My father started James Whelan Butchers in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary 55 years ago. This year we are celebrating that milestone.

How would you describe your relationship with food?

Growing up on a farm I had the privilege of learning from an early age to respect nature and understand the beauty of nurture and nature itself. Agriculture gives us all an appreciation of the fundamentals of creating great food.

What was the first meal you learned to cook?

I started baking with my mother, Joan. We made Christmas cakes together. I loved the theatre and the process of the components coming together and the smells and sounds throughout the house. The precision of weighing and the scientific elements of baking intrigued me.

What’s your go-to breakfast?

Anything dairy in the morning – yoghurt or beautiful cold Irish milk on my cornflakes. There’s no milk like Irish milk and there is nothing quite like cold milk with breakfast while reading the newspaper.

If you’re impressing friends and family at a dinner party, what are you serving up?

Beef wellington cooked perfectly is very impressive and simply delicious with flaky melt-in-the-mouth pastry, a recipe we had to include in The Irish Beef Book!

There’s something wonderfully retro about the notion of beef wellington. It puts us in mind of formal dinners at Downton Abbey or seventies dinner parties with the hostess floating around in a kaftan. Named after the man who crushed Napoleon at Waterloo, the very notion of preparing beef wellington casts fear into the hearts of the most competent of home cooks. Perhaps that’s why so many chefs like to cook it at home for their private celebrations, in a subtle display of one-upmanship. You’ll find more chefs eating beef wellington than turkey on Christmas Day, that’s for sure. But we’ll wager that even they don’t make their own puff pastry!

Who is your culinary inspiration?

Rick Stein, I like that his style weaves in the social history of the dishes and you get a sense of the country and place of the dish.

What are your thoughts on the Irish foodie scene?

It’s amazing, a wonderful tapestry of diversity, happiness and celebration. Over the last 20 years, I’ve been thrilled to see how it has evolved and where it stands today – everyone in the industry should be massively proud.

What’s your favourite thing about cooking?

Bringing family and friends together. Food unites people.

What does food — sitting down to a meal with friends, mindfully preparing a meal, nourishment, etc — mean to you?

It’s everything. The days are busy and time goes by so quickly. Sitting down and enjoying a meal together brings you back down to what’s important and I’m lucky to be able to spend quality time with my family, something I learned from my parents.

Food for thought — Is there room for improvement within the Irish food/restaurant/hospitality scene?

Sustainability has always been part of who we are at James Whelan Butchers, and we have practised “nose-to-tail butchery” from the very beginning. Food waste is a big concern for us. To address this global issue, we have collaborated with a Danish innovator through the brand Too Good To Go which offers our customers the opportunity to help us maximise on overruns of production, reducing CO2 emissions and combating food waste.

The sustainability of our business depends on great people. In 2023, we reached the milestone of 200 team members. A diverse family of over 30 nationalities, our team is committed to driving the business forward through product innovation, world-class service, great retail experiences, embracing technology and constantly nurturing our founding values of quality and service throughout the business. Community is really important to us. As we grow and develop, we create great opportunities for small producers which helps local economies by creating sustainable business and indigenous jobs.

More and more businesses in Ireland are addressing sustainability within their practices and this needs to be a priority for all.