It's always useful to have an unusual name if you're going to be in the public eye, and particularly so if you're a first-time writer, like Alacoque Meehan. "There are lots of dead nuns called Alacoque. It's a religious name." she reports cheerfully, where she's cooking brunch for us both in her Sandymount flat. "I'm called after an aunt. She wasn't a nun, though." Alacoque Meehan has just published Brunch with an Irish Flavour, a book which cleverly taps into the increasingly popular weekend activity of entertaining at mid-day rather than evening. Brunch, the meal which sandwiches together breakfast and lunch, origniated in the US. We've always had our own particular branch of brunch here - the Sunday fry-up, accompanied by pots of tea - but the old weekend ritual is a bit more sophisticated these days.
Meehan's book is divided into seven sections; five of them devoted to food, and two to drinks. The Eating sections are: Egg dishes; Breads and pastries; Seafood; Savoury things; and Sweet and fruity things. The Drinking ones are, simply: Drinks to make you feel good; and, Drinks to make you feel better.
The brunch she's preparing as we talk is Oyster Rockerfella, baked oysters, topped with spinach and parmesan; Eggs Cocotte, buttered eggs, cooked in a bain-marie; Champagne cocktail; and lots of coffee. For a Monday, this is quite a way to start the week.
So, where does the "Irish" bit in the book's title come in? "Well, there's lots of Irish references in the recipes," she explains, opening oysters with the ease of one breaking eggs. "Brown bread, seafood, black pudding, potatoes. I've adapted them a bit, like the black pudding and apple hash recipe." She also admits to having one prudent eye on the foreign market, where the word "Irish" never goes astray.
While several restaurants in Dublin now have a reputation for their brunches, such as Odessa, Eden, the Mermaid, and Dish, homemade brunches are often the best of all. Your own kitchen, for instance, never closes. For a certain generation, brunch has become an alternative to the traditional Sunday roast family get-together.
The recipes in this book encourage you to try them out, rather than intimidating you with complicated ingredients, or boring you with the inclusion of a portion of the chef's own ego into the recipe. There are lots of things here that even the laziest of would-be-entertainers could impress with, while the Sunday guests read the papers in your kitchen and guage the extent of their hangovers.
There are recipes for eggs benedict; eggs baked in tomatoes; crab cakes; smoked salmon hash; croque monsieur; French toast; banana hot cakes; chocolate and walnut muffins; Bloody Mary; Margheritas; and a terrifying-sounding hangover cure called Red Eye, which combines half a cup of lager with half a cup of tomato juice, "If you can keep it down, you're cured!" the recipe promises.
Her own favourite recipes in the book are those for baguettes, for home-made sausages, and for Bloody Mary. "This brunch book will be like my calling card," she explains. "I mean, there are loads of really good chefs working in kitchens all over Ireland, but not many of them sit down and write a book. They don't have the time.
Alacoque herself took a year off to write the brunch book. She's currently writing another one about cheese, while also working as chef de partie in Dish. If you're ever lucky enough to get an invitation to one of her brunches, say yes And even if you don't, you can buy the book and do it yourself.
Brunch With An Irish Flavour, by Alacoque Meehan, is published by A & A Farmer at £7.99.