The British Food History Podcast · Neil Buttery

An Irish Food Story with Jp McMahon

·45 min

Dr Neil Buttery opens with his usual warm greeting and introduces J.P. McMahon. The conversation sits around Irish food, food history, and identity, with book chat and a sponsor mention up front, then a news catch-up at the end. Seaweed comes in fast. Dulse, in particular, becomes the episode's anchor. McMahon treats it as a proper food, not a novelty garnish. He remembers it being sold in little bags, including from newsagents and ordinary shops, before that habit faded. He also talks about how seaweed traditions in Ireland have become less visible in the country's food story. That loss of visibility matters to him. Coastal communities relied on seaweed in practical, local ways tied to sustenance. The episode keeps circling back to that everyday use. McMahon also describes his own move from squeamishness to affection after trying dulse years ago. He links that personal change to wider research on England, where dulse was once more familiar than it is now. The comparison works because it shows how fast a food can feel strange once people stop eating it. The conversation then opens out to seaweed's culinary possibilities. Dried seaweed gets one treatment, milled powder another, and fresh seaweed another again. McMahon cares about taste as much as history, which keeps the discussion moving. The episode ends with event updates and the usual housekeeping that makes it clear the work carries on beyond the recording. It is a thoughtful listen for anyone who wants food history grounded in lived practice.

As heard by us

Seaweed becomes the doorway into Irish food history, not the garnish.

An Irish Food Story with J.P. McMahon uses seaweed as a route into Irish food, memory, and identity. The discussion of dulse, from small bags in shops and newsagents to its later presence in health shops, gives the episode a concrete starting point and keeps it from drifting too…

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Why you'd press play

Start here if you want one bag of dulse to open a wider story about Irish food and identity.

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