Bourbon is credited to a preacher whose ancestors hailed from Ulster

This year I’ll be in Nashville for a festival noting the links between Belfast and the Tennessee city. Nashville was founded by two men from Belfast, James Robertson and John Donelson so it’s fitting that a group of artists, musicians, food and drink producers and chefs from Northern Ireland will descend on the city this week.

Whiskey is something we associate with Ireland. Bushmills Whiskey is the oldest licensed distillery in the world and we’ve continued to produce world class whiskeys ever since. The invention of the quintessential American whiskey, Bourbon, is credited to a Baptist preacher called Elijah Craig whose ancestors hailed from Northern Ireland. As well as being a great drink and an essential ingredient in many cocktails whiskey makes a great ingredient in food. A steak flamed in Bushmills and served with a sauce is now on the menu of many restaurants. The rich meat and spicy liquor work beautifully together. For something different this week I’ve added a recipe for whiskey brined pork belly bites. Cubes of pork belly are soaked in a salt, sugar and whiskey solution that will add flavour and moisture when cooked. When grilled they’re glazed with a whiskey and maple confection and then served with a whiskey and onion ketchup – a lot of whiskey I know but there’s a lot to celebrate.

Fruit loaf is a very traditional bread from here. The dried fruit is soaked in tea here and then whipped into a dough with whiskey, flour, sugar, raising agents, eggs and some maltose. Maltose is a thick liquid that you can buy in health food shops and it gives the loaf a lovely tang. You could slice it warm, slather it with butter and just enjoy on its own. In the recipe here the bread is grilled and served with hot whiskey buttered pears. The pears are cooked in a butter and sugar mix until soft then flamed with whiskey – you end up with soft pears in a butterscotch like sauce. Irish cream liqueur is now very much part of our drinks offering here. The big hitter Baileys dominates the market but a Newry based distillery, Two Stacks, makes a whiskey cream liqueur that is excellent. Not only is it delicious but you’d be supporting local industry. In the recipe here it’s added to whipped cream with a little dark brown sugar to accompany the grilled fruit loaf and pears.

An Irish coffee is also a major part of any St Patrick’s Day celebration. Source your coffee from a local roaster, add the whiskey and you could do worse than top it with the Irish cream recipe here – just don’t whip the cream a lot less before adding the liqueur and sugar. Pour over the back of a spoon – more like a dessert than a drink!