Neven Maguire of the award winning
MacNean House and Bistro in Blacklion, County Cavan has a passion
for cooking.
He has been cooking since he was a small boy, helping out at the
family-run guest house in Blackion. Coming from a family of nine
meant that even when the guest house was not busy that there were
still a lot of hungry people to cook for.
Neven, at the age of 26, already has a full CV. He became a catering
student at Fermanagh College in Enniskillen at the age of 17.
While still at college he won the Edexcel Award for Educational
Excellence as a representative of Fermanagh College. This prestigious
award was open to all students in the UK and Neven was chosen
from over 500,000 entries.
Shortly after becoming a professional chef he won the Bailey's
Eurotoque Young Chef of the Year Competition. As a result of a
scholarship which was part of the Young Chef of the Year Award,
Neven had an opportunity to work with Lea Linster, the world famous
chef and restaurateur from Luxembourg.
He has since worked at a number of leading restaurants, including
Roscoff, the Michelin-star restaurant in Belfast. He has also
travelled extensively abroad to cook and promote Irish Foods.
These have included a stint as visiting chef at EuroDisney near
Paris. He has already been selected to represent Ireland at the
"World Cuisine Competition" in Lyon, France in January
2001.
Neven's culinary skills have turned MacNean House and Bistro in
Blacklion, Co. Cavan into one of the best restaurants in Ireland.
Those skills with food have recently landed him a regular slot
on "Open House" every Tuesday on RTE 1.
Even his spare time is devoted to food. He currently lectures
at Fermanagh College in Enniskillen to aspiring professional cooks.
Neven's approach to cooking is simplicity itself. He uses the
very best in Irish foods. He buys fish from Killybegs, prime meats
from surrounding farmlands, locally produced duckling, fresh vegetables
and herbs grown locally. In fact, he uses herbs grown by his grandmother
for many of his prized recipes.
"It is my role", said Neven, "to take these find
Irish foods and to use whatever skills and creativity I have to
develop them into memorable dishes for our diners". He said
that every day is different with the seasons dictating a constant
change of ingredients.
We look forward to even greater achievements from Neven in the
future.
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