Electric Picnic coverage is brought to you in association with Ramsbottom’s Portlaoise
Electric Picnic coverage is brought to you in association with Ramsbottom’s PortlaoiseIf anything sums the eclectic nature of Electric Picnic it’s the fact that renowned chef Neven Maguire is combining a cookery demonstration with a DJ set.
He’s in the Theatre of Food in Mindfield today at 5pm where he’s combining two of his life passions – music and food.
As well as his national profile on the back of his TV profiles, he has a music collection that extends to 6,000 vinyl records.
The record player was a 21st birthday present from his late parents – Joe and Vera – whom he later took over the running of the hugely successful MacNean House and Restaurant business from.
His enterprising spirit was evident from a young age when he traded his mixed tapes for records in local music shops in Enniskillen. He also DJ’d as a hobby in local nightclubs.
Now he’s going to be DJ-ing at Electric Picnic, finally being in a position to take up the invitation to do so.
“Slow down now, Steven,” he says when we marvel at his DJ experience. He’s in the good humour you associate with his TV programmes as we record over Zoom for the LoveLaois Podcast.
“Slow down! I was asked to do a cookery demonstration. I said I would.
“And it’s at the Theatre of Food. And they said, you know, I’m a lover of vinyl and have a collection, huge collection of dance vinyl. And they asked me, would I be interested in bringing my vinyl on my turntables and would I DJ?
“Now, I’m not a DJ. I want to clarify that. I’m a chef. But I’m looking forward to it. It’s my first time at the Theatre of Food. And I’m really, really excited.
“I’m a little bit nervous. I’m not going to lie to you. But I’m bringing the decks. I’ve picked up my records. And I have a huge collection. I’ve been collecting since I was 15.
“And it’s all dance vinyl. So there’s some old school kind of bangers going to be playing. And there’s going to be some very good tunes.
“And I’m bringing the decks. Because the decks that I play on I got for my 21st birthday. My mom and dad got me them. So it’ll be nice and nostalgic for me and a bit of fun.”
Just as importantly today is what he’s cooking up.
“So I’m going to be doing three recipes. The first one is like sticky beef skewers and that’s done with a little tomato salad, a nice little marinade and the flat breads.
“And then the next one is a chicken satay, which is really, really tasty with peanuts and coconut.
“And then the last thing is a chocolate brownie with a chocolate mousse. We call it a chocolate sensation. So there’s a bit of fun in that.
“I’ll probably get somebody up from the audience to help me assemble it and make it and we’ll have a bit of craic doing that.
“There’s food, music and the two go hand in hand for me to do. So I’m really looking forward to it.”
You can listen to the full interview with Neven on our latest LoveLaois Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Neven Maguire, with Dishes and Discs is in the The Theatre of Food in Mindfield today (Saturday) at 5pm.
His new TV show Neven’s Ulster Food Trail begins on RTE 1 this Wednesday at 8.30pm.
Electric Picnic coverage is brought to you in association with Ramsbottom’s Portlaoise
