Feebee Foran of Forager.ie shares her life in food, from her earliest memories to her favourite flavours and culinary inspirations.
The Green Witch herself, Feebee Foran is a forager, herbalist and founder of her very own award-winning natural Irish skincare brand, Forager.ie. Revived by nature and inspired by the lifecycle of the weeds and wildlife growing all over Ireland, Feebee put in the research on how to harness the potent powers of plants, bringing that joy to the masses. Here she shares her life in food.
What are your earliest memories of food?
I come from a family where my mum cooked everything from scratch. Everything was homemade each week. But I think my very earliest memory, because I think it’s a lovely, cosy memory, is of getting up on a Saturday morning with my brother with sleep in our eyes and wearing our pyjamas and going downstairs and having bowls of cereal, watching cartoons on a Saturday morning while sitting on the couch. Simple!
How would you describe your relationship with food?
I have definitely had a to-and-fro relationship with food over the years and used to work for a slimming company, so I have always been very conscious about how I eat, and what food I am putting into my body. My relationship has been a mixture between wanting to completely nourish myself and also completely comfort myself. And that’s always been the battle for me, is to find a happy place between comfort and nourishment.
What was the first meal you learned to cook?
I can remember my mum teaching me how to make a shepherd’s pie and it’s still to this day one of my favourite comfort meals. I think it is the perfect combination of nourishment and comfort in one dish. I love creamy mashed potato on top and I like to use oat milk in the mash – which is one change to my mum’s recipe!
How did working with food become your career?
I work with food and plants in a very different way to most people because I teach people how to forage and harness the wild plants that grow in abundance around them for their food. It is so important to be able to find your own food and to go back to these primal skills that are within us.
When foraging with a group, I will show them edible varieties and how to use these for food or medicinal purposes such as nettles in soups and stews, or dandelions. This connects us to food in a very different way and while I have foraged for years, it was during Covid when I had the time and space to reassess things that I realised I wanted to make it my career. It has continued to grow since then.
What’s your go-to breakfast?
It would have to be homemade granola. I tend to change the recipe slightly based on what I have in the house but there’s always a mix of nuts! I will have this with yoghurt, any seasonal fruits and a dollop of Nutshed peanut butter, which is my absolute favourite.
If you’re impressing friends and family at a dinner party, what are you serving up?
If I’m having friends over, I love it to be an experience, so usually lots of picky things, in a mezze or tapas style. Lots of flavours, and served family style so everyone can help themselves. I love Middle Eastern food, so I might make a bowl of baba ghanoush, or some of Ottolenghi’s recipes — he has a beautiful coleslaw one. I’ll also always include something I’ve grown myself from the Allotment, depending on the season, or something that I’ve pickled like cucumbers, onions or beetroot.
Who is your culinary inspiration?
It would have to be chef Conor Spacey. I’m so inspired by him and the work that he does because he is really, really focusing on the sustainable aspect of food and not wasting anything. I devoured his book Wasted (which was part of the Blasta Books series) and he has changed how I approach food completely. Before I would have discarded the tops off my carrots, even ones that I had grown but now I’ll make his pesto recipe instead. Everything that I grow now, I’m no longer growing it for the root vegetable only, I’m thinking about how can I use this fully, or how can I preserve it through fermentation or pickling to make something delicious.
What would your last meal on earth be?
A cheeseboard, definitely. Lots of gorgeous cheeses and olives and beautiful sun-dried tomatoes and some foraged dandelion fritters. I love Cashel blue cheese from Tipperary, and I would have a nice glass of port on the side.
What’s the go-to quick meal you cook when you’re tired and hungry?
If I’m tired and hungry it’ll always be a toastie of some sort with whatever I have in the fridge. Sourdough bread, a really lovely cheese, loads of butter, and maybe some red onions from my allotment that have been pickled. Every year I make a gorgeous rhubarb relish too, which sounds sweet but it’s actually more savoury and there are some currants in it too, so I’d also have a dollop of that on top!
What is one food or flavour you cannot stand?
More for the consistency than anything but it would have to be the seeds of giant tomatoes. I can’t even look at them, they’re the spawn of the devil! It comes from a bad childhood memory where I bit into one thinking it was an apple and it exploded all over my clothes and face – never to be repeated.
Hangover cure?
I like simple flavours when hungover, so free-range poached eggs, with plenty of toast and extra butter. I also love a latte, and my dog Sika always has to drink the froth at the end of my latte, so I would share that with him.
Sweet or savoury?
Savoury – cheese will always win!
Fine dining or pub grub?
Fine dining. I really enjoy food experiences if I am dining out, and would prefer to try lots of flavours or small plates over one large dish that has the same flavours throughout.
Favourite restaurant in Ireland?
An Port Mór in Westport is a go-to for me if I go out west. They get all of their seafood from Clew Bay, so you know that the scallops that you’re having or whatever you’re eating has been sourced locally. To me that’s such an experience, to know that everything is locally produced and locally sourced, and adds to the enjoyment.
Best coffee in Ireland?
Ango’s in Herberton, Dublin 8. It’s owned by Gordon Hickey, who runs Container Coffee and they use Cloud Picker. The coffee is always good, but it’s the atmosphere and welcome that they give and the chats with the team that I love. They really, really care about their customers and are doing something different and sustainable.
What are your thoughts on the Irish foodie scene?
The food scene is great in Ireland but what we need is a lot more market experiences. I’m just back from Madrid and went to loads of fresh food markets and pottered around, tasting different things and meeting local vendors who are so passionate about their produce. We’re so lucky in Tallaght, though, as the Priory Market is being put in and they’re going to have fourteen local food vendors which will give us such a great foodie experience. The food industry is so tough right now so having opportunities like this for producers will be brilliant.
What’s your favourite thing about cooking?
I think the growing of food is my favourite part. I grow everything in my allotment and knowing the care it takes to bring something from field to fork is unmatched. It might be a placebo effect, but nothing tastes as good as something that you have grown yourself from seed and that’s probably down to knowing the care that goes into it. The growing is not just a ritual but it’s almost like a mindful practice, and if I’m making a stir-fry with pak choi that I’ve grown, there’s nothing like it.
Chef’s kiss — Tell us about one standout foodie experience you’ve had recently.
It would have to be the solo trip that I just did to Madrid, exploring different markets and to see and smell everything that was beautifully prepared. Meeting with Fantastic food vendors who put their heart and soul into their produce is just so special and what makes the experience so enjoyable. Getting to sample loads of picky things too was a highlight, like some breads, a gorgeous burrata, some olives — whatever took my fancy.
Secret ingredient — What, in your estimation, makes the perfect dining experience?
The people! The food is great, but I am a memory-maker when it comes to food, so I think it will always be the memories that are being made in the moment over the food.
Feebee Foran will be appearing on the Garden Stage at this year’s Bord Bia Bloom, which takes place May 29 – June 2. Visit bordbiabloom.com for further information.
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