Could you see youself ‘Coortin’ in the Kitchen?’

When top TV show ‘Keepin’ er Country’ jived into our living rooms several years ago, Ulster viewers instantly fell in love with the characteristics, the music, the dancing, the farming, and the lives in general of some of the Province’s most unforgettable members of our rural communities.

The work ethos, the sense of loyalty, the humour and ability to play as hard as they worked – it all came across in spades.

Well now Alley Cats TV has another treat in store – and this time it’s about rural families and their lives, with a bit of prospective romance thrown into the mix.

‘Coortin In The Kitchen’ will give viewers an insight into the lives and times of rural Ulster families – their values, their traditions, their days and their nights.

A farming life is full of reward but it’s hard work – long hours don’t help when it comes to romance. What’s more, finding someone who shares the same passion for land and livestock is really important.

So this series will see parents and grandparents play the role of matchmaker for their single son or daughter.

They’ll be drawing up a list of criteria for the ideal match and being ‘the right kind of farmer’ will be top of it.

And then the prospective suitors will be calling for a home cooked dinner with their heart’s desire – and their whole family!

Explaining more about the wickedly wonderful concept of this programme, and the inspiration behind it, was producer Deirdre Donnelly.

She says she put it together along with executive producer Des Henderson, who was the brainchild of predecessor ‘Keepin’ er Country’.

“He’s a mad country music fan,” says Londonderry-based Deirdre, who is originally from Belfast, and actually spent her childhood years in one of the Province’s country music ‘strongholds’ – Ballymena.

“He and I put this together. I think I had written a first draft, and I had called it Coortin In The Country.

“He just had a brain wave and said, ‘ no, we’re Coortin In The Kitchen’, so he really had the kernel of genius for the concept. He just has a great turn of phrase, and like myself, a great love for the rural life and the country life.

“We had actually been slow cooking this idea for quite a long time, so in some ways it felt like the next natural step.”

Deirdre herself has worked for Alleycats since 2014; prior to that she worked in the BBC, in radio and in social action campaigns.

“This is slightly different from radio, but the same principles in terms of networking, working up ideas and meeting great people still apply,” she says, adding that ‘Keepin er Country’ really did unleash the reality of the huge appetite out there for all things rural.

“Our casting people were out on the road for more than three years doing that, and so we started to really move into those circles, and into that world, and we realised that the people we met were just absolutely fantastic.”

Deirdre fully agrees with my observation that members of our rural areas here in Northern Ireland are extremely relatable, and says that “they are just so genuine”.

“They’re not actors, what you see is what you get, they’re salt of the earth, and they are very, very endearing.”

Deirdre reveals that the seed for the idea for Coortin’ In The Kitchen was sown almost by accident.

“It was the amalgamation of a lot of thought over several years, and strands of different pitches and ideas that we had had. I think it will work tremendously well – it’s going to be the complete opposite of dating shows that you see on TV. It’s going to be very homely and wholesome, and after the Covid pandemic, I think we are going to need that kind of thing, stuff that just makes us feel happy and reassured.”

Deirdre and the makers of the new series are completely in tune with the needs and busy lives of Ulster farming families, which is why they know that the average lad or lassie looking for love might need a helping hand from their nearest and dearest.

“Farming can get a bit lonely, and it can be difficult to find somebody who’s like-minded, who shares the same values or who does the same kind of farming, and has the same kind of love for the land, or that similar traditional relationship with grannies and grandads etc,” she says.

“So the idea really is to hand it all over to the families, and they will do the set up; they’ll identify the criteria which they think is important.

“Then, the blind date will come to dinner with the whole family.”

Deirdre says that these intensely close family ties, and the inter generational nature of farming as a whole, was something that really struck her and her colleagues during the making of ‘Keepin er Country’.

“They all muck in together and are all completely passionate about the same thing. We thought it was really important to reflect that. That sense of enormous pride runs through the veins of all the generations, and that sense of having a place and of belonging. I just think people working outside of farming don’t always understand that strong emotional connection – it’s not like these people are going to take up another job.”

l If you or someone you know would be interested in taking part in ‘Coortin In The Kitchen’, you can contact Deirdre on [email protected], or get in touch via the Alleycats TV Facebook page.

Life partner also needs to be a business partner

Long gone are the days when rural romances were simply all about the farmer wanting a wife.

As TV producer Deirdre Donnelly rightfully states, times have changed, and with more women than ever before being involved directly in farming themselves, finding a suitable ‘mate’ entails more than just someone to wine and dine when the heavy business of milking and feeding is finally over for the day – it’s actually about ensuring you have a life partner and a business partner, who can support what you do on an equal footing.

“There are increasing numbers of girls going to Greenmount and other agricultural colleges, so the landscape is changing,” she says.

“And that means that the dynamic is very different when you’re looking for a relationship – you’re not just looking for somebody to have a bit of romance with, you’re almost looking for somebody who is going to be a work or business partner.

“When you’re getting up at four in the morning, it would be nice to have company, and be with someone who is into that as well.”

And perhaps ‘Coortin In The Kitchen’ will be one of the tools that speed up that very process for some lonely young farmers around the Province.

The new programme, she reveals, will also focus on the lives of Ulster’s rural families, showcasing how they live and work on a daily basis.

I’m keen on hearing more about the ‘big date’ between the pursued single farmer, and their prospective mate, and Deirdre tells me that this will be in keeping with the scenario whereby the kitchen is the heart of the family home, where everything happens.

“This will be where all the action, so to speak, will take place, when it comes to filming most of the scenes, and of course, the date itself.

“There’ll be traditional Ulster food, a bit of banter, and then maybe the table will be pushed back and they’ll have a bit of a dance.

“We’re thinking there will be two suitors, so there’s a bit of a choice. We have a notion too that once dinner is over, the date will have a party piece. They’re not going to come without something to show off about – so it could be that they dance or play music or can hold a tune.

“And we have a notion that at that stage, the older generation or the extended family will watch on a monitor from the other room to see if there’s any chemistry. They might be saying things like, ‘he’s a quer nice fella, she’d be mad not to,’ and so on.

“We want to capture all those generations, show them all talking and asking questions such as,‘how did granny meet granda’, and ‘what’s the secret to a long and happy life together?’.

“And then there are obviously possibilities for lovely cultural things, like music and dance, that can be done in the kitchen. So I think that will be really nice as well.”