Chef Derek takes to the air to promote taste of local food

Based in Dervock, Derek, now a freelance chef, has joined football legend Gerry Armstrong and his wife Debby on a new digital chat show every Thursday on Facebook as resident chef. He made his first appearance a week ago and signalled his intention to showcase the best local food as his main ingredients in the dishes for viewers to cook at home.

“It’s a marvellous opportunity to spotlight the best local products that are now readily available especially in the Causeway Coast region,” Derek explains. “We now have exceptional food and drink, including many world class taste experiences, being produced here by dozens of dedicated artisan enterprises. I want to encourage viewers here and abroad to support Northern Ireland artisan producers.”

He’s demonstrating the importance of local food and drink and its strategically important role within the local community. The show is also helping to highlight the variety and breadth of quality food and drink from local suppliers to a wider audience.

Derek’s slot on the chat show is the result of an invitation from Gerry, the former Northern Ireland and Tottenham Hotspur star striker.

“I worked with Gerry in my campaign to raise funds for garments for NHS workers in the wider Coleraine area during the first stage of the coronavirus pandemic,” he continues. “I brought six local chefs together for a series of online cooking videos for home cooks that invited donations for the army of volunteers in Coleraine making scrubs and other essential garments for NHS key workers. Gerry responded very enthusiastically when I asked him to make a video supporting the fund raising effort. We subsequently raised over £4,000 to enable for the purchase of fabric for scrubs. We were overwhelmed by the support, which was much appreciated, particularly at this uncertain and challenging time for the hospitality Industry.”

Derek, a father of three, then teamed up with The North West 200 Supporters Club to raise funds to help ensure the survival of the famed motorbike race after it was cancelled in May because of the virus outbreak. This also involved a series of celebrity cookery videos featuring local ingredients.

The cancellation was a tremendous setback for the club which depends on the thousands of visitors from many parts of the world for funds for the iconic event. Top motorcycle riders joined in the online cooking campaign. The chefs included Pol Shields of the Grouse Bar and Restaurant in Ballymena, Chris Fearon from Deanes at Queens in Belfast and Cathal Cunning from The Anchor Bar Complex in Portstewart, the chief Marshal of the NW200.

The chefs also teamed up with a host of past and present riders and current commentators for a week cooking in the kitchen. The commentators included BBC’s Stephen Watson, Adrian Logan and Liam Beckett, all recruited by Derek.

A native of Templepatrick, Derek began is culinary journey watching his mother Anne cooking for the family. This interest in the culinary arts led him to seek a school holiday and weekend job in the kitchen at the nearby Dunadry Inn, among the most prestigious hotels and restaurants on the outskirts of Belfast.

“While it was hard work doing the menial tasks in the kitchen with the team of talented chefs, I learned a huge amount about catering and it encouraged me to push on with it as a career,” he remembers.

Self-taught as a chef, Derek subsequently worked for several of Northern Ireland’s culinary experts including executive chef Chris Bell at the highly regarded River Room restaurant at Galgorm Hotel near Ballymena.

“Working with Chris was an immensely stimulating stage in my career. I learned so much from him about local ingredients, food preparation and cooking techniques,” Derek says.

He worked with Paul Rankin and then wife Jeannie at the acclaimed Cayenne restaurant in Belfast city centre and Andy Rea, the chef/owner of Mourne Seafood in the city.

“Andy was an inspiring mentor who taught me so much about fish and seafood. This love of seafood continues today in the Causeway area, a tremendous source of superb fish and shellfish. The quality and outstanding flavours of our fish and seafood are slowly being recognised by local diners. Seafood will feature strongly in my work on Gerry and Debby’s series,” Derek adds.

He then spent eight years as a chef in the Europa Hotel in Belfast and was subsequently executive head chef at the Dark Hedges Hotel, a magnet for global fans of the Game of Thones, at Stranocum, Ballymoney.

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