Cheesemonger Kevin Sheridan
My earliest goal was to. . . play hurling for Dublin. I played a lot of hurling and football as a kid. I wasn't the most skilful but I really loved playing and I was very determined, losing yourself in the immediacy of trying to win a match.
Dinner in our house when I was a child was. . . Mam's traditional Irish country cooking. She's from Donegal so potatoes were called pritties and there was no processed food. Everything was cooked from scratch.
Irish cheese-makers are. . . a national asset. The current batch, and you now have a second generation of cheesemakers, will go down in history as a group of people that really changed Irish food. It wasn't like in Spain or France where each area had its own traditional local cheese. They needed to be so determined and creative and to invent something new when they started making cheese.
My guilty food pleasure is. . . I never feel guilty about eating something gorgeous. But then I'm a skinny young fella.
If I had to do something else for a living I'd .. . be a gardener. I studied art in college, so it would be something creative. I love planning and building things.
Fridges are. . . a very useful tool, but something over-used. People just assume you need to put food in fridges because that's what we do. When people ask me should they put cheese in the fridge, I say, relax, don't worry about it. If you do put it in the fridge, the moisture will be sucked out of it so wrap it in wax paper and make sure you take it out a while before you eat it.
Local, sustainable, seasonal are words that .. . have almost become clichés and marketing tools. Words are just a tool and people just need to think about food. Thinking about your food, where it's made, why it's made like that and where it came from, and why is it the price it is. Then we won't depend on the words but on an understanding of what we eat.
Food producers love .. . to be valued for what they do. Our food culture of cheap food is all about the drive to save 10c on a can of beans. To apply that to an artisan food producer, you have to think about how much you would charge for your time to make something.
If I could change one thing in the national diet it would be. . . kids' breakfast cereals. It's shocking from a nutrition point of view that we just stuff sugar into kids every morning.
Working with your brother is .. . great. It's a luxury for both of us. We started this when I was 21, and Seamus is six years older than me, so I don't know working life without him. We never have to be careful around each other. We can be absolutely straight and honest with each other.
My autobiography would have to be called .. . Sorry, I Never Got Time To Do This. I have so many projects that I could never fit them in, even if there were 20 days in a week.
My idea of a really fun day is. . . spending it with my wife and son, pottering round the garden, going for a walk and then sitting down with friends and family for a meal, which has to be the ultimate pleasure.
Sheridans Cheesemongers Irish Food Festival takes place next Sunday, May 29th (10am to 6pm) at Virginia Road Station, Old Virginia Road, Pottlereagh, Co Meath
In conversation with CATHERINE CLEARY
