If you’ve ever lived in a foreign country, you’ll know that sometimes you need to put the work in to build a community around you. Other times, if you’re lucky, the community will come to you naturally.
For American-born food writer and journalist Robb Walsh, his wife, artist Kelly Klaasmeyer and their two children, it was the latter: their coastal Co Clare community found them.
Coming from Galveston, Texas in 2018, the family make the decision to up-sticks and move to the Wild Atlantic Way, where Kelly planned to pursue (and has now completed) a graduate degree in studio art.
Robb was no stranger to this region, having written a revered piece of seafood-focused literature in 2008 entitled Sex, Death & Oysters. This book explores the lore of the iconic mollusc through a global lens; taking a cultural journey to discover the many approaches to oyster cultiavtion and gastronomy worldwide.
As is right and proper, the book devotes an entire chapter to Irish oysters; taking readers on a Guinness-soaked adventure around Galway Bay during the Galway Oyster Festival.
Robb’s journalistic reputation preceded his move to Co Clare. One of his first encounters with a local included a slight critique of the book.
“My friend, David Donoghue, is a forager,” Robb says. “When I first arrived, David knew I had written [Sex, Death & Oysters]. He read the Irish chapter and he said, ‘where are the Pouldoody oysters?’
“I had never heard of them,” he continues, chuckling.
“And David thought that was ridiculous, so he took me down to visit a local oyster farmer – Feargal Langley – and we got some oysters. I tasted them; they were lovely.
“After that, I felt the need to redeem myself and did some research on the oysters. They have a storied history; [for example] I found that James Joyce had mentioned them in Finnegan’s Wake. Then, when my wife and I were looking for a house, we looked for over a year and finally came to this one. Someone had told us about it and it wasn’t even for sale yet.
“We walked in the front door and saw these picture windows looking out over the water, and I said to the auctioneer, ‘is that Pouldoody Bay?’ He said yes, and I immediately replied, ‘we’ll take this one.’”
Community of food
Alsatian Baeckeoffe is a popular braised meat dish made with Riesling – Robb’s version is made in the slow-cooker and uses Irish lamb. \ Claire Nash
Off-setting the wind-ravaged Burren coastline outside their door, Robb and Kelly have created a welcoming haven in their Pouldoody home. The house is full of colour and art, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, comfy furniture and an expansive dining room table facing those picture windows overlooking the bay – a table which is seldom empty.
This was the whole idea. Their home is a welcome space for fellow bon vivants and food lovers, and specifically those interested in great Irish ingredients. Robb and Kelly regularly host friends and visitors to celebrate the bounty of the locality.
“There’s a community of food lovers here in Clare which is unique,” Robb says. “It includes quite a few foragers and people who are really focused on the inter-tidal ingredients available to us – the pepper dulse, the carrageen – people don’t just talk about seaweed here, they talk about specific kinds of seaweed!”
Anyone familiar with Robb’s work (which includes 14 cookbooks and books about food) might feel intimidated prior to meeting him. After all, he is a three-time James Beard award-winner; the food writing equivalent to the Man Booker Prize for literature.
Aside from oysters, he was among the first to focus on the cultural significance of Tex-Mex cuisine and has delved into the origins of southern American foodways, including the art of American-style barbecue.
His work has helped pave the way for others to proudly lay claim to their food heritage, including Indigenous Tehano Americans and African Americans, whose roles in the cuisines of the American south have been marginalised and down-played for much of history. So yes, meeting Robb for the first time can be intimidating.
But in his cozy home by the sea, there is no hint of snobbery. Instead, a lazy basset hound takes a nap under your feet. Friends make themselves at home in the kitchen, which features a massive island and serves as an open invitation to gather, have a glass of wine or pick up a mixing bowl and start cooking. He and Kelly have found their community – or rather, the community has found them.
“One of our favourite things to do is import our crazy American holidays, like Mardi Gras, to our home here in Ireland,” Robb says.
“I buy local crab meat and oysters and make a huge pot of gumbo. We invite everyone from far and wide to come – mainly so I can tease them about Pancake Tuesday. Imagine, the rest of the world has these insanely wild parties to bring in Lent – Carnival in Rio de Janeiro; Mardi Gras in New Orleans – and you eat pancakes?”
Sex, Death & Oysters
One of Robb's 14 books, Sex, Death & Oysters takes readers on a global journey of oyster-eating lore and culture. \ Claire Nash
Robb is currently working on his 15th book, Braised, Simmered and Stewed: Heritage Dishes for the Slow Cooker, which is due to be published in 2026.
As with Sex, Death & Oysters, Robb is on a global journey with this book; enabling home cooks to try anything from Chinese-style savoury rice porridge (known as congee) to a succulent French braised meat dish called baeckeoffe.
“Baeckeoff means ‘bakery oven’ in Alsatian,” he comments. “It’s also the name of a Sabbath supper prepared by devout Protestants who didn’t cook on Sundays. Each family’s distinctive clay pot was filled with stew and slow-cooked in the village’s bakery oven.
“Classically, baekeoffe includes lamb, beef and pork marinated overnight in Riesling and seasoned with juniper berries. This is Alsatian super-chef Jean Georges Vongerichten’s streamlined lamb-only version, which I have adapted for the slow cooker. The flavour reminds me of Irish stew – but made with white wine.”
Alsatian baeckeoffe. \ Claire Nash
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
1kg white potatoes
(Records or Roosters)
1 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 leek, thinly sliced
2 tbsp chopped parsley,
plus more for garnish
Sea salt and freshly grated
black pepper
10 juniper berries (optional)
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs rosemary, divided
375ml Riesling wine
(preferably Alsatian)
1 lamb shank (around 600g)
500g lamb shoulder meat,
cut into bite-size pieces
1 tomato, sliced
Method
1 Peel and slice the potatoes. Place the slices in a bowl of cold water and set aside until ready to use.
2 Chop the carrot, onion and leek finely, or alternately, pulse them in a food processor. Add the chopped parsley to the vegetables.
3 Drain the potatoes and place half on the bottom of a 3.7L slow cooker. Next, add half of the vegetable mix followed by the stew meat. Season with salt and pepper and a few juniper berries, if using.
4 Place the lamb shank and remaining potatoes and vegetables on the next layer, followed by another round of seasoning. Bury one rosemary sprig and the bay leaf in the middle of the mixture.
5 Pour the wine over to cover and top with tomato slices.
6 Cover and cook on the lowest setting for 6-8 hours, or until the lamb is fork tender and the meat is falling off the shank bone.
7 Remove the bay leaf and rosemary and carefully transfer the stew to a serving dish, being careful to keep the shank meat intact. Garnish with the remaining rosemary sprig and sprinkle over some additional chopped parsley.
8 Serve with a chilled glass of Riesling, a fresh green salad, and English or Dijon mustard, so each diner can add a dollop to their bowl.
Read more
Taste Tradition: a life of family, farming and hospitality
Taste tradition: belly of the island
If you’ve ever lived in a foreign country, you’ll know that sometimes you need to put the work in to build a community around you. Other times, if you’re lucky, the community will come to you naturally.
For American-born food writer and journalist Robb Walsh, his wife, artist Kelly Klaasmeyer and their two children, it was the latter: their coastal Co Clare community found them.
Coming from Galveston, Texas in 2018, the family make the decision to up-sticks and move to the Wild Atlantic Way, where Kelly planned to pursue (and has now completed) a graduate degree in studio art.
Robb was no stranger to this region, having written a revered piece of seafood-focused literature in 2008 entitled Sex, Death & Oysters. This book explores the lore of the iconic mollusc through a global lens; taking a cultural journey to discover the many approaches to oyster cultiavtion and gastronomy worldwide.
As is right and proper, the book devotes an entire chapter to Irish oysters; taking readers on a Guinness-soaked adventure around Galway Bay during the Galway Oyster Festival.
Robb’s journalistic reputation preceded his move to Co Clare. One of his first encounters with a local included a slight critique of the book.
“My friend, David Donoghue, is a forager,” Robb says. “When I first arrived, David knew I had written [Sex, Death & Oysters]. He read the Irish chapter and he said, ‘where are the Pouldoody oysters?’
“I had never heard of them,” he continues, chuckling.
“And David thought that was ridiculous, so he took me down to visit a local oyster farmer – Feargal Langley – and we got some oysters. I tasted them; they were lovely.
“After that, I felt the need to redeem myself and did some research on the oysters. They have a storied history; [for example] I found that James Joyce had mentioned them in Finnegan’s Wake. Then, when my wife and I were looking for a house, we looked for over a year and finally came to this one. Someone had told us about it and it wasn’t even for sale yet.
“We walked in the front door and saw these picture windows looking out over the water, and I said to the auctioneer, ‘is that Pouldoody Bay?’ He said yes, and I immediately replied, ‘we’ll take this one.’”
Community of food
Alsatian Baeckeoffe is a popular braised meat dish made with Riesling – Robb’s version is made in the slow-cooker and uses Irish lamb. \ Claire Nash
Off-setting the wind-ravaged Burren coastline outside their door, Robb and Kelly have created a welcoming haven in their Pouldoody home. The house is full of colour and art, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, comfy furniture and an expansive dining room table facing those picture windows overlooking the bay – a table which is seldom empty.
This was the whole idea. Their home is a welcome space for fellow bon vivants and food lovers, and specifically those interested in great Irish ingredients. Robb and Kelly regularly host friends and visitors to celebrate the bounty of the locality.
“There’s a community of food lovers here in Clare which is unique,” Robb says. “It includes quite a few foragers and people who are really focused on the inter-tidal ingredients available to us – the pepper dulse, the carrageen – people don’t just talk about seaweed here, they talk about specific kinds of seaweed!”
Anyone familiar with Robb’s work (which includes 14 cookbooks and books about food) might feel intimidated prior to meeting him. After all, he is a three-time James Beard award-winner; the food writing equivalent to the Man Booker Prize for literature.
Aside from oysters, he was among the first to focus on the cultural significance of Tex-Mex cuisine and has delved into the origins of southern American foodways, including the art of American-style barbecue.
His work has helped pave the way for others to proudly lay claim to their food heritage, including Indigenous Tehano Americans and African Americans, whose roles in the cuisines of the American south have been marginalised and down-played for much of history. So yes, meeting Robb for the first time can be intimidating.
But in his cozy home by the sea, there is no hint of snobbery. Instead, a lazy basset hound takes a nap under your feet. Friends make themselves at home in the kitchen, which features a massive island and serves as an open invitation to gather, have a glass of wine or pick up a mixing bowl and start cooking. He and Kelly have found their community – or rather, the community has found them.
“One of our favourite things to do is import our crazy American holidays, like Mardi Gras, to our home here in Ireland,” Robb says.
“I buy local crab meat and oysters and make a huge pot of gumbo. We invite everyone from far and wide to come – mainly so I can tease them about Pancake Tuesday. Imagine, the rest of the world has these insanely wild parties to bring in Lent – Carnival in Rio de Janeiro; Mardi Gras in New Orleans – and you eat pancakes?”
Sex, Death & Oysters
One of Robb's 14 books, Sex, Death & Oysters takes readers on a global journey of oyster-eating lore and culture. \ Claire Nash
Robb is currently working on his 15th book, Braised, Simmered and Stewed: Heritage Dishes for the Slow Cooker, which is due to be published in 2026.
As with Sex, Death & Oysters, Robb is on a global journey with this book; enabling home cooks to try anything from Chinese-style savoury rice porridge (known as congee) to a succulent French braised meat dish called baeckeoffe.
“Baeckeoff means ‘bakery oven’ in Alsatian,” he comments. “It’s also the name of a Sabbath supper prepared by devout Protestants who didn’t cook on Sundays. Each family’s distinctive clay pot was filled with stew and slow-cooked in the village’s bakery oven.
“Classically, baekeoffe includes lamb, beef and pork marinated overnight in Riesling and seasoned with juniper berries. This is Alsatian super-chef Jean Georges Vongerichten’s streamlined lamb-only version, which I have adapted for the slow cooker. The flavour reminds me of Irish stew – but made with white wine.”
Alsatian baeckeoffe. \ Claire Nash
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
1kg white potatoes
(Records or Roosters)
1 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 leek, thinly sliced
2 tbsp chopped parsley,
plus more for garnish
Sea salt and freshly grated
black pepper
10 juniper berries (optional)
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs rosemary, divided
375ml Riesling wine
(preferably Alsatian)
1 lamb shank (around 600g)
500g lamb shoulder meat,
cut into bite-size pieces
1 tomato, sliced
Method
1 Peel and slice the potatoes. Place the slices in a bowl of cold water and set aside until ready to use.
2 Chop the carrot, onion and leek finely, or alternately, pulse them in a food processor. Add the chopped parsley to the vegetables.
3 Drain the potatoes and place half on the bottom of a 3.7L slow cooker. Next, add half of the vegetable mix followed by the stew meat. Season with salt and pepper and a few juniper berries, if using.
4 Place the lamb shank and remaining potatoes and vegetables on the next layer, followed by another round of seasoning. Bury one rosemary sprig and the bay leaf in the middle of the mixture.
5 Pour the wine over to cover and top with tomato slices.
6 Cover and cook on the lowest setting for 6-8 hours, or until the lamb is fork tender and the meat is falling off the shank bone.
7 Remove the bay leaf and rosemary and carefully transfer the stew to a serving dish, being careful to keep the shank meat intact. Garnish with the remaining rosemary sprig and sprinkle over some additional chopped parsley.
8 Serve with a chilled glass of Riesling, a fresh green salad, and English or Dijon mustard, so each diner can add a dollop to their bowl.
Read more
Taste Tradition: a life of family, farming and hospitality
Taste tradition: belly of the island
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