Dermot’s Taste of Ireland, ITV1 review: the presenter gives his ‘home’ country the big sell

Dermot O’Leary should work for the Irish tourist board, I thought, watching Dermot’s Taste of Ireland (ITV1). Then we got to the end credits, and it turned out he sort of does: this series is produced in association with Tourism Ireland.

It’s a love letter to the country, showcasing its natural beauty and its food. And the programme is personal. “I always say I’m Irish but I’m not from Ireland,” O’Leary explained, because he was born and raised in Essex but his family’s roots are in Co Wexford, and it was there that he spent his childhood holidays.

Future episodes will feature Cork, Kinsale and Dublin, plus a trip to Belfast, but Wexford was where O’Leary chose to start. He kicked off with some reminiscences about those summer breaks in the 1970s: playing in the sand dunes, eating banana sandwiches, tasting fresh mackerel for the first time. Then we were off to a strawberry farm (apparently Wexford gets a lot of sun, so provides ideal growing conditions), a seafood supplier, a local restaurant and a dairy.

Everywhere seemed old-fashioned in the best sense of the word, although O’Leary’s description of the dairy selling non-homogenised milk direct to consumers – “contemporary, innovative and sustainable” – had a very modern ring to it. Perhaps Tourism Ireland helped to write the script?

The programme involves him doing a spot of cooking, despite not being a chef. His demonstration was short on detail (how much sugar; how much mascarpone?) and I suspect Italians might take issue with a coffee-free, non-alcoholic “strawberry tiramisu”, but he made the act of assembling it look pleasantly stress-free.

O’Leary is easy company and the hour flew by. He seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself, bringing an enthusiasm that occasionally deserts him on the This Morning sofa. “These are basically all my favourite ingredients in the world!” he said of some crab pâté. And at the dairy: “Have I just drunk half a litre of milk? It feels like I’m seven years old again!” He was at his happiest when ticking off his “bucket list” experience: a spot of hurling with some Wexford GAA players and his 81-year-old dad, a champion hurler in his day.

Anyway, Wexford looked so lovely that I found myself considering it for a holiday. There you go, Tourism Ireland: job done.