Season 5 - Style DNA: Clodagh McKenna

This week's Style DNA podcast episode is with the Irish chef, TV presenter, cookbook author and resident chef on This Morning - the wonderful Clodagh McKenna.It was such a treat to open the door to a joyful Clodagh who arrived carrying a freshly baked carrot cake which she proceeded to ice herself before we started our recording ... I can honestly say her carrot cake is the best I have ever eaten and it took serious will power on my part not to dig in during our conversation!Clodagh grew up in Cork and she paints a beautiful picture of her childhood family rituals including baking bread and prepping food at the weekend for the week ahead. Eating home cooked food around a lovingly laid table with fresh linen clearly influenced her appreciation of the importance of mealtime. Her mother would always tidy herself and apply lipstick before her husband came home from work which is a charming custom that Clodagh has adopted herself.Her passion for baking was ignited when a young Clodagh went on a French exchange, and she returned to Ireland able to make a cracking Tarte Tartin but also with a flavour for Gallic style which still influences her dress sense to this day.Clodagh is one of those individuals whose passion for everything she turns her hand to is infectious - she trained at the legendary Ballymalloe Cookery School. When she felt she had learned everything she could in Ireland she moved herself to Turin, Italy to immerse herself in Italian food and culture... before finally moving to London in her early 40s when she started opening up her kitchen to do dinners for guests ... a charming custom that she still does to this day. We talk about discovering her style DNA, which she feels didn't really happen until coming to London. Her formula, which clearly gives her confidence,  involves a lot of denim, white shirts and tailoring.  We laugh about last minute wardrobe changes on the set of This Morning when the all-male crew realised her top was just a little bit too revealing (let's just say totally see-through) for the viewers...and how being led by an overly enthusiastic stylist for a book launch shoot left her feeling totally lost...all good lessons learned and all stories told in a way that inimitable Irish way... 

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