Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with Irish Chef Geraldine Gilliland of Lula Cocina Mexicana

The public is invited to EATING HIBERNIA, an Irish cooking demo and book signing with Chef Geraldine Gilliland.  The event takes place on Saturday, March 16, 2-3:30 PM at the Pacific Food & Beverage Museum, 731 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731.

According to Gilliland, Irish food is “not all green and fortified with Guinness.”   The Emerald Isle, in fact, is home to a rich, robust, and centuries-old culinary tradition.   Chef Geraldine Gilliland, a native of Northern Ireland, corrects that impression with  a lesson in the history and how-to of Hibernian cooking featuring fresh fare from Melissa’s Produce. Chef Gilliland will sign copies of her new book, The Lula Cocina Cookbook: My Favorite Recipes, from Mexico to Malibu after the demo.

Admission is Free with RSVP!

Respected as a dog lover and long-time animal activist (who has 24 dogs now)  Geraldine is also chef, and owner of Lula Cocina Mexicana in Santa Monica.   Geraldine’s “love affair with Mexican cuisine has culminated in the publication of “The Lula Cookbook.”   This collection of her favorite recipes includes traditional Mexican cuisine, modern interpretations of classics, and some original dishes as well.  With a common sense approach to cooking and a lot of experience, Geraldine takes students through a few of her favorite recipes from each section of the book. She explains tips, tricks, and short cuts a home cook can employ in their own kitchen as well as how to improvise and put a personal spin on the dishes.  This promises to be extraordinary after her decades of cooking experience both at home and in her restaurant, as well as her own classes with authorities in the field.

Below are photos of recipes from the book:

Originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, and from a family of plain home cooking, Geraldine arrived in California in her 20’s for a holiday vacation and she never left Los Angeles.   Her love of Mexican cuisine started when one of the Latino cooks at Gilliland’s Café would prepare staff meals. That is what first attracted her to the flair and flavors of traditional Mexican cuisine. One day, as she was casually flipping through the latest edition of Bon Appétit magazine, she stumbled upon an article that profiled the best female Mexican chefs of the time, including Lula Bertran. So, she called up the editor and asked her which of these chefs she would recommend to teach her true Mexican cooking. Without missing a beat, the editor told her to call Lula,  subsequently  a restaurant sprang from the experience.  She entered a whole new culinary world with Lula, and as with her visit to Los Angeles from Ireland, she happily stayed on.