The first course was a chilled tomato soup with a light hint of spice and a trace of sharpness, served with lovely rustic bread with large, glossy holes in it. Hannah had to admit, given the choice, she wouldn’t have chosen cold soup in a million years, but it was delicious.

‘This gazpacho is to die for,’ said Meredith with loud enthusiasm that made everyone around the table break off conversation and look up.

‘I adore gazpacho and this is as good as any I’ve tasted in Barcelona,’ agreed Fliss.

Hannah had never tasted gazpacho before and she was quite surprised by how good it tasted for cold tomato soup.

‘I can taste garlic and—’ Alan started to say, holding up a spoonful of his soup and sniffing.

‘Tomatoes?’ suggested Jason with a snigger.

‘It’s a lovely, simple recipe. One of Conor’s.’ Adrienne nodded to her son. ‘Perhaps you can share the ingredients.’

‘Tomatoes, of course,’ Conor inclined his head towards Jason, ‘garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, seasoning all blended together and then I add very finely chopped green pepper.’

‘Ah, it’s the green pepper I can taste,’ said Alan. ‘I knew there was something.’

‘And that piquancy comes from the red wine vinegar,’ said Meredith happily. ‘It’s just lovely.’

They all cast admiring glances his way as each of them took another mouthful of the soup, pulling careful tasting faces. Hannah almost laughed out loud. Unfortunately, she couldn’t deny that his soup was sublime – not that she’d have given him the satisfaction. There was no way she was feeding Conor Byrne’s massive ego any more.

The next course was brought in by Bridget and Mairead: medallions of pork in a cream and apple-brandy sauce served on a big oval platter followed by tureens of jewel-bright vegetables, peas, broccoli, kale, and an enamel tray of deliciously crisp roast potatoes.

Everyone fell upon the tender pork with sighs of delight and approval. Hannah thought if they were going to eat like this every night, once the course was over she was going to have to live on salad until Christmas.

‘This is the best pork I’ve ever tasted,’ said Jason, waving his fork in the air.

Adrienne smiled. ‘This is one of our Large Blacks. They’re a heritage breed which we farm here. When we cover pork on the course we’ll talk more about breeds.’

Jason frowned and looked thoughtful. ‘Does it really make much difference?’

Adrienne looked at his plate. ‘What do you think?’

‘It’s blood— dead good.’

She nodded as if she’d made her point. Hannah realised that Adrienne was a born teacher with a real passion for food, a bit like Mina. There was an authenticity about her. She really believed in all this stuff. Hannah still wasn’t convinced, but Adrienne certainly knew a lot; hopefully Hannah might absorb some of her teaching and knowledge by osmosis.