Diana Dodog is not one to shy away from a challenge.

“I like to do things the hard way,” admits the 2014 MasterChef winner, who with her husband Mike O’Donovan runs The Food Depot by the beach in Courtmacsherry, west Cork.

And it seems that statement applies as much to her food as to her work ethic.

Because while The Food Depot might look like your typical fast-food trailer from a distance, there are no shortcuts taken here. From the Asian-inspired Caherbeg free-range pork belly banh-mi super bowl to more traditional chowder, made only with sustainable fish, this is food heaven. With its signature El Jaguar roast from West Cork Coffee and sweet treats such as the more-ish “magic slice” and the baked Macroom ricotta and berry cheesecake, there is something to impress everyone.

“The people who give you their food, give you their heart,” proclaims a sign beside the counter; and it does not take too long to realise that whatever Diana cooks, comes straight from her soul.

From Budapest to West Cork

Over coffee, she explains how her passion for good food was born in her native Hungary, whether preparing traditional dishes with her grandmother or going to the market with her father at 4am to sell surplus vegetables from their garden.

“I was always sold out before him,” laughs Diana, who went on to study tourism before spreading her wings by moving to Canada, where she got a job in a bakery, despite having little or no English.

“So, in the morning I would be going to school to study English and in the evening I had a shift in the bakery from 3pm to 11pm, every day for four years,” she says of her full-on schedule. With the process of becoming a citizen proving cumbersome, however, Diana returned to Budapest to plan her next move. As Hungary had recently joined the EU, she was free to work in any member state, but had read about Irish history and wanted to live somewhere that was close to the sea, inviting her brother along for the “adventure”.

Diana Dodog and Mike O' Donovan, Food Depot, Courtmacsherry, Co Cork. \ Donal O' Leary

“So we sat in the car and drove,” smiles Diana, whose first stop in 2005 was Macroom, Co Cork, which she thought looked a lot closer to the Atlantic on a map than it was in reality.

Geographical error aside, it was not long until she got a job in the local hotel and showed her work ethic once more when she returned to college to study hotel management part-time at CIT. This led to working at The Kingsley in Cork city, where she met Courtmacsherry man, Mike, who had also studied hotel management and recently returned from working in the States.

“It was kind of more of a cat and mouse game,” he laughs when asked who made the first move, but the couple were soon inseparable, going on to work and travel together in the US and Central America, while planning for a business of their own in the future.

“I think we both shared this passion for cooking, but we didn’t want to be restricted by hotels or anything like that,” explains Mike. “We were just trying to come up with something that would be unique.”

MasterChef dreams

However, the couple were presented with the opportunity of a lifetime when Diana was invited to work in New Zealand, where a friend was running one of Auckland’s most successful bar-restaurants, while Mike got a position in a leading seafood establishment.

“The experience there completely changed our way of thinking,” reflects Mike of their year down under, which they had the opportunity to extend after being offered sponsorship to stay on.

But?

“I wanted to come back to do MasterChef,” says Diana of the decision to return back to Ireland in 2012, which raised more than a few eyebrows, given the bleak economic outlook at the time.

Diana Dodog and Mike O' Donovan, Food Depot, Courtmacsherry, Co Cork. \ Donal O' Leary

Diana Dodog and Mike O' Donovan, Food Depot, Courtmacsherry, Co Cork. \ Donal O' Leary

Indeed, while Diana admits she had been “obsessed” with the TV programme for years and felt she had to give it a shot, even she had began to doubt whether they had made the right decision to come back to Courtmacsherry when the application process eventually opened months later.

“‘Nobody is going to pick me, there are thousands of people, I’m not even Irish, what am I even doing here?’” she recalls of the thoughts that raced through her head as she deliberated over pressing the “send” button; but once producers saw her CV, she found herself plunged right in at the deep end.

“You show up at 6.30am in front of the studios and you put on your apron and they land you with a challenge,” says Diana of the MasterChef experience, which saw her facing her fear of dispatching a live lobster for the first time to creating a wild-themed three-course meal in just three hours for the final; despite having never cooked any of the dishes previously.

“(But) for me, cooking is not like something that you mechanically have to practice,” she reasons, “it’s either going to come from within or not.”

And even after she was crowned winner, Diana says that it took “months” for the reality to sink in.

“I would wake up in the middle of the night and I would turn on the light and I would see the trophy and say: ‘Oh my God, it did really happen!’” she laughs.

The Food Depot

As well as the MasterChef title, Diana also won €25,000, which she and Mike were determined to put towards opening their own food business – like a café or wine bar – using the publicity from the TV show as a launch pad.

But when deals on two different premises they wanted to rent fell through, they decided to take a punt on a very different business model.

“We were like: ‘Let’s not be waiting on someone else, let’s do something where we’re in control,’” says Mike, “so that’s where the food truck came in.”

Sourced online from the UK, the former fast food van was an “absolute shell” when they bought it, without so much as a floor. Moreover, they also had to troubleshoot issues, such as how they would get running water and power to the truck, and discovered there was very little guidance available from any advisory body on what they should do.

“There was no box to tick,” says Diana, who estimates that the entire project cost close to €50,000 between refurbishment costs and investments, like €6,000 for a generator.

“Nobody had ever done anything like this before where it’s not a chip van, you don’t have a fryer ... and they just couldn’t get their head around it.”

However, entering unchartered territory did have other advantages, as it turned out that besides health and safety sign-off and insurance, they didn’t need any specific licence to set up beside the beach in Courtmacsherry in March 2014: a location that Mike had long pinpointed as an ideal spot for a food outlet.

And it turns out, his hunch proved correct, with the Food Depot winning fans from foodies to families, as well as the very first Georgina Campbell “street food” award this year for their creative use of local, seasonal produce.

Diana Dodog and Mike O' Donovan, Food Depot, Courtmacsherry, Co Cork. \ Donal O' Leary

Not that it has gone to their heads, mind.

“We’re glorified kitchen porters most of the time,” laughs Mike, who explains that although they only trade on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, they typically put in 14-hour days on weekends, while between clean down and prep throughout the week, Tuesday is really their only day off. Moreover, they open year round – no matter what the weather – and believe that this consistency has been key to their success: though it is probably what puts more people off starting a food truck business, despite the advantages of not having to pay rents or rates.

“There’s still not enough people willing to do this all year round,” says Diana, who winces at the memory of trying to cook in -2oC temperatures last winter. “We try to do the same in November as we are doing now.”

And it seems that there is no stopping this couple, who – having published their first cookbook, Favourite Recipes From The Food Truck – are hoping to develop their business further in the next 12 months; hopefully in a location that might allow them to have more inside seating for customers, as well as the ability to host special events.

“If we find a home for it in a beautiful farm overlooking the sea or something like that,” smiles Diana of their ultimate vision.

And judging by her track record so far, it looks like there is nothing she can’t master.

The Food Depot is open every Saturday and Sunday at Courtmacsherry from 12-4pm. For further information, visit www.fooddepotireland.com or follow on Facebook and Instagram.

On Friday 7 September, as part of the West Cork Food Festival, Diana will co-host a lobster garden party at The Lifeboat Inn at Courtmacsherry as a fundraiser for the Courtmacsherry Seafest. Tickets cost €55 and booking is essential. For further information, visit lobstergardenparty.eventbrite.ie

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From a cowshed to a cafe