Derry woman finds recipe for success after losing home

A Londonderry woman who started “stress-cooking” after losing her family home while dealing with her husband’s illness said she has rebounded by building her own culinary business.

Emily McCorkell, originally from Philadelphia, now runs a barbecue school at the historic Brook Hall estate and gardens in Derry.

In 2014, while living in Dublin, Ms McCorkell’s life changed when she returned home from a yoga session one evening to discover her husband Norman unconscious after suffering from an epileptic seizure.

His condition meant neither of the couple could work and they returned to Derry.

She said: “We had rented out our home in Derry when we moved to Dublin, but our tenants then moved out meaning we could return home.

“But our situation hadn’t changed. I wasn’t working and Norman couldn’t work as he continued with medical tests in an effort to get his seizures under control.

“Ultimately, we lost our home in Derry, too.”

Mr McCorkell’s medical team were eventually able to get his epilepsy under control.

Ms McCorkell added: “It was at this stage that I began stress-cooking – I was craving the comfort foods of my childhood growing up in the US.

“I turned to cooking to help me at this time, but I made more than we could possibly eat so I began giving it away.”

After receiving a £5,000 innovation voucher from Invest NI, she developed her own range of sauces based on family recipes and began selling them, which soon progressed to founding the business Lo & Slo and opening a food truck.

Ms McCorkell said: “Norman and I knew we had a choice of living on benefits and not being able to give our children the futures we wanted for them, or we could fight back.”

After graduating from Tourism NI’s experience development programme, Ms McCorkell also launched the barbecue school at Brook Hall.

She said: “It is a place steeped in history as this is where King James II encamped his troops in 1689 and also built the boom across the River Foyle for the siege of Derry.

“We work closely with the estate’s manager, David Gilliland, and it’s indicative of the excellent working relationships so many food producers and tourism experience providers enjoy throughout the city.”

Ms McCorkell is also co-chair of the LegenDerry Food Network, which sees producers, growers, chefs, brewers and restaurateurs come together to promote the city.