The Instagram food star and DJ shares his recipe to make at home for every level of cook …
Marcus O’Laoire is a Dublin-based cook and DJ who has spent most of his adult life moving between kitchens and dancefloors. In 2025, stuck in a content job he did not enjoy, he began making cooking videos daily as a way to break up the monotony and now has over 250,000 people following along online for recipe videos. Marcus’ food leans into modern Irish with a French bent, but rarely stays in one lane and tends to follow whatever he feels like eating. At its heart, it’s all the same instinct: feeding people, whether that’s on a dancefloor or at a table. @marcus.olaoire
SWORDFISH WITH ROASTED AUBERGINE PURÉE, CHARRED VEGETABLE COUSCOUS AND CHERMOULA
Serves 2
CHERMOULA (GREEN SAUCE)
Ingredients
1 large bunch parsley
1 large bunch coriander
5 cloves garlic
3 spring onions
1 green chilli
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
Zest of 1 lemon (2 large strips)
Juice of 1 whole lemon
Salt
Black pepper
Olive oil (plus extra to loosen)
Method
1. Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender.
2. Blitz, streaming in olive oil until cohesive, glossy and spoonable. Taste and adjust seasoning.
3. Set aside to allow the flavours to settle.
ROASTED AUBERGINE PURÉE
Ingredients
1 aubergine
Salt
Olive oil
1 clove garlic
Lemon juice (to taste)
1 tbsp tahini
1 Guindilla pepper
A splash of Guindilla pickling juice
Method
1. Halve the aubergine lengthways. Score the flesh in a crisscross pattern, salt generously and drizzle with olive oil.
2. Roast under a hot grill (or in a pizza oven) until deeply charred and completely soft.
3. Scoop the flesh into a food processor. Add garlic, lemon juice, tahini, Guindilla and its juice. Blitz until smooth but still slightly rustic. Taste and adjust seasoning. Set aside.
CHARRED VEGETABLE COUSCOUS
Ingredients
100g uncooked couscous
1 long red pepper
4 spring onions
10 cherry tomatoes (left whole)
1 red chilli
Olive oil
Salt
Black pepper
1 tsp ras el hanout
Method
1. Place the couscous in a bowl and pour over boiling water in a 1:2 ratio (100g couscous to 200ml boiling water). Cover and leave to steam for 10 minutes, then fluff with a fork and allow to cool slightly.
2. Chop the red pepper and spring onions into roughly equal-sized pieces, leaving the cherry tomatoes whole.
3. Add the vegetables and the red chilli to a bowl with olive oil, salt and ras el hanout. Toss well to coat.
4. Spread out under a hot grill and char until blistered and well- coloured.
5. Roughly chop the charred vegetables into a chunky paste.
6. Pour all the roasting juices into the couscous, then fold through the chopped vegetables. Season with black pepper and adjust salt to taste.
SWORDFISH
Ingredients
1-inch thick swordfish steak
Salt
Black pepper
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Method
1. Pat the swordfish dry and season generously with salt and pepper.
2. Heat a pan until hot and add olive oil.
3. Sear the swordfish on both sides until medium rare in the centre.
4. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and allow to rest briefly.
To assemble
1. Spread the roasted aubergine purée onto the base of the plate.
2. Top with a generous mound of charred vegetable couscous.
3. Place the swordfish on top.
4. Spoon over the chermoula to finish.