Damien GreyChef proprietor of Liath in Blackrock, Co DublinDamien Grey, chef proprietor of Liath in Blackrock, Co Dublin. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw The summers Damien Grey remembers from Bowral in New South Wales, Australia were relentless. “It would kick in around the end of November, until March or April, it would sit at around 35 degrees-plus. I was pretty much running around with permanently sunburned lips,” he says. Breakfast was granola or Weetabix, yoghurt and fruit, and lunches could not be heavy: “In that dead heat, you’re pushing not to eat, so you keep it light, usually salads, grilled meats, maybe a sambo.” Grey says considerable focus went into trying to cool down. Days were spent trying to cool down, “You’re smashing ice pops and slushies all day long,” he says. When the heat got too much, they’d head to the local shopping centre to sit in proper air conditioning. “When you walk out again, it’s like hitting a big, giant curtain of heat. It’s nuts, absolutely nuts.”[ Liath review: A mesmerising two-Michelin-star experience from a spectacular chefOpens in new window ]Outdoor kitchens are par for the course in this environment. “It’s a big thing [in Australia]. Now they have these really fancy kitchens and everything, but back in my day, it was just a few milk crates and then a few bricks and a steel grill. And that would be it. Happy days.” Grey says his compatriots grill everything, love prawns for parties and Christmas, and draw on global cuisines that suit the heat.“Mediterranean dishes, lots of Greek cooking, Thai food, and Indian; I think we might have the most amount of different cuisines in one country.” The Greek influence is huge: “We’d eat lots of octopus. It’s like chicken over there.” He says Australians also love cold meats, especially kielbasa, a Polish cured sausage. “Aussies go nuts for it; it’s been a massive thing ever since I was a kid,” he says. Grey’s favourite Irish summer food is the three-cornered leek. “When you see it coming up, you know it’s spring and by the time it gets to full flower, it’s summer.” He’s a big fan of Irish summers: “Everyone’s attitude is awesome, everyone is buzzing. It’s just a real feel-good feeling when the sun is shining here.”Rebeca Recarey SanchezHead chef at Saint Francis Provisions in Kinsale, Co CorkRebeca Recarey Sanchez at Saint Francis Provisions in Kinsale. Photograph: John Allen Recarey Sanchez is from Madrid in Spain, where summer temperatures often soar past 40 degrees, so stopping for an “aperitivo” is essential. “Or we often call it in Madrid, ‘la hora del vermut’ because for us that drink is more like a day drink and it starts around noon. I miss that a lot; to meet up with friends in the city centre and order a very cold caña [a small glass of draft beer].” For her, Spanish drinks go far beyond sangría, with favourites such as chilled horchata, “made of tiger nuts, water and sugar”, and tinto de verano, a “wine and a sparkling orange or lemon drink”.Gazpacho is everywhere in Spain in the summer. “I often describe it as a drinkable cold salad. Everyone’s mum or granny will make a big batch that will last a few days,” says Recarey Sanchez. Salmorejo, the lesser-known “cousin of gazpacho”, is made with tomato, garlic and bread, while ajoblanco, “made with almonds, bread, garlic, sherry vinegar, and often served with grapes”, is another classic cold soup. She loves ensaladilla rusa – Russian salad – or ensalada campera, a typical potato salad served in many bars and restaurants. Other options would include cold melon and peaches with slices of serrano ham or lardo, seafood topped with picadillo or pipirrana, which is “finely chopped vegetables like onion, pepper, tomatoes, fennel, seasoned just with olive oil, salt and vinegar”. In Recarey Sanchez’s words: “very simple yet delicious”. [ Saint Francis Provisions review: Wonderful food and wine in a Kinsale room built for chatOpens in new window ]Since moving to Kinsale in Co Cork in 2008, aperitivo moments happen less often, but she has found her Irish equivalent: “I love a good pint in the sun and a big bowl of mussels and lick my fingers when I am done. I can’t wait for it to happen.”Nicole Server-PawlukojcCo-owner and chef at Arán Bistro in Kilkenny cityNicole Server-Pawlukojc says food at home in Manila has always been about cooling down. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Last year, Server-Pawlukojc’s home city of Manila in the Philippines recorded one of its hottest ever summers. “It was roasting,” she says, adding that the city has always felt that way to her, with food always having been about cooling down. “When it’s hot, you’re not hungry, you don’t want anything heavy or rich, so it’s always fresh stuff and cold dishes.” Breakfast is typically fruit, with the rest of the day all about salad “Anything salad-based with fresh fruit and seafood is what we eat in the summer time,” she says. Server-Pawlukojc loves kinilaw in particular. “It’s like our version of ceviche, but then we add coconut – we eat a lot of coconuts in the Philippines.” Ensaladang pako is a fiddlehead fern salad. “It has a really nice texture when you eat it,” says Server-Pawlukojc, also namechecking inihaw, Filipino barbecue. “We grill seafood, chicken and pork,” she says. Cooking over fire also suits dishes such as ginataang kalabasa at sitaw, which is squash and long beans stewed in coconut milk with shrimp. Icy drinks are essential. “Lots of frappuccinos; there are queues out the door for them,” she says. Calamansi juice is a very typical summer drink. “Calamansi are like little baby limes. They have a very distinct flavour. Cold calamansi juice, or we would make calamansi popsicles, or anything with calamansi, because it’s refreshing.” This fruit also allowed her to show early signs of entrepreneurship through “iced candy” sales.“We had these little plastic wrappers that we would fill with calamansi juice or Milo [a choco-malt milk drink] and freeze them. Then we would sell them to our classmates or to people in the playground.”[ ‘We moved in with each other after seven days. We got engaged after eight months’Opens in new window ]Server-Pawlukojc finds it hard to recreate salads from home in Ireland because the fruits are not the same, but she loves to seek out Irish seafood in the summer. “I really like fresh Irish oysters, just served simply with lemon or vinaigrette. We have oysters in the Philippines, but they are just not as nice”. Edziemi OnilenlaFounder of Mama Shee, a food brand specialising in Nigerian flavours Edizemi Onilenla says layered spices in Nigerian food can help to combat high temperatures. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw In Ireland, soups and stews are often associated with winter and frugality, but not so in Edziemi Onilenla’s home country of Nigeria, where they are everyday staples, dense with layered spices designed to cool down the body. She says Nigerian food is often thought of as hot and peppery, “but really it’s more about the spices than the heat”. A typical dish might be “pounded yam swallows with egusi soup and jollof rice”. Egusi soup, made from melon seeds, is much loved. “We have a saying, ‘better soup na money kill am’ – it simply means you have to spend money to make a good soup,” she says. There are many variations: “Some can be light, some thick, some are even prepared and eaten barely cooked.”[ West African food is finally taking its place at Irish tablesOpens in new window ]The pounded yam is what Nigerians call “swallows”, a staple side that takes its name from how it’s eaten: doughy balls, “dipped in stew or soup and swallowed without eating”. Onilenla likens them to how Irish people eat potatoes and notes, “It might surprise some people to know that we have Irish potatoes in the northern part of Nigeria and vegetables of all kinds.” Guinness is popular too, having been brewed in the country for decades.There are plenty of other local beverages for hot weather – zobo, a refreshing hibiscus drink; palm wine made from palm trees; tiger nut drinks; and fresh fruit juices. “They are all great when the weather is very hot; you can grab them from street hawkers, on the highway, at the markets and stores,” says Onilenla. After more than two decades in Ireland, Onilenla is used to the weather, but says she is still excited when she sees “sunshine and a dry day”. She loves Irish summer seafood, especially fish, and though Irish soup is different, she says, “I love to explore it.”Giselle MakindeFounder of Cream of The Crop FoodGiselle Makinde of Cream of the Crop says barbecue is everywhere in Brazil in summer. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill During her first Irish summer, Giselle Makinde went to the butcher in search of osso buco. “He looked at me and said, ‘But this is a winter food!’ I laughed and said it’s 19 degrees; that is a winter temperature in Brazil.” Back in her home city of São Paulo in Brazil, summers are hot and humid, with temperatures hovering around 30 degrees, but it is not necessarily the heat that drives menu choices. “The weather doesn’t determine what you eat as much as the day and how you feel,” says Makinde. Feijoada, a Brazilian black bean stew, is eaten year-round, usually on Wednesdays and Saturdays. For a fresh, summery vibe, you might combine sweet and savoury foods: “Adding fruits like pineapple, bananas, mango and coconut into dishes” along with pimenta, or chillies, adds “a nice tangy flavour and texture”. Churrasco, or barbecue, is everywhere. “My favourite is when you are at the beach, under the sun, enjoying the hot weather, and when hungry, you go for cooked corn with some butter and coconut water.” You could also find deep-fried shrimp, “with skins, heads, and everything”, and queijo coalho skewers, Brazil’s famous “squeaky cheese”. Along the beach, you’ll also find pastel – deep-fried stuffed pastry snacks – and caipirinhas. “It’s the king of drinks in Brazil,” says Makinde, describing the many available versions, including passion fruit, cashew, berries and even acai. She misses local fresh-made juices: “pineapple with mint, watermelon, orange juice with papaya”. In general, Makinde likes how in Ireland we appreciate the good weather in a way people don’t in Brazil. “I feel an urgency here to enjoy the sunny days,” she says. When it comes to Irish summer food, she loves the combination of beetroot with goat cheese and also strawberries. “A true Wexford strawberry is summer on a plate to me.” Giselle Makinde’s book, A Celebration of Brazilian Food, is published by Blasta Books