Irish Cuisine

VeraBlue

Head Mistress
Gold Site Supporter
I'm going to do corned beef and cabbage here at work. Being alone during the week, there is no reason for me to do all that for myself. Plus, I doubt Lou would get involved in any of that. He'd eat Irish stew, which is wonderful...but, again..all alone over here.

I've had Irish sausages (discovered in a local supermarket) that were fairly bland. Irish soda bread...?? What makes it specifically irish?? Although I do like it, slathered with butter and dipped into a bowl of stew...


Anyone doing anything particularly irish this week? and, share your recipes please!
 

RobsanX

Potato peeler
Super Site Supporter
I'll be doing New England boiled dinner on Tuesday. I have a corned beef brisket, and it will have potatoes, cabbage, and carrots.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
I was going to do a boiled dinner with a smoked picnic, but decided to go with a roast fresh pork shoulder instead.

I might take a stab at Irish Soda Bread, though!

Lee
 

FryBoy

New member
Actually, my dear, corned beef ain't Irish. I discovered that watching a movie some years ago -- forget the title, something about international spies or something -- in which an American family was hosting cousin from Ireland. At their first dinner the hostess served corned beef and cabbage. The cousin asked why the meat was red, and when he was told it was corned beef and the hostess thought it would make him feel at home, he said sarcastically "I've never heard of it, don't care for it."

I was skeptical, so I did a little research and learned it was true -- they don't eat corned beef and cabbage in Ireland, it's mostly an American thing. Perhaps it was relatively cheap and available to the poor Irish immigrants who came to America in the late 1800s and early 1900s, but it never caught on in Ireland.

Here's a link of interest on the subject:

http://www.illinoistimes.com/Springfield/article-4897-the-corned-beef-myth.html

BTW, my Jewish wife has already decided that we're having corned beef & cabbage for St. Paddy's Day.

May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.
 

buckytom

Grill Master
yep, fry's right. corned beef was the closest that irish immigrants found that was much like an irish comfort food dinner of boiled ham.

as far as potatoes and cabbage goes, well, a spud and two veg is the standard accompaniment to almost all irish meals where meat is served.

we'll have corned beef, cabbage, and red potatoes this week, if i can find a cook's brand corned beef. and we'll have soda bread, and snacks of sharp cheddar, mustard, and onions.

and like sass, colcannon will be made from leftovers, as well as champ potatoes.
 

buckytom

Grill Master
it's the favored brand our house, as well as their ham.

they usually have the lowest amount of fat per serving, around 11 grams vs. 13 to 17 grams for many other brands. and we just like the taste. the hams aren't too salty, and while the corned beef is mildly flavoured, it comes with the extra spice pack to kick it up a little while it's boiling.
i've also found that cooks' corned beef is great on the grill.
 

Fisher's Mom

Mother Superior
Super Site Supporter
You made me google colcannon and champ potatoes, BT. I'd never heard of either of them. The champ potatoes sound like something I would really enjoy - thanks!

BTW - is it bad form to put green food coloring in everything on St. Patty's Day? I don't know why, but that's what happens here in San Antonio. The city even dyes the river green! And I used to make green rice crispy treats for my kids, cut in the shape of shamrocks.
 

GotGarlic

New member
I had a St. Patrick's Day party several years ago and one thing I served (don't know if it's particularly Irish, but it seemed so to me) was a leg of lamb that had been deboned, unfolded, and rubbed with oil, brown mustard and rosemary, then roasted. I also served a cheesy potato dish. Can't remember what else. The lamb was very popular :smile:
 
I'm doing a corned beef for myself (using the leftovers for Reuben sandwiches); probably turkey kielbasa for the non-red-meat-eating husband. To be served with butter-sauteed cabbage & roasted root vegetables (taters, turnips, carrots, onions, garlic). And Guinness, of course.
 

SilverSage

Resident Crone
Actually, my dear, corned beef ain't Irish. I discovered that watching a movie some years ago -- forget the title, something about international spies or something -- in which an American family was hosting cousin from Ireland. At their first dinner the hostess served corned beef and cabbage. The cousin asked why the meat was red, and when he was told it was corned beef and the hostess thought it would make him feel at home, he said sarcastically "I've never heard of it, don't care for it."

I was skeptical, so I did a little research and learned it was true -- they don't eat corned beef and cabbage in Ireland, it's mostly an American thing. Perhaps it was relatively cheap and available to the poor Irish immigrants who came to America in the late 1800s and early 1900s, but it never caught on in Ireland.


:soapbox:
Thank you Doug! I've been explaining this for most of my life. For some reason, folks still insist that corned beef and green beer are Irish. I usually don't bother arguing it on the internet because most folks don't really care. But since you brought it up.......

:lucky:I'm first generation. My grandparents had their first 2 children (my dad & his brother) in Ireland before they came over here in the 1920's. Till the day she died, she said she had never eaten corned beef, and never would. What WAS traditional was what she called 'a joint of bacon', boiled with cabbage. This wasn't bacon cut into rashers like we know it. Irish bacon is more like a ham or pork roast.

:lucky:Another improbable American interpretation making beef stew and calling it Irish. Beef was only available to the upper classes in Ireland. Stewing was a way to make the old lamb (mutton) palatable. Even though we can't really get mutton here, a young lamb stew is a wonderful improvement.

:lucky:Besides cabbage and potatoes, other root vegetables were also common. Turnips (rutabagas), parsnips, carrots, onions were readily available.

:lucky:Remember the song 'Molly Malone' as she wandered the streets broad and narrow crying 'cockles and mussels alive, alive-o'. Since Ireland is an island, fishing and therefore seafood, was an important part of the culture and diet. Salmon, trout, cockles, mussels, lobster were all considered poor man's food because they were cheap and readily available. It's hard to believe we ignore the wonderful seafood in favor of boiled corned beef and cabbage when celebrating the heritage of Ireland!

:lucky:Desserts were a rarity since both salt and sugar were expensive. However, when there was dessert, is was most likely to be a bread pudding or an apple cake. I wouldn't include green creme de menthe (which is French).

:lucky:Vera, you're partially correct on St. Patrick not being Irish. He was born in the 5th century, before either England or Italy existed in their current forms. The Roman Empire (later day Italy) controlled most of Brittania (later day England). He was born in Brittania, therefore could be considered sort of English or Italian. He was kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave when he was a teenager.

:lucky:Until the last generation, St. Patrick's Day was not celebrated in Ireland the way we do here. It was considered a 'holy day of obligation'. Church was mandatory! Then folks went home to a big holiday meal sort of like Easter or Christmas. There were no parades & drinking parties.

:lucky:With the advent of cheap travel in the late 20th century, millions of Americans started going to Ireland for St. Patrick's Day to to celebrate the 'real thing'. They were highly disappointed. In order to keep the tourists happy the Irish Tourism Board started pushing businesses and municipalities to sponsor American-style celebrations.

:lucky:You may notice that I've written most of this in past tense. Ireland now is as cosmopolitan as we are. Just like here, foods are available from all over the world. Unless you go to the western counties of Galway or Mayo, you'll never hear Gaelic spoken or see the old traditions.



Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!
St. Patrick's Day blessings upon you.
 

buckytom

Grill Master
nicely done, ss. :applause:

most importantly, st. pat's claim to fame was that he was able to bring unifying christianity to a country of fiercely divided tribes, mostly by being humble and respecting the various differences in the culture of each region. not by forcing it down their throats, as the church often did throughout history, nor by claiming that his god was greater than any pagan deity. what was important was the message that christ taught.

oh, btw, the irish language has gone through a revival of late, and is now being taught in schools across ireland, not just in the western counties. an old friend's daughter attends an all irish speaking school north of dublin. it freaks him out that his wife and daughter have conversations as if in a "foreign" language.
 

Mr. Green Jeans

New member
Like Vera, I'm solo during the week. So I am doing corned beef & cabbage for the crew at work. It will be a mixing of cultures; corned beef and cabbage served on tacos LOL!
 
All the history lessons are very well & good, but I'm STILL making corned beef, cabbage, & roasted root vegetables; served with Guinness And please don't try to tell me that Guinness isn't Irish!!!!).:lol:

Gosh, what a bunch of wet blankets. Next you'll be telling us that Santa Claus isn't really at all connected with Christmas (tongue in cheek here).;)
 

buckytom

Grill Master
don't worry, breezy. we took care of santa claus a few months ago.

and i think vb has her eyes on a rabbit recipe for easter, in case you were going to ask.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Ahhhh, SS, so my roast pork shoulder with potatoes and carrots is MORE traditional! HA!

The facts that you presented are all very interesting (I'm saying that sincerely, not sarcastically, BTW), but I must admit, I love the Americanized festivities that are all over Boston, beginning around 11 a.m. on the day! I hear that NYC and Chicago are pretty wild, too!

I am not aware of any Irish ancestry in my family, but if I'm at an Irish pub on St. Pat's Day, I wear the green, sing the songs, drink the beer and generally hoot n' hollar with glee, along with everyone else, no matter what their heritage. It's a blast!

Lee
 

GotGarlic

New member
All the history lessons are very well & good, but I'm STILL making corned beef, cabbage, & roasted root vegetables; served with Guinness And please don't try to tell me that Guinness isn't Irish!!!!).:lol:

Gosh, what a bunch of wet blankets. Next you'll be telling us that Santa Claus isn't really at all connected with Christmas (tongue in cheek here).;)

I don't think anyone was trying to discourage you from making corned beef and cabbage - in fact, it seems to be a pretty popular choice. There's nothing wrong with correcting misperceptions, though, imo.

I will confirm that Guinness is Irish, having seen it all over the western counties when we visited there in 2003 :smile: My favorite food there was sole, though, with fish and chips a close second.
 
don't worry, breezy. we took care of santa claus a few months ago.

and i think vb has her eyes on a rabbit recipe for easter, in case you were going to ask.

LOL!!! Actually, if my husband wouldn't rather eat worms & die than eat rabbit, I'd probably serve it for Easter as well - lol!! As it is, we'll probably be having cute little roast duckling for that holiday.
 
Oh, & for those interested in today's Irish cuisine, try to catch Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" episode on "Ireland". It's repeated occasinally on The Travel Channel. As mentioned here - tons of great seafood, lamb, beef, & Guinness!!! It was definitely a good show.
 

VeraBlue

Head Mistress
Gold Site Supporter
Savannah has a huge St. Patrick's Day parade and the one Lou and I saw in New Orleans was wild! In addition to the traditional beads that are tossed, they also toss carrots, potatoes, cabbage leaves, and pickles!

The few times I did make irish stew I used lamb. Never been able to get my hands on mutton. I'd like to, though.
 

SilverSage

Resident Crone
How's this for ironic? After my soapbox here, I got a phone call yesterday from some friends inviting us over for dinner tonight. After I accepted, she said, "With a name like yours, you're going to love it. I'm making corned beef and cabbage"!

I offered to bring a creme de menthe pie for dessert.

:patty:

(I love corned beef sandwiches from a good kosher deli. I love cabbage almost any way you prepare it. Potatoes - eh -they're just filler. But throwing all 3 together in a pot and boiling it ????? :yuk: )
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
LOL, SS! Well, butter helps!

Next year, you'll have to have those friends over for a REAL St. Pat's dinner!

Have fun tonight!

Lee
 

FryBoy

New member
Interesting article from yesterday's Christian Science Monitor on the subject:

No Corned Beef & Cabbage? Irish Chef Reinvents Irish Cuisine

One quote from the interview of Dublin-born chef Darren Pettigrew, who is the co-owner of Stella Maris (Latin for "star of the sea") in New York city's historic Seaport district:

Q: How would you define Irish cuisine?

A: "We got a bad rap. Let's just say there is no Irish cuisine. There are a couple dishes, there's a working man's dish, we're going to do it here. It's basically boiled sausages and Irish bacon and potatoes and a few vegetables. It's called coddle. You have it with a pint of Guinness and some brown bread. The joke is corned beef and cabbage, you don't eat corned beef in Ireland."
 

FryBoy

New member
Google found several recipes for Coddle, which is mentioned in the article from the Christian Science Monitor, but some seem to be adaptations for the U.S. and Canada -- they use ham instead of Irish bacon, for example, such as in this one: Dublin Coddle

I found this to be the most informative of the articles:

Irish Cuisine: Coddle Recipe Ingredients

Understanding Coddle as a Traditional Dish from Dublin, Ireland

Sep 18, 2008 Susan Morris

Visitors to Dublin, Ireland should expect a high level of fine food in restaurants and bars. Traditional Irish dishes on the menu will include variations of chowder, coddle and stew.

Eating Out in Dublin, Ireland and Dublin Coddle


Coddle is a substantial course and visitors to Dublin, Ireland should be aware that many restaurants and bars – like 'Gallaghers Boxty House' in Temple Bar - will offer coddle as a starter and coddle as a main dish.
Whether eating in a bar or restaurant along the Temple Bar stretch or up on the hill of Christchurch in Dublin, visitors can be certain that the finest ingredients of Irish sausage and Irish bacon will be included the chef’s recipe for 'Dublin Coddle'.

Coddle Recipe Ingredients


Every professional chef working in Ireland will have their own variation of coddle. Preparing and cooking coddle from scratch will take a chef or a home cook over an hour in the kitchen. A generalised recipe for cooking coddle is:

  • First fry top quality Irish bacon for a couple of minutes.
  • Then add onions to the Irish bacon and cook until golden brown.
  • Next add large Irish sausages to the pan and brown on all sides.
  • Create the base layer of coddle by arranging potatoes grown in Ireland, sliced thinly, in a deep individual ramekin or serving dish.
  • Spoon the Irish bacon, Irish sausages and onions on top of the uncooked potatoes.
  • Season with generous amounts of salt, black pepper and chopped fresh parsley.
  • Pour over beef or chicken stock to the top of the ramekin or dish or ramekin.
  • Place the top on the ramekin or cover the dish before cooking in a high temperature oven for at least one hour.
Eating Coddle as a Traditional Irish Food

Coddle is served in many restaurants and bars in Dublin, Ireland with Irish soda bread. Visitors eating coddle in Dublin and other parts of Ireland are likely to find the quality of the Irish bacon and Irish sausages memorable. Irish bacon and Irish sausages prepared using authentic traditional Irish recipes are available online in Canada, USA and Europe.

The sauce of a coddle, created by the braising of the potatoes in the meat stock and juices while cooking, can be easily mistaken for including double or single cream. “Irish cooks have always been heavy handed with their use of dairy produce” writes Matthew Drennan in Classic Irish: A Selection of the Best Traditional Irish Food (Hermes House, 1998). Many coddle recipes do not include cream and may be dairy free if the chef has fried with olive oil rather than Irish butter. Visitors who are lactose intolerant should ask before ordering coddle in a restaurant or bar.

Variations to the Recipe for Coddle


Visitors who take a cab when getting home after a night out in Dublin, Ireland are encouraged to ask the driver about his, his wife’s or his family’s coddle recipe. Margaret Johnson in her Cooking with Irish Spirits: Magical Dishes Made with Beer, Meads & Spirits (Wolfhound Press, 1995) includes a personal account about 'Dublin Coddle' “It is a dish which allows artistic licence for each cook… One taxi driver I spoke to recently puts tomatoes in his Coddle, and allows them to break down. He calls this Red Coddle.”
 

Sass Muffin

Coffee Queen ☕
Gold Site Supporter
The joke is corned beef and cabbage, you don't eat corned beef in Ireland."

Corned beef was served traditionally in Ireland on Easter Sunday.
http://www.familiesonlinemagazine.com/food.html

[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=+1][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=+1][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=+1]Originally "Corned Beef and Cabbage" was a traditional dish served for Easter Sunday dinner in rural Ireland. The beef, which was salted or brined during the winter to preserve it, could then be eaten after the long, meatless Lenten fast.
Since the advent of refrigeration, the trend in Ireland is to eat fresh meats. Today this peasant dish is more popular in the United States than in Ireland. Irish-Americans and lots of other people eat it on St. Patrick's Day, Ireland's principal feast day, as a nostalgic reminder of their Irish heritage.
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Here's a little history--

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, his religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over a thousand years. On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast—on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.
http://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day

 
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Sass Muffin

Coffee Queen ☕
Gold Site Supporter
boiled_bacon_and_cabbage.jpg



This is the original, much-loved, much-missed dish that Irish immigrants of the nineteenth century were trying to make when they came to North America...and when they couldn't get the pork they really wanted, they made do with salted (corned) beef instead. (See the article here for the details. The facts may surprise you.)
 
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