ICA ladies star on Ear to the Ground
What were the parallels between the foods eaten then and the super foods that are popular now?
Wexford ICA president Deirdre Connery, federation PRO Joe Keane, Eleanor O’Connor of Castlebridge Guild and Mary Fenlon, Killinick Guild tasted dishes of pig’s head, brawn, sheep’s heart, coddle (commonly eaten in the Dublin region) and stuffed apples. These foods were popular in a time when “there were rows [in homes] over pig’s ear and snout.”
Presenter Helen Carroll chatted with the ladies about traditional cooking and how it has fallen out of favour.
Deirdre Connery recalled how in the old days you cooked and ate what was reared on the farm. “It was always ‘mutton’ in the past. You never hear about mutton now — it’s all lamb,” she said.
Mary Fenlon reminisced about how well loved herrings were.
“Cooked on an open fire, they were amazing. There’d often be a couple of dozen herring hanging over the fire.”
Eleanor O’Connor remembered her mother’s thriftiness and mused about what would happen if she produced stuffed heart for her children today.
“No way,” she concluded. Joe Keane talked about cooking rabbit for her family and how very difficult it was to source one today. She had fond memories of eating rabbit stew on Sundays as a young girl.
“When I cooked it, my kids were, like, why would you want to do that. But it brought me such nice memories of home and that nice family life.”
