Back to the future
Everyone seems to be convinced that we live on corned beef and cabbage here.
My traditional food book has just been republished in the US; it was well received the first time around in 1995, but this time is causing a real stir. There appears to be a much greater interest in Irish food culture and history. They are fascinated by the stories of the food of the country houses, the simple farmhouse fare and the food of the wild - foraged in the woods and along the seashore.
When I wrote that book, I contacted regional newspapers and local radio stations. I felt there was an urgency to record many of the old foods, both simple and elaborate dishes that nourished our ancestors, before they were lost - many have never been written down and the older people who had memories of the food of their childhood were slipping off to paradise.
Recipes and old cookbooks, some handwritten, came from all over the country. Many wrote nostalgic letters and reminiscences. It took me several years to collate the material into a book. I spent many pleasurable days travelling around the country, watching people cook almost forgotten foods. I stood between the cook and the bowl or saucepan with the scales to measure, weigh and record.
Traditionally, geese were killed around Michaelmas, Christmas and the New Year. Every drop of blood was saved to make goose pudding. Jack O’Keeffe, whose mother originally came from the Sliabh Luachra area around the borders of Cork and Kerry, showed me how to make a goose blood pudding which had been passed down through his family for many generations.
We filled the spicy mixture into the goose neck, tied the ends, pricked it with a darning needle and poached it gently for 1½ hours in a covered saucepan - I still remember the delicious flavour.
I stirred the fresh blood for puddings, and chopped the soft pig’s head and crubeens for brawn. The texture of those puddings was deliciously soft and crumbly, so different from the modern puddings made with imported dried pig’s blood. It’s a great tragedy for Ireland that we have lost so much of our traditional food culture. There’s only a handful of butchers making black pudding with fresh blood nowadays.
The cost of compliance with the tidal wave of regulations is putting them out of business. Who, if anyone, is batting for us in Europe - do any of our MEPs realise that the demand for these kinds of artisan food products is growing and many discerning customers are prepared to pay more for quality.
In the US and UK, chefs - particularly young chefs - are fascinated by the art of curing meat, pickling pork, brining bacon and hams, making sausages, salami and chorizo. The highly acclaimed chef Richard Corrigan, of Lindsay House in London, is famous for his black puddings; Mario Battali of Lupa and Babbo in New York has been curing meats in a time-honoured way for several years.
My own students were also anxious to learn, so Fingal Ferguson, from Gubbeen Smokehouse near Schull, came and showed them how to butcher one of our free-range organic pigs. The students spent a wonderful afternoon learning how to cure bacon and make sausages, salami and chorizo.
It’s a joy for me to find young people who are anxious to learn these almost forgotten skills and who are truly proud of our traditional food culture. How about some bacon and cabbage, champ and parsley sauce for St Patrick’s Day?
