Grub of the Irish
I usually go to the US for St Patrick’s Day, but this year I will be in Ireland for the first time in years. Because Easter is so early this year, St Patrick’s Day falls in the last week of the 12-week course, in the midst of exams.
Easter and Christmas all have traditional foods associated with the feast day yet, in Ireland, we really don’t have specific dishes that we associate with the celebration of our national day.
While virtually everyone in the US tucks into corned beef and cabbage, you’d be hard pressed to find a family or indeed a restaurant here that serves the Irish emigrants’ favourite meal. You will, however, find it on the lunch menu at Ballymaloe House, surrounded by lots of chunky carrots and onions and often a bowl of parsley sauce and lots of floury golden wonder potatoes.
Better still, the corned beef is homemade — Jason Fahy learned the secret from Michael Cuddigan, whose butcher shop in Cloyne was legendary for the quality of meat and the gracious service. Michael generously passed on his recipes for corned beef and pickled ox tongue so we can continue the tradition.
If you’d rather not get involved in what is in a fact a very simple process of corning the meat yourself, make a foray into Cork’s English Market, where you’ll find fine corned beef and lots of other good things at many of the butchers’ stalls.
Why not have a celebration and ask some friends around for a St Patrick’s Day feast? Make a loaf of soda bread or spotted dog and a big pot of soup (colcannon soup would be terrific) followed by a fine platter of tender corned beef and cabbage with lots of chunky vegetables cooked in the broth.
Don’t forget the floury potatoes and a jug of creamy Irish stout. Follow this with a juicy tart made with new season’s rhubarb, served with a dollop of softly whipped cream and soft brown sugar. Round off the meal with a glass of Irish coffee and you may just find your friends will be angling for this to become an annual event.
Happy St Patrick’s Day!
This delicious juicy rhubarb cake, based on an enriched bread dough, used to be made all over the country. It is a slow, traditional food which would have been baked in the bastible or baker beside an open fire.
Serves 8
350g (12oz) flour
A pinch of salt
½ teaspoon bread soda
50g (2oz) castor sugar
75g (3oz) butter
1 egg, preferably free-range and organic
165ml (5½ fl oz) milk, buttermilk or sour milk
700g (1½ lb) rhubarb, finely chopped
Egg wash
175-225g (6-8oz) granulated sugar
Castor sugar for sprinkling
Softly whipped cream
Moist brown sugar
1 x 25.5cm (10 inch) enamel or Pyrex plate
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Sieve the flour, salt, bread soda and castor sugar into a bowl, rub in the butter. Whisk the egg and mix with the buttermilk. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour in most of the liquid and mix to a soft dough; add the remainder of the liquid if necessary.
Sprinkle a little flour on the work surface, turn out the dough and pat gently into a round. Divide into two pieces, one should be slightly larger than the other — keep the larger one for the lid. Meanwhile, dip your fingers in flour. Spread the smaller piece onto the plate. Scatter the finely chopped rhubarb all over the base, egg-wash the edges and sprinkle the rhubarb with the granulated sugar. Roll out the other piece of dough until it is exactly the size to cover the plate, lift it on and press gently to seal the edges. Make a hole in the centre for the steam to escape, egg-wash and sprinkle with a very small amount of sugar.
Bake in a moderate oven, 180C/350F/gas mark 4, for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the rhubarb is soft and the crust is golden. Leave it to sit for 15-20 minutes so that the juice can soak into the crust. Sprinkle with castor sugar. Serve while still warm with a bowl of softly whipped cream and some moist brown sugar.
Gaelic coffee always put me in mind of my father-in-law, who always managed to end up with a white moustache as he carefully sipped it, much to the hilarity of his grandchildren.
Serves 1
1 measure Irish whiskey
2 tsp soft brown sugar
Strong black coffee
Softly whipped cream
Warm a medium-sized wine glass with hot water. Then discard the water, put the sugar and whiskey into the glass, add coffee and stir well.
Pour the softly whipped cream out of a jug over the back of a spoon onto the top of the coffee. The cream should float on top of the coffee so don’t attempt to stir.
The hot whiskey-infused coffee is drunk through the cold cream — one of the very best Irish traditions! Sláinte agus saol agat — health and long life to you.
Corned beef has a distinctive regional association with Cork city. Between the late 1680s and 1825, the beef-corning industry was the most important asset to the city and the country.
In this period, Cork exported corned beef to England and much of Europe and as far away as Newfoundland and the West Indies. During the Napoleonic wars, corned beef exportation from Cork was at all time high and the British army was principally supplied with corned beef from Cork.
Although this dish is eaten less frequently nowadays in Ireland, for Irish emigrants it conjures up powerful nostalgic images of a rural Irish past. Originally, it was a traditional Easter Sunday dinner.
The beef killed before the winter would have been salted and then eaten after the long Lenten fast with fresh green cabbage and floury potatoes.
Serves 6-8
4lb (1.8kg) corned silverside of beef
3 large carrots, cut into large chunks
6-8 small onions
1 tsp dry English mustard
Large sprig fresh thyme and some parsley stalks, tied together
1 cabbage
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Put the corned beef into a saucepan with the carrot, onions, mustard and the herbs. Cover gently in cold water, bring to the boil, covered, and simmer for 2 hours.
Discard the outer leaves of the cabbage, cut in quarters and add to the pot.
Cook for a further 1-2 hours or until the meat and vegetables are soft and tender.
Serve the corned beef cut into slices surrounded by the vegetables.
Serve lots of floury potatoes and freshly made mustard as an accompaniment.
Colcannon is one of Ireland’s best loved traditional potato dishes — fluffy mashed potato flecked with cooked cabbage or kale. This soup uses identical ingredients to make a delicious soup.
Serves 6
55g (2oz) butter
425g (15oz) peeled diced potatoes
110g (4oz) diced onions
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1.1 litre (2 pints) homemade chicken or vegetable stock
450g (1lb) savoy cabbage
25g (1oz) butter
130ml (4 fl oz) creamy milk
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. When it foams, add the potatoes and onions and toss them in the butter until well coated.
Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover and sweat on a gentle heat for 6-10 minutes. Add the stock, increase the heat, and cook until the vegetables are soft but not coloured.
Meanwhile, make the buttered cabbage. Remove the tough outer leaves from the cabbage. Divide into four, cut out the stalks and then finely shred across the grain. Put 2-3 tablespoons of water into a wide saucepan with the butter and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, add the cabbage and toss constantly over a high heat, then cover for a few minutes. Toss again and add some more salt, freshly ground pepper and a knob of butter.
Puree in a blender or food processor, add the cabbage to the soup. Taste and adjust seasoning. Thin with creamy milk to the required consistency.
Note: Cabbage may be pureed with the soup if a smoother texture is your preference.
Parsley Sauce
Serve with boiled bacon or ham or corned beef.
600ml (1pint) milk (not low fat)
50g (2oz) roux
Salt and freshly ground pepper
A few slices of carrot, optional
A few slices of onion, optional
Bouquet garni
30-50g (1-2oz) freshly chopped parsley
If using herbs and vegetables, put them in the cold milk and bring to simmering point, season and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Strain out the herbs and vegetables, bring the milk back to the boil, whisk in the roux until the sauce is a light coating consistency. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add chopped parsley and simmer on a very low heat for 4-5 minutes.
4oz (110g) butter
4oz (110g) flour
Melt the butter and cook the flour in it for 2 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally. Use as required. Roux can be stored in a cool place and used as required or it can be made up on the spot if preferred. It will keep for at least a fortnight in a refrigerator.
Allotment gardening course at Ightermurragh Garden Allotments, Ladysbridge, Co Cork. Starting on Saturday, March 22, Michael Brennock will teach this course over five Saturdays — an allotment will be planted and monitored: what and when to plant, how to plant and look after crops, problems that might arise, etc. Booking essential. Details from Liam and Mary Murphy at 021-4667330 or 086-3003810 or email: mary.burke.murphy@hotmail.com.
Pestle and mortar: A really good pestle and mortar is a must for cooks who like to grind their own spices and masalas. Arun Kapil’s Green Saffron stall at Midleton farmers’ market on Saturday mornings and Mahon Point on Thursday mornings have granite sets in two sizes — internal diameters of 130mm (25) and 110mm (20) .
Bright orange smoked haddock and kippers owe more to smoked flavoured dye than long slow smoking over beech or oak chippings. For the real thing, check out Frank Hederman’s stall at Midleton farmers’ market on Saturday mornings.
Tesco Young Chef of the Year 2008: Do you have a talent for cooking? Reckon you can perform in the kitchen and win the battle of the pans? Cooking sound like music to your ears? Entrants must be between 10-18. Terrific prizes. Application forms in Tesco stores or tel: 01-6618777, email youngchefoftheyear@tesco.ie or download at www.tesco.ie/youngchef.
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