Almost forgotten Great Irish dishes

The Sweeper

brianthebard wrote: »

This is all nonsense tbh, I don't know who started making up these rules but people made stew with what they had in the house and what was in season, not what they decided was Irish stew. Guinness is fine in a stew if you like it, but not from a can. This whole thread has been so funny between people defending our 'native cuisine' and people decrying it. I'm all for the peasant food idea if that's what floats one's boat, but the idea that there was a unique version of this in Ireland is laughable. Bacon and cabbage came up several times but the French eat that too, as does anyone else who can simultaneously grow cabbage and pigs.

Oh patronistastically good.

There are a billion people in China. Most of them are peasants. A staple food for years was turnips. Fresh turnips, and dried turnip slices.

Would you intervene in a Chinese Food thread and decry all claims of the dishes discussed as a crock of crap because most chinese people eat turnips?

Minder

the beer revolu wrote: »

Noooooo:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
The debate begins!

Guinness is far too dark and bitter for an Irish stew.
Irish stew should be light in colour.
And if you use beef, then it just isn't Irish Stew at all!!

Agreed.

brianthebard wrote: »

This is all nonsense tbh, I don't know who started making up these rules but people made stew with what they had in the house and what was in season, not what they decided was Irish stew. Guinness is fine in a stew if you like it, but not from a can. This whole thread has been so funny between people defending our 'native cuisine' and people decrying it. I'm all for the peasant food idea if that's what floats one's boat, but the idea that there was a unique version of this in Ireland is laughable. Bacon and cabbage came up several times but the French eat that too, as does anyone else who can simultaneously grow cabbage and pigs.

What is your point - that Irish stew is a concoction of anything Irish people put in a stew pot? Navarin Printanier must be French Stew, or is Cassoulet French Stew? Nah, I got it, Beef Bourguignon is French Stew. Is Cawl only Cawl if it's made in Wales? Irish stew - lamb and potatoes in a pot. If the potatoes are sliced and put on top to bake and go crispy is that Irish Stew? Or is it Lancashire Hotpot?

Gulliver

Drake66 wrote: »

Found my granny's old Brack recipe amongst some old stuff recently

1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of cold tea
1 pound of raisins
3 cups of plain flour
1 egg
1 teaspoon of bread soda
1 tablespoon of mixed spice

Haven't tried it yet. Might give it a blast tomorrow with an amendment or two

Sounds great. What heat and how long does it take?

Our neighbour used to make the most delicious treacle bread ever. Unfortunately, she died before I was old enough to think of asking for the recipe. I miss that woman

brianthebard

The Sweeper wrote: »

Oh patronistastically good.

There are a billion people in China. Most of them are peasants. A staple food for years was turnips. Fresh turnips, and dried turnip slices.

Would you intervene in a Chinese Food thread and decry all claims of the dishes discussed as a crock of crap because most chinese people eat turnips?

How is it patronising? Its more patronising to say something is only Irish stew if it contains XX. You must not have read my post because your analogy doesn't make sense in this instance.
Same for Minder, jump to denigrate over actually thinking about what was said.

Qualitymark

Gulliver wrote: »

Sounds great. What heat and how long does it take?

Our neighbour used to make the most delicious treacle bread ever. Unfortunately, she died before I was old enough to think of asking for the recipe. I miss that woman

Would it be Grant Loaf? http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Doris-Grants-Brown-Bread

(For those arguing about Irish Stew, the name 'Irish Stew' generally refers to a white stew based on mutton. The fact that there's a dish called this doesn't make beef stew any less Irish, any more than non-fizzy wines produced in the Champagne district are any less champagnois!)

Drake66

Gulliver wrote: »

Sounds great. What heat and how long does it take?

Our neighbour used to make the most delicious treacle bread ever. Unfortunately, she died before I was old enough to think of asking for the recipe. I miss that woman

I just did it there. I cooked it at 180 for around 45 min; when you stick a sharp knife into it and it comes out clean it's done. I added some mixed glazed fruit and a dash of whiskey into the mix.

That treacle bread sounds great. I wouldn't mind getting a copy of that recipe if it was ever found!

Qualitymark

Drake66 wrote: »

I wouldn't mind getting a copy of that recipe if it was ever found!

If it's the Grant Loaf (probably is - that was the most popular treacle bread from the 1930s or so to the 1980s), it's linked above.

The Sweeper

brianthebard wrote: »

How is it patronising? Its more patronising to say something is only Irish stew if it contains XX. You must not have read my post because your analogy doesn't make sense in this instance.
Same for Minder, jump to denigrate over actually thinking about what was said.

You announced this discussion was nonsense, asked who made the rules up, and stated that you found it amusing that anyone would try to promote or criticise 'cuisine' - the inverted commas are yours. That's completely patronising, suggesting you're wading in at the end of a thread with a better idea than everyone else of what you're on about - after posts on this thread asking people to stop doing that and basically if they don't have positive contribution to make, start your own thread about how shite Irish food is and have your whinge over there.

Again, back at you: there are a billion chinese and most of them are peasants, and peasants eat turnips. Does that mean we're to ignore the rest of chinese cooking, or any dishes that became more prevalent in the last 25 years, in favour of turnips? And if you don't eat turnips you're not eating chinese food?

The Irish Stew thing - Irish Stew is a sheep recipe with a pale stock flavoured by the meat and vegetables in the stew. Beef stew with Guinness is a beef stew with guinness.

last name ever. first name greatest

Sparks wrote: »

And about pork - if it's anything other than rashers, it must be cooked until it's as white as paper, and tougher than shoe leather, "just in case". No-one's quite sure of what we're worried about, exactly, but we're overcooking pork until it's a building material to avoid it.

Worms....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichinosis

Not so applicable these days.....but my missus will still never touch pork

HTH

The Hill Billy

This bickering is taking the thread off-topic.
Please stick to discussing the dishes.
Healthy debate is fine, but don't let it get personal.

Thanks,

HB

Corsendonk

Shouldn't Irish stew always be mutton if the recipe is authentic? The long slow cooking process is for tougher meats like mutton and its only in recent years that we had lamb in any decent quantity. My mother remembers they always used mutton instead of lamb except for that short period of time in lambing season. Stew type dishes are about using the poorer ingredients not the best of the best vegetables or meat cuts so why would you use good lamb?

Anyone got any good recipes for making Brawn?

the beer revolu

the beer revolu wrote: »

Let the debate begin.

I knew it would start sooner or later!

Gulliver

Qualitymark wrote: »

Would it be Grant Loaf? http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Doris-Grants-Brown-Bread

(For those arguing about Irish Stew, the name 'Irish Stew' generally refers to a white stew based on mutton. The fact that there's a dish called this doesn't make beef stew any less Irish, any more than non-fizzy wines produced in the Champagne district are any less champagnois!)

Thanks. I'll give it a go when I get a chance and let you know!

Drake66

Porter Cake

225g of butter
225g of brown sugar
300ml of Guinness or Murphys or other stout
zest of an orange
1 cup of raisins
1 cup of sultanas
half cup of mixed peel
half cup of glazed cherries
450g of plain flour
teaspoon of bread soda
2 teaspoons of mixed spice
3 eggs

Melt the butter and sugar in a saucepan with the stout. Add the orange zest and all the fruit apart from the cherries. Bring it to the boil and boil for 3 mins stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and allow to cool down.

Sieve the flour, soda and spice into a mixing bowl. Add the fruit mixture to the bowl. Add the cherries. Give it all a good mix. Whisk the eggs together and add gradually to the bowl while mixing. Line a 9 inch round tin with greaseproof paper. Throw the mixture in. Bake it for around 90 mins at 180c.

Drake66

Potato, Chive and Cheese Pancakes

175g of Grated raw potatoes
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 egg yolks beaten
2 egg whites whipped to soft peaks
150ml of milk
225g of plain flour
25g of melted butter
75 of Strong Irish Cheddar
A bunch of chives, or garlic chives (Which are in season now)

Add the milk to the beaten eggs in a bowl and mix. Add the salt to season. Sieve the flour into the bowl and add the melted butter. Give it a mix. Stir in the grated potatoes, the cheese and the chives. Fold in the beaten egg whites and give the mixture a gentle mix. Heat a nob of butter in the pan. Pour some batter into the pan and cook gently for a few minutes on each side.

foodfetishist

so right