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Child Item

Spiced Beef?

mlem123

We've always had it in my house at Christmas as my dad (a dub) insists it's an integral part of the dinner..

My mum (from Sligo) said she never had it until she married my dad and insists it's a Dublin thing! But in work another dub said it's a southsider thing! :pac:

Do you have it at Christmas?? Where are you from?

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Water John

Always thought it would be an excellent base for a restaurant starter, like Mezzotint describes.

TRS30

Never though spiced beef would go 3 pages and 30+ posts.......

Belladonna44

We always had it on St Stephens day in Galway.

ShamrockAir

I started cooking it a few years ago and love it. Im from Limerick and never heard of it there. I live in Kerry now and the odd house would have it at Christmas.

I completely wrap it in tinfoil and cook it in the oven. I leave it in the foil for about an hour after it has cooked for the juices to soak back in. Most people seem to boil it. I have never tried it that way.

Posy

TRS30 wrote: »

Never though spiced beef would go 3 pages and 30+ posts.......

One page for me. Feck that 10 posts per page shenanigans! :pac:

Bannasidhe

Mezzotint wrote: »

It's definitely a Cork City thing in a huge way. I had never encountered it before until I moved to Cork and it's an absolutely huge part of the Christmas tradition down here with specialist butchers in the English Market selling it and so on, but it's also carried in most supermarkets.

It seems it goes back to the days when Cork City was a major centre for provisioning shipping, including the British Navy. Spiced beef was a method for preserving beef for use on ships and became a dish that was also part of the city's staple cuisine too. The beef would have been spiced and stored in barrels on the ships.

The specific recipes used seem to be unique to Cork and to have been preserved by butchers in the city over the years (centuries).

I had never encountered it Dublin, more likely to find corned beef.

The traditional recipe for Cork spiced beef has saltpeter in it. Which was available due to the gunpowder mills in Ballincollig.

gozunda

Bannasidhe wrote: »

The traditional recipe for Cork spiced beef has saltpeter in it. Which was available due to the gunpowder mills in Ballincollig.

The mother used to make this herself for Christmas. It was stepped in the 'spice' marinade for several weeks as far as I can remember. T'was savage. She used to buy the salt Peter from the local chemist. Afaik it's not allowed these days due to what the fact Salt Peter is used in the manufacture of gunpowder

No one in the house ever got blown up that I know of

Btw its nothing like corned beef ..

Bannasidhe

gozunda wrote: »

The mother used to make this herself for Christmas. It was stepped in the 'spice' marinade for several weeks as far as I can remember. T'was savage. She used to buy the salt Peter from the local chemist. Afaik it's not allowed these days due to what the fact Salt Peter is used in the manufacture of gunpowder

No one in the house ever got blown up that I know of

Btw its nothing like corned beef ..

Completely different to corned beef.

I envy you your mother's home made. I went to make it many many years ago while having Xmas on the Isle of Skye but no-one wanted to tell the 'fenian' where she could get hold of some saltpeter.
We had a nice marinaded beef but it wasn't the same.

For me spiced beef cooking is the smell of Xmas.

Day Lewin

You don't need saltpetre, you really don't: you can make it with just the spice mixture and it will be fine.

The saltpeter was a preservative, back in the day when there was no fridges. One way around is to use corned beef which has already been preserved.

But I've made it in a cool kitchen using fresh beef and spices, and left it just a couple of days in the mixture - there was vinegar too, so I turned it over and over a few times in the liquid and rubbed the spices in.

Absolutely gorgeous.

I used a recipe by Katie Stewart, (I was living in England at the time) and it turned out excellent.

Elizabeth David has plenty to say about this whole subject in her book about English spice cookery, but her recipe does include the saltpetre, which really only means you can leave the meat to steep for much longer.

But here in Ireland, of course, we can buy it!!

Bannasidhe

Day Lewin wrote: »

You don't need saltpetre, you really don't: you can make it with just the spice mixture and it will be fine.

I have to disagree. I've made it without the saltpeter and there is a difference in the taste. That's not to say both aren't good. Equal but different shall we say.

'With' has, for want of a better term, a salty bite to the flavour 'without' just doesn't have.
'Without' reminds me of a good pastrami.

mlem123

Thanks for all the feedback! Love hearing about this topic as it's divided the office in work haha

We used to get it from the local butchers but last year we got one from a butchers stand at the Craft Fair in the RDS and it came in a Sous-Vide bag and it was hands down the best way it's been done! So moist and all the lovely spice juices are in with it :P

DvB

gozunda wrote: »

Btw its nothing like corned beef ..

This has me thinking, was the stuff I was given the same thing being described here so. I haven't had corned beef since I was a child as I didnt really like it back then anyway, but this stuff definitely brought back the memories of eating corned beef.
I love spicy foods so was disappointed as its description conjours up lovely ideas of spicy, tangy beef....

Must look out for it again so.

CheerLouth

Our butcher always has it advertised at Christmas time. I must talk to him some more about it. Sounds like something Mr. CL would like.

mrbrianj

I (a Dub) first encountered spiced beef when visiting my in-laws in West Cork, the first christmas visit. It turned out they never encountered it before then either. They were just (and very kindly so) laying this on for me, as they believed it was a Dublin tradition.

Funny thing is, this went on for several years until we realised it wasnt a tradition in either house! in fact, long enough that it actually became a tradition.

freshpopcorn

I'm in North Cork and I always thought it was a Cork City thing. It's becoming more popular now.

tropics001

Bannasidhe wrote: »

I have to disagree. I've made it without the saltpeter and there is a difference in the taste. That's not to say both aren't good. Equal but different shall we say.

'With' has, for want of a better term, a salty bite to the flavour 'without' just doesn't have.
'Without' reminds me of a good pastrami.

i'd go along with that. you can get saltpeter on amazon.

i use this method to cure. although i reduce the saltpeter to about half, otherwise found it too salty.

https://conorbofin.com/2014/12/09/spiced-beef-and-the-spoiled-brat/

i am starting an early batch in the next few days... will post pics.

Day Lewin

In the Northern half of the country this is a Christmas dish: I am told that in Cork it is available year round.

No, it is not the same as mere "corned beef" although a piece of corned beef can be used as the base meat:
what makes Spiced Beef so perfect is the thin crust of dark spices on the outside, which permeate the tender flesh with aromatic fragrance: the Allspice is a VERY characteristic note but other spices are also included (recipes vary)

I would put nutmeg or mace, as well as the allspice, and a dose of ground cloves and powdered bayleaf, and sea salt and peppercorns, too.

Jude13

Never had it, I would love to try some.

Loughc

Jude13 wrote: »

Never had it, I would love to try some.

Same every year I'd love to try it, but bottle it. I'd love to try it in a sambo.

cee_jay

I tried it for the first time 2 Christmases ago and it was so good! It is beautiful for a sandwich. Pick up a piece in the local butcher - you won't regret it!

Loughc

cee_jay wrote: »

I tried it for the first time 2 Christmases ago and it was so good! It is beautiful for a sandwich. Pick up a piece in the local butcher - you won't regret it!

Well that's the arm twisted haha

TRS30

As mentioned before, we have it every year as my Dad is a massive fan. Has grown on me over the years I must admit and would probably miss it if we didn't get it now.

Quazzie

Anyone know where this can be bought in the Midlands?

DuffleBag

Quazzie wrote: »

Anyone know where this can be bought in the Midlands?

O'Crualai's deliver nationwide. One of the more popular butchers in Cork. Few diff sizes too by the looks of it.

https://www.ocrualaoi.com/product-category/family-favourites/ff_beef/page/2/

Quazzie

DuffleBag wrote: »

O'Crualai's deliver nationwide. One of the more popular butchers in Cork. Few diff sizes too by the looks of it.

https://www.ocrualaoi.com/product-category/family-favourites/ff_beef/page/2/

Not giving me an option to deliver, only to pickup from Witon, Fermoy or Ballincollig

EDIT: Apologies, just spotted it's min €30 order for delivery

Autosport

You can buy it in most butchers or supermarkets

I absolutely love it

Posy

I have never tried it either.
Maybe I'll give it a go this year, as a lot of my usual Christmas activities will be off the list!!

biko

A Cork thing afaik.

Googled it a bit and
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-20259141.html
“Spiced beef and the production of spiced beef is something which is a cultural tradition in Cork dating back to the 18th century when it was used to preserve the meat.
“Spiced beef recipes date back in Cork families and businesses for generations and it would be a shame, given its increasing popularity, if these traditions were to be lost in favour of an imitation product.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiced_beef
"There is a round of spiced beef accompanying a great ham and a magnificent goose at the Misses Morkan's Christmas dance in James Joyce's short story, "The Dead". There is still spiced beef aplenty at butchers' shops in Cork, although it is primarily a Christmas speciality."

Either way, it's yummy. I put mustard on but that's me.

aisling86

This spiced beef is fabulous
https://www.tomdurcanmeats.ie/shop/spiced-beef

freshpopcorn

Quazzie wrote: »

Anyone know where this can be bought in the Midlands?

James Whelan stock it also and they are in a few Dunnes. Have a look around tough it can often be in shops.

https://www.jameswhelanbutchers.com/proddetail.php?prod=6601