The Poetry of Potatoes: Go Irish for St. Paddy’s on March 17th
When it comes to cultural stereotyping no other country has suffered like Ireland. Notions of IRISHNESS are writ large and sketched out roughly, obliterating the details with playful and cartoonish characters who speak in lyrical clichés. True, the caricaturing is often as whimsical as it is critical, but what Irishman, with the possible exception of Shane MacGowan, recognises himself as the irascible tipsy wanderer constantly veering between happy intoxication and maudlin poetry?
By Nadia Alkahzrajie
And then there’s Irish food, which brings to mind stew, stew and more stew, punctuated by the occasional oddity such as lava-bread and the strangely ominous-sounding ‘white-pudding,’ a variant of black pudding that’s yet to acquire much of a following outside of Ireland. This is a traditionally frugal cuisine, evolving more out of necessity than out of fashion, but there’s also another aspect of Irish food, one that happens by default when people are resourceful and careful with their local produce. The Irish are renowned for their traditional home cooking and for generations have been passing down their recipes and demonstrating their commitment to good quality Irish produce.
Irish beef is predominantly grass-fed and such is the quality and flavour of the meat that Heston Blumenthal now has Irish Black Angus on the menu at ‘Dinner.’ Export demands for specialist artisan products are also on the increase with traditional Irish Farmhouse Cheeses now available throughout the UK from outlets such as Neal’s Yard Dairy and selected Waitrose stores. Irish Farmhouse Cheeses include St. Tola, a sweet and fresh goat’s milk cheese made with organic milk in County Clare, the buttery and nutty Gubbeen from West Cork, and Cashel Blue a rich, creamy cheese from Tipperary. Kinvara Organic Smoked Salmon is available at Fresh & Wild and Wholefoods (Kensington), while Connemara Peated Single Malt, the distinctive award-winning whiskey made by Ireland’s only independent distillery, is now available from Waitrose and Oddbins amongst others.
2011 may be the year Irish food finds itself in vogue, as the lust for local and growing your own gains momentum. One-pot meals are predicted a renaissance, as is the humble pie - basically a stew with a lid on. Fuelled by economy, the renewed popularity of cheaper cuts and offal has seen rustic dishes taking centre stage at some of the best tables, while many traditional recipes have been adapted with the addition of spices or new ingredients. But rather than hankering after exotic fare, ask any Irishman or woman about their favourite dish and it will be something quintessentially Irish. Like many national cuisines, Irish food says far more about a country and its people than any cliché could ever hope to.
To celebrate the diversity and quality of Irish food, three of the UK’s finest ‘foodies’ give us their favourite Irish dishes for St Patrick’s Day on March 17th. Click a Link to View.
Tamasin Day Lewis (one of Britain's finest food writers and an English television chef)
Jeremy Lee (head chef of Blueprint Café)
Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson will be cooking up a classic treat: