Volume 3, Number 19: Irish Cuisine

The Health Racquet
Volume 3
Number 19

Irish Cuisine

By Allegra Tschappler

Take a look at the following recipes, and see if you can tell me what they hold in common.

Irish Scones*

1/2 cup butter
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk

In a bowl, combine butter and flour with pastry blender or fingers. Add baking powder, salt and sugar. In another bowl, beat egg and stir in milk. Mix into dry ingredients to make dough. Turn onto floured surface and roll to one inch thickness or pat carefully with hands. With a cookie cutter cut dough into 2 inch rounds. Place on greased cookie sheet, about one inch apart and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Makes about 18 scones. You can also add raisins, dates or other dried fruits to the dough.
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Irish Champ*

8 medium potatoes
1/2 cup milk
5 tablespoon butter
One bunch scallions or green onions, chopped

Peel and cube potatoes and boil in salted water until tender. Drain and mash slightly. In a small pan, heat milk and butter until butter is melted. Add chopped scallions. Fold mixture into the potatoes until well blended. Potatoes will still be somewhat lumpy. Makes 6 servings.
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Irish Potato Pie*

6-8 potatoes, peeled
6 bacon strips
3-4 leeks
Salt
Pepper
One cup grated Cheddar cheese

Cook the potatoes in boiling water until tender. Drain. In skillet, fry bacon until crisp and drain on paper towels. Trim leeks so that you have the white part and a small amount of green. Wash well, and slice thin. Add leeks to pan, and sauté over medium heat until soft. Slice the boiled potatoes, and arrange half in the bottom of a pie plate. Season with salt and pepper. Layer with bacon, leeks and one half of the cheese. Cover with remaining with remaining potatoes and season again. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes until top is browned and cheese is melted. Makes 6 servings.
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If you guessed butter or potatoes, you are right. Also, the three recipes are incredibly simple yet very hearty. This reflects the earlier lifestyle of most Irish people: simple, yet hearty.Although the traditional Irish fare is simple and hearty, some other selections of food have been added to the menu. American fast-food, Italian pizza, Indian curry, Chinese food and even some West African foods have been seen throughout Ireland. Why, they even have the ingredients for these foods (traditional European, American Tex-Mex/Mexican, Indian, Chinese and others) in the grocery stores.**

Thanks to the fast food introduced into Ireland recently as well as the constant use of butter in traditional Irish foods, obesity and heart disease are higher there than anywhere else in the world.**

Alongside this fascinating change that took place with the emergence of fatty foods, the last 25 years have seen a change in Irish cuisine. This change basically uses traditional recipes and ingredients in new ways that are more healthy. It is created around fresh vegetables, fish (salmon and trout especially), oysters, other shellfish, the traditional soda bread, hand-made cheeses and the potato. Irish stew, Dublin coddle, the Irish breakfast and potato bread have all reappeared in the Irish cuisine.

Although the Irish turned from eating their traditional fare, many are finding the former way of eating preferable to the fast-food of America. Just goes to show that the Irish really knew how to cook in the first place!

*Taken from “Irish Cuisine for St. Patrick's Day,” by Brenda Hyde

**Taken from "Irish Cuisine," on Answers.com