Evening star., 1962-04-25
Irish Split
On Recipe

By VIOLET FAULKNER
Food Editor Of The Star

wives are individualists when
it comes to their cooking, too.
When I was in Ireland this
spring our group Of Amer
ican food writer's met with
members Of the central COM
mittee Of the Irish House.
wives Association for an in
formal discussion Of food
habits. diets and, of course,
recipes.
For II years the Irish
Housewives Association, COM
posed Of volunteers, has
worked very hard to keep
prices Of essential commodi-
ties within reasonable limits.
They're not only interested
in the price Of food, quality
and distribution, but infor-
NATIVE labelling and indus
trial standards.
Naturally, our first ques-
ton was, How do you make
an Irish stew?" 1t was like
asking an American home
maker, How do you make
potato salad?" While they all
agreed on the basic ingredi-
ents-lamb. potatoes, onions
thyme and /or parsley, and
or bay leaf-no two agreed
on how it should be made.
Few Use COokbOOks
Some insisted 1t wasn't a
proper stew unless you used
lamb neck chops. Another
held out for shoulder Of NUT
ton. One member said the
chops should be boiled first,
then that water thrown
away. and start from there.
Some put trimmings from
the potatoes into the stew to
thicken the sauce. While they
all agreed on the use Of
thyme as a seasoning. some
used bay leaf, others wanted
parsley.
Only q few reSorted to
the use Of cookbooks.
Il did my bake today. I
never use a cookbook" Mrs.
M. Curran said, adding that
she had been married 26
years and should know how
to bake by now.
One woman said she liked
to try new things and al
ways followed a given recipe.
The typical Irish diet came
in for a heated discussion,
too. Some served salads only
in the summer, some not at
all; fruits and vegetables
were staple items on some
shopping lists, but only oc-
casional items on others
and so 1t went. Some budgets
were high, others low; no two
agreed. Sounded Just like
home. When the argument
seemed to be getting a bit
out Of hand, one tactful mem
Der announced 1t was time
to wet the tea" Over tea
and cakes, the talk con-
tinued.
Among the characteristic
dishes Of the average Irish
household these stood out:
fries. meaning eggs and
bacon, popular for either
breakfast or supper; apple
tart-the Irish grow lots of
apples and use them literally
in all sorts Of puddings and
desserts. Porridge Is stand
ard for breakfast, and the
IriShman counts a Saturday
night lost without a dish Of
coddle and a bottle of stout.
Here's the recipe as it was
given to me.
CoddIe
Lean bacon
Onions
SausageS
Cut the bacon into thick
fingers. Cut onions into
eighths. Put the bacon,
onions and sausages into a
saucepan and cover with
water. Bring to boil. Sim
mer until bacon, onions and
sausages are cooked. Serve
meat and onions with the
gravy in a soup plate with
bread fingers.
Always served on All Hal
low Eve is a dish called cal
cannon. For this, rapidly boil
kale Curly cabbage) in
salted water until tender.
Drain and chop finely. In a
second saucepan, boil pota-
toes until tender. When
cooked, mash with wooden
FOUNDER. Add cooked chopped
kale and finely chopped
onion. Mix. Add sufficient
hot milk to give a smooth
consistency. Serve with but
ter.
Irish Carrageen
It was at the same meet
ing that I met Maura Laver-
ty,' Dublin radio personality
and author. MARY McGrory
reviewed Miss Laverty's book
Never No More" in last Sum-
days Starr.
She was the one who put
me straight on the use of
carrageen and later had some
samples sent to me here at
home.
"Carrageen and kelp are
not the same" said Maura,
setting the record right. Car
rageen Is sea moss gathered
at low tide from the west and
northwest coasts Of Ireland.
The name comes from the
Irish word carrigin, mean
ing little rock" and CARA
geen is an abbreviated An
licized form Of an Irish
phrase which means moss
from the little rock"
IT know an old Donegal
lady Of 104 years who retains
memories Of the post-famine
Aa~,. S1A &oI1- r,ao HL.H -.