Uh oh, it's March again, here comes St. Patrick's Day..!

[dianeduane]

In any given year, between about the 5th and the 17th or March, the stats at EuropeanCuisines.com go through the roof. I try to pay attention to the site, then, and put the links up here and there for people who're interested. But what with one thing and another, I'm going to have zero time to deal with this next week: so for the bloggers among you who're looking for Irish food tips in advance of The Day, here are the links for you...

The EuropeanCuisines.com website's single most popular recipe, with more than 500,000 "hits" over the last five years: Peter's Mum's Soda Bread Recipe(s)

To supplement the above article, we're offering a two-part video tutorial. Here it is in .wmv (Windows Moviemaker / Windows Media Player) format:

Part 1, "Cake" Style Soda Bread (29 megabytes)
Part 2, "Farl" Style Soda Bread (40 megabytes)

The AVI version:

Part 1, "Cake" Style Soda Bread (62 megabytes: suitable for streaming video)
Part 2, "Farl" Style Soda Bread (81 megabytes: suitable for streaming video)

Part 1 contains ingredient measurements and other advice for soda bread in general. Part 2 contains instructions for "farl" and a very small dissertation on Irish tea. Before viewing either video, please read the article first!

Also, because so many people ask for it: The Original Irish coffee recipe, developed at the old flying-boat base at Foynes (near the present Shannon Airport). The most important words in it: no whipped cream! (You're supposed to use the heaviest pouring cream you can find.) The second most important words: no stirring!

(Links to our Irish recipe collections and the Irish cookbook guide can be found on the main Irish page at EuropeanCuisines.com.)

And a final, favorite side note: Why our site doesn't have any recipes for corned beef and cabbage. And won't.

(sigh) Now I can get back to cat-wizard things.

Tags: Ireland, Irish food, Irish recipes, Irish, St. Patrick's Day, Saint Patrick, Paddy's Day, I refuse to spell it Patty's

Comments

[feorag.livejournal.com]

For those who are intolerant, or vegan, I would like to offer my own dairy-free Irish Wheaten Bread reciple, which has passed the 'feed it to an Irish person' test.

[dduane.livejournal.com]

Hey, super! Can I lift your HTML and make a home for that on our pages?

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

In the Irish coffee recipe, I have to admire the use of the sugar to increase the density of the coffee to float the cream. It's like freshwater glacial runoff floating on salt water. Clever.

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

That's proper Irish coffee for you. And that's why 'no whipped cream', because whipped cream is the mark of someone who can't do it right, and has resorted to cheating.

Last company Christmas party, I ordered an Irish coffee. Poor lass poured two of them down the sink, she just couldn't get it to work. Happily for both of us, the third did.

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

Oooh, very cool.

I was quite old before I had any idea about the cornned beef and cabbage thing.

When I was growing up in Canada, corned beef was considered an excellent thing to slice and put on rye bread, with mustard, or to serve hot with beans and sauerkraut, or sometimes with fresh cabbage, but I don't remember any mention of Irishness in any of this.

Also now I want some, which is probably very wrong.

[dduane.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't argue the sandwich side of it at all. (Trying to remember the name of the famous place in Montreal that does salt beef. Also the really, really good one in Toronto.)

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

Montreal is mostly snoked meat, which is slightly different but v v good, and it's probably one of these three. (http://www.bootsnall.com/cgi-bin/gt/namericatravelguides/montreal/sep02meat.shtml)

In Ottawa it's Nate's or else Dunn's.

Toronto corned beef... *mmm*

There's Pickle Barrel, or Shopsy's and of course

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Montreal is mostly <a href="http://www.bootsnall.com/cgi-bin/gt/namericatravelguides/montreal/sep02meat.shtml"> snoked meat, which is slightly different but v v good, and it's probably one of these three.</a>

In Ottawa it's Nate's or else Dunn's.

Toronto corned beef... *mmm*

There's Pickle Barrel, or Shopsy's and of course <a href+http://www.where.ca/toronto/guide_listing~listing_id~1127.htm"> The Corned Beef house</a>

Yes, this probably DOES explain why I was sort of thinking "Corned beef? Irish? I thought it was kosher!"

*faint with hunger, cannot type*

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

Montreal is mostly smoked meat, which is slightly different but v v good, and it's probably one of these three. (http://www.bootsnall.com/cgi-bin/gt/namericatravelguides/montreal/sep02meat.shtml)

In Ottawa it's Nate's or else Dunn's.

Toronto corned beef... *mmm*

There's Pickle Barrel, or Shopsy's and of course The Corned Beef house (http://www.where.ca/toronto/guide_listing~listing_id~1127.htm")

Yes, this probably DOES explain why I was sort of thinking "Corned beef? Irish? I thought it was kosher!"

[ailbhe]

I first heard of the corned beef and cabbage thing from you anyway. But boiled ham and cabbage is a well-known and pungent tradition. My family never did it though.

(Yum yum, pig's bum, cabbage and potAToes)

[feorag.livejournal.com]

Sure.

[dduane.livejournal.com]

Obviously with a linkback to your original. I just don't want to lose this. :)

Yum!

[cjmr.livejournal.com]

I liked the video--I may try the "cake" version this year in addition to the recipe I usually make which is more of a tea bread (similar to your currant variation, but no candied peel). I'd tried a plain version before and could never get it to work right. Now I see that I way overkneaded it.

I find myself coveting your baking sheet--did that come with the oven, or is it something I might be able to find somewhere?

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

I had no idea you ran a food site. I had vaguely known that CB&C was more common among the Irish in North America than in the Old Country, but not much about why. So I was interested to read your discussion.

[dduane.livejournal.com]

Glad you had fun with it!

BTW, did you look at that T-shirt in the YW CafePress shop? I was thinking of you when I designed it.

Re: Yum!

[dduane.livejournal.com]

It came with the oven. And the joy of it is that it's nonmetallic *enough* that you can use it while microing as well as on the fan-oven function -- it's officially the thing's "frying plate".

I wonder if they sell them separately, though? Or if someone else makes something similar?

Re: Yum!

[cjmr.livejournal.com]

Well, if they sell it separately, my uncle who works for them will know. Or maybe even can get me one if they don't sell it separately.

*goes off to look in address book*

[nelka35.livejournal.com]

сool, interesting, fun. ^)
meow.

[singer-mn-lead.livejournal.com]

Sunday, I was told to open a bakery because I won first place in my church's cake contest in October. I made two sets of cookies this year, and they were popular. got any advice for moi? i'll accept help from everybody reading this.

[singer-mn-lead.livejournal.com]

i forgot. Today's my cat's 6th birthday. one of, i should say. we celebrate it on the 17th.