1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List (14 page)

Billions of pounds are consumed every March 17.

Call it fusion or coincidence: Preserved (or corned) beef, slowly simmered then teamed with cabbage cooked in the same broth, is as much a fixture in Ireland as in the Eastern European Jewish kitchen, and for much the same reasons.
Before reliable refrigeration, both areas traditionally relied heavily on salt-preserved meats during the cold months, and cabbage was available throughout the winter. (Ireland produced a significant amount of corned beef from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, although beef was considered a luxury for the vast majority of its people.)

It’s a meal that is both humble and succulent, at its meltingly tender best when the corned beef is cut from softly fatty brisket; in Ireland, leaner silverside is a good alternative. Onion, bay leaves, peppercorns, and a sprig of thyme season the rose-red meat and the earthy cabbage for a heartwarming combination.

Whether in Ireland or in any large American city, the day to look for corned beef and cabbage is St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. Elevated to its current status as an iconic and beloved Irish meal by millions of Irish immigrants to North America, this simple dish has become an essential component of the annual celebration of all things Ireland.

Where:
In Dublin
, Oliver St. John Gogarty, tel 353/1-671-1822,
gogartys.ie
;
in Arlington, VA
, Ireland’s Four Courts, tel 703-525-3600,
irelandsfourcourts.com
.
Further information and recipes:
Saveur Cooks Authentic American
by Colman Andrews and Dorothy Kalins (1998);
mrfood.com
(search classic corned beef and cabbage).
Special event:
Milwaukee Irish Fest, Milwaukee, WI, August,
irishfest.com
.

A delectable model for self-destruction, the over-the-top Irish breakfast seems to be gaining popularity outside of its home country as a leisurely weekend brunch. Once a daily meal for farm workers and anyone preparing for the day’s hard labor, today it is more of a weekend indulgence, one worth risking a couple of times a year.

Picture a plate piled with fried eggs, black and white pudding (black pudding is a blood sausage, while white pudding contains oatmeal and leeks), thick and smoky rashers of Irish back bacon or gammon (a cured cut from the pig’s hind leg), fried tomato, fried potatoes, bread, and mushrooms—maybe beans, too—and don’t forget the jam. A strong cup of breakfast tea is the traditional accompaniment, and traditional or not, hot whiskey-spiked Irish coffee topped with whipped cream might be just the right finish.

Where:
In Dublin
, Slattery’s Bar & Early House, tel 353/1-874-6844,
slatterysbar.com
;
in Arlington, VA
, Ireland’s Four Courts, tel 703-525-3600,
irelandsfourcourts.com
.
Mail order:
Food Ireland, tel 877-474-7436,
foodireland.com
(search traditional irish style breakfast).
Further information and recipes:
Irish Traditional Cooking
by Darina Allen (2012).

If creamy, gently sweet cheesecake redolent of lemon and a hint of vanilla isn’t enticement enough, imagine the lift a bracing shot of rustic Irish whiskey can impart. Whether it’s the sweet, velvety flavor of Bailey’s Irish Cream or the strong smoothness of Jameson’s whiskey, both provide a decadent cure for the common cheesecake that goes beautifully with a touch of chocolate, too—whether it’s a handful of chocolate chips in the batter, or a chocolate swirl on top. Cheesecake dates back to the ancient Greeks, who pounded cheese into a pan with honey, flour, and wheat, but never has it seemed so spirited as in this modern, inebriated version.

Where:
In Lake Mary, FL
, Liam Fitzpatrick’s Restaurant and Irish Pub, tel 407-936-3782,
liamfitzpatricks.com
.
Further information and recipes:
tablespoon.com
(search irish cream cheesecake);
irelandwhiskeytrail.com
(click Food & Whiskey, then Desserts, then Jameson Whiskey Cheesecake); for Bailey’s Irish cream cheesecake,
irish-genealogy-toolkit.com
(click Recipes, then search irish cream cheesecake).

Necessity was the obvious mother of this snowy, satisfying invention, the product of an era when time and cooking fuel were often hard to come by. When baking soda and then baking powder gained widespread usage in the nineteenth century, Irish bakers invented a bread that didn’t require heavy kneading and a long period of waiting for the dough to rise. The nicely chewy result is Irish soda bread, which depends on the acidity of buttermilk or sour milk along with baking powder and baking soda to elevate it into cushiony rounds.

Irish soda bread lends itself well as a foil for dishes with complex flavors, from Corned Beef and Cabbage (see
listing
) to a hearty lamb stew, and it is best served the day it is baked. For a dressier result, black currants are often kneaded into the dough. The formed, unbaked loaves are scored in quarters (resembling a four-leaf clover) so portions can be broken off. Warm from the oven, they are delightful spread with sweet or salted butter and a dab of jam or marmalade.

Where:
In Castledawson, Northern Ireland
, Ditty’s Home Bakery, tel 44/28-7946-8243,
dittysbakery.com
;
in San Francisco
, Arizmendi Bakery, tel 415-566-3117,
arizmendibakery.com
;
in Dorchester, MA
, Greenhills Irish Bakery, tel 617-825-8187,
greenhillsirishbakery.com
.
Mail order:
Food Ireland, tel 877-474-7436,
foodireland.com
(search irish soda bread).
Further information and recipes:
The Country Cooking of Ireland
by Colman Andrews (2009);
epicurious.com
(search noreen kinney’s irish soda bread).

Mont Saint-Michel crowns the largest salt meadow area in France.

Serious gourmet cooks consider buying preseasoned meat an unforgivable gaffe, anticipating bland commercial spice mixtures at best. But when the seasoner is Mother Nature herself, who can argue? Cavils end with a taste of the verdantly saline, lean lamb from France’s coastal provinces of Normandy and, especially, Brittany. There, lamb and sheep graze on the reclaimed salt meadows known as
prés-salés
, nibbling random herbs and bits of sprightly green seaweed along the way (or, in the hills around Provence, on the wild lavender that lends sweet overtones to the meat). These
agneaux
(lambs) or
moutons
(mutton)
de pré-salé
are treasured marks of quality on menus and in butcher shops throughout France.

Restraint and balance being two of the hallmarks of the best French cuisine, chefs and home cooks respect the elegant natural taste of this meat and are careful not to overpower it, hence the following favorite methods for appreciating this lamb and mutton.

Gigot aux flageolets à la Bretonne
—Brittany leg of lamb with beans.
A great classic roast that is fast disappearing from French restaurants in the U.S., this leg of lamb is adorned with only pepper and a few slivers of garlic, inserted close to the bone, before it is roasted to roseate perfection at an inner temperature of 145 to 148 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once cooked, the roasted meat lends its rich juices to beans, preferably the small, dried ivory or jade flageolets, or, almost as good, the creamy white haricots. After a good soak, the beans are simmered with onion, thyme, bay leaf, and garlic until tender, and then are baked to an inviting mellow brown color along with lamb pan juices and perhaps a touch of tomato.

True gigot, cut from a whole leg of lamb, is hard to find in American restaurants these days. Changing eating habits mean that not enough customers order roasted meat, so a whole leg would lead to uneconomical leftovers. Thus, what often passes for gigot is really a lamb steak cut from the leg and grilled or roasted to order—not the same thing by a long shot.

Carré d’agneau persillé
—Parsleyed rack of lamb.
A cut that stretches from the loin of the carcass to the first rib, the rack or
carré
of lamb is really a long row of unseparated lamb chops—plump, tender, and attached to riblike
bones that in this dish are typically “frenched,” the meat and fat stripped away from the bare bones to create a refined and useful set of handles. Roasted to a rare state, the rack is removed from the oven, lightly brushed with spicy Dijon mustard, and encrusted with a heady mix of bread crumbs, garlic, and minced parsley. Then it goes back into the oven until the meat is medium rare and the coating crisp, golden, and fragrant. The rack is carved into chop portions and hopefully laid alongside a square of creamy baked
pommes Dauphinoise
(see
listing
).

Navarin d’agneau printanier
—Spring lamb stew.
Even the cherished salt meadow lamb includes some cuts that are better braised than roasted, among them the neck and shoulder meat. With the coming of spring, two-inch cubes of these cuts are gently stewed until almost tender with a little dry white wine, a few tomatoes, thyme, garlic, and a bay leaf. The meat is jeweled with new white potatoes, tiny onions, young carrots and turnips, and freshly shelled new peas, and cooked until tender; it’s served as a gastronomic celebration of the vernal equinox.

Of course, all of these methods are also applied to less exalted lamb, when it is the chef who seasons to taste.