Since the 1980s, Irish cuisine has transformed from classic traditional foods to dishes featuring quality local ingredients, contemporary culinary and global concepts, often while highlighting simplicity.

“If there’s a main ethos, it would be to just not wreck the good ingredients. So, a lot of it is just very simply treated,” explained Kitchener native Padraic Flynn, who owns and runs Roundwood House with his wife Hannah, in County Laois, Ireland.

Roundwood House was named The Good Hotel Guide’s Irish Hotel of The Year in 2020, and Flynn has won accolades as its chef.

Flynn explained that for centuries, English colonialism created the poverty that shaped Irish cuisine. Unable to access quality ingredients, such as prime cuts of meat, stewed dishes and single-pot meals, like bacon and cabbage, were survival foods.

Potatoes became a dietary staple when introduced in the late 16th century because they were a nutrient-rich food, grew well and plentifully without requiring a lot of land.

All about the ingredients

Ireland’s temperate climate means more than 80 per cent of cattle graze natural pastures for seven to 10 months of the year. This produces tender meat and yellow butter with a rich flavour. With their agrifood industry prioritizing animal and land welfare, Irish meat and dairy rank among the world’s best.

“The farming practices just lead to amazing treatment of animals. The dairy here is off the charts. It’s the best in the world,” said Flynn.

Standard Irish butter has two per cent more butterfat than its Canadian counterpart. It is generally not allowed for legal sale in Canada, so customs officials are on the lookout when Canadians return from the emerald isle.

Using many of the same ingredients found in rustic dishes, Irish chefs transform them into re-imagined and new foods.  Those who have interned at world-leading restaurants, return with concepts and techniques such as molecular gastronomy from El Bulli or refined rustic foods from Noma.

“Irish food has evolved. It’s very locally driven. Very similar to what’s happening with chefs in [Waterloo] region—we want to have those [producer] relationships and support one another,” said Dublin-born Chef Brian McCourt, executive chef at Ayr’s Willibald Distillery.

McCourt mentioned Chef JP McMahon, culinary director of the EatGalway Restaurant Group which includes Michelin-starred Aniar Restaurant, as a leader in Irish terroir and ingredient-led cooking.

“He’s taking seaweed, foraging Irish truffles, preserving things in the winter and pickling things in a very Noma-driven kitchen,” said McCourt.

Whether serving contemporary Irish or global cuisines, the current Michelin guide lists 109 Irish restaurants, 23 of which are starred.

On the plate

Flynn highlights local and foraged ingredients in his meals.

“The most local thing that I can think of serving recently would be venison with foraged mushrooms and a blackberry reduction,” he said. “The mushrooms and the blackberries I got on my property, and the deer is from the [Slieve Bloom] Mountains, which is a 10-minute walk away.”

Classic foods are still found in homes, pubs and rural spots. For McCourt, “good back-home food” leans toward those ingredients.

“Oysters, seafood, crab claws, coddle, meat pies, good chips (fries), spice bags (an Irish-Asian fusion of salt and chili chips, chicken, vegetables and sauces served in a paper bag), things like that,” he said. “And soda bread. Just with some really good butter.”

Chef Brian McCourt’s Dublin Coddle (with Pork Hock & Guinness)

Preparation Time: about 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 4 to 5 hours  (active time: approximately 40 minutes)
Yield: 8 to 12 servings

For the pork hock broth

• 1 smoked pork hock
• 1 onion, halved
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 black peppercorns
• 3 L water

Add all to a pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until hock is tender (1.5 to 2 hours). Remove hock and shred the meat; set aside. Discard bone and skin. Strain broth and reserve liquid.

Build the Coddle

• 8 good pork sausages
• 200 g thick-cut bacon (cut into strips) or lardons
• 3 large onions, sliced (approximately 700 g)
• 5 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (approximately 1 kg)
• shredded pork hock
• 250 ml Guinness
• 1.5 L pork hock broth
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ tsp thyme
• black pepper, to taste
• chopped parsley, to taste
• a knob of butter (1 tablespoon)

Without fully cooking them, lightly brown sausages in a pan. Set aside.

Cook bacon in same pan until lightly crisp. Set aside.

Slowly cook sliced onions in pan’s fat until soft and lightly caramelized (15 to 20 minutes). Set aside.

Deglaze pan with Guinness: Loosen the caramelized bits with a spoon and simmer for 2 or 3 minutes. Reserve Guinness mixture.

Preheat oven to 160°C / 320°F

In a Dutch oven, layer the coddle as follows: potatoes, onions, bacon, pork hock, sausages. Add bay leaf, thyme and black pepper. Pour Guinness mixture and broth until liquid just reaches the top layer.

Cover and cook for 1.5 to 2 hours. Remove bay leaf once done. Adjust seasoning to taste. Before serving, swirl in butter and sprinkle with parsley.

Serve with crusty bread or soda bread.