Irish stew, or stobhach gaelach as they say in Ireland, is made with whatever meat is handy.

In Ireland, it was traditionally mutton (that’s grown-up sheep to you): potatoes, onions, and whatever. When the Irish immigrated to the U.S., beef often replaced mutton (sheep weren’t as plentiful here), which created a thicker, richer-tasting stew. Today, some chefs even add Guinness.

One interesting bit of Irish culinary history: The earliest record of cooked meals in ancient Ireland suggests that most foods were prepared in a cauldron, a three-legged pot suspended over a fire, and simmered continuously. What got tossed into the pot depended on where the community was located. Coastal dwellers, for example, enjoyed seafood stews which they ate with oat bread. Inland, people might eat deer meat.

The cauldron was so much a part of Irish cooking—and hence, stews became a staple of the Irish menu—that the Brehon Laws included one that absolved cooks from being held responsible for a diner getting scalded when the chef was serving him from the pot as long as the cook “shouts out in a loud voice warning those around him.”

Related Links

• How Shanachie Irish Stew Was Born
• Shanachie's Irish Stew Recipe
• Brian Duffy's Web Site
• Shanachie Pub
• More Duffy Recipes

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