Corned beef and cabbage

The great Irish-American dish: a St. Patrick's Day institution born in New York

Origin: United States (Irish-American, New York)

From the journey of Cabbage.

Corned beef and cabbage is one of the most famous dishes in American culinary mythology (widely believed to be Irish, but in fact a distinctly American invention born of immigration. In Ireland, the traditional partner to cabbage was salt pork or boiling bacon) beef was too expensive and too culturally significant (as a draught animal) for ordinary households to eat. It was in the tenement neighbourhoods of New York, Boston, and Chicago in the late 19th century that Irish immigrants, living alongside Eastern European Jewish neighbours, discovered the kosher beef brisket cured in brine (corned beef) that butchers in Jewish delis sold. It was cheaper than bacon, available from sympathetic neighbours, and cooked similarly to what they remembered. A new tradition was born (not Irish but Irish-American, a product of the immigrant experience, poverty, proximity, and adaptation. Corned beef and cabbage became the ritual dish of St. Patrick's Day, an occasion that is itself more American than Irish. The dish is now utterly embedded in American food culture and beloved on its own terms) the salt-cured brisket braised until tender, the cabbage and potatoes cooked in its fragrant spiced broth, the whole thing served with sharp yellow mustard.

Ingredients

Beef

  • 1.5 kg corned beef brisket (sold pre-brined with a spice packet in the US; or brine your own brisket for 5 days in a salt and spice cure)

Cabbage

  • 1 medium white or savoy cabbage, cut into 6–8 thick wedges through the core (so they hold together)

Vegetables

  • 6 medium waxy potatoes, halved
  • 4 medium carrots, halved lengthways

Aromatics

  • 1 large onion, quartered
  • 4 garlic cloves, lightly crushed

Spice

  • 1 tbsp black peppercorns
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 6 whole cloves
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar

Serve with

  • 1 tbsp yellow mustard, to serve
  • 1 tbsp horseradish cream, to serve (optional)

Method

  1. Remove the corned beef from its packaging and rinse under cold water. Place in a large pot and cover with cold water by at least 5cm. Add the onion, garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves, cloves, brown sugar, and the enclosed spice packet if included.
  2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, skimming any foam from the surface. Reduce to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours, until the brisket is completely tender and a fork slides in without resistance.
  3. Remove the brisket from the broth and place on a board. Cover loosely with foil to rest. Increase the heat under the broth to a vigorous boil.
  4. Add the potatoes and carrots to the broth. Cook for 15 minutes. Add the cabbage wedges. Cook for a further 10–15 minutes until all the vegetables are completely tender and have absorbed the spiced broth.
  5. Slice the corned beef thickly across the grain. Arrange on a large warm platter with the vegetables, ladling over some of the broth. Serve with yellow mustard and horseradish cream on the side.

Notes

The cooking broth is excellent, use it as a base for pea and ham soup the next day. Leftover corned beef makes extraordinary Reuben sandwiches (corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing on rye bread), corned beef hash, or corned beef and potato cakes. To brine your own brisket: combine 1.5 litres water, 150g kosher salt, 50g brown sugar, 1 tbsp each of black pepper, coriander, mustard seeds, and bay leaves, plus ½ tsp pink curing salt (sodium nitrite, optional but gives the pink colour). Submerge the brisket for 5–7 days in the fridge.

The Gastrographer

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