Irish Stew

mutton, potato and onion layered in a pot with nothing else, cooked until the top potatoes hold and the bottom ones melt into the liquor

Origin: Dublin & Ireland

From the journey of Potato.

The argument about Irish stew is about what may go into it, and it is a real argument. The purist position, which has the older sources behind it, admits mutton or kid, potatoes, onions, water, salt, and pepper, and nothing else. Carrots, pearl barley, thyme, and stock are all common additions in modern Irish kitchens and all are held by somebody to be a corruption. Neither camp is going to win. What is not in dispute is the technique. The potatoes go in twice: some sliced thinly at the bottom of the pot, where they dissolve completely over two hours and thicken the liquor into something between a broth and a sauce, and the rest whole or halved on top, where they steam above the liquid and stay intact. That two-part use is the whole of the method, and a stew made with one size of potato throughout is either watery or a mash. The meat is properly mutton rather than lamb. Mutton is the meat of a sheep over two years old, it has the flavour and the connective tissue that two hours of gentle cooking are designed to work on, and lamb, which most butchers now sell, cooks to tenderness long before the dish has developed. Where mutton is available it is worth the trouble; where it is not, hogget or a mature lamb neck is the nearest thing. The potato's arrival in Ireland in the late sixteenth century and its catastrophic failure in the 1840s are the two facts everyone knows, and the stew sits between them: a dish built on the cheapest possible combination of a hardy tuber and the least valuable cuts of an animal kept mainly for wool.

Ingredients

Meat

1.4 kg mutton or lamb neck and shoulder on the bone, in thick pieces

Potatoes

1.2 kg floury potatoes, half sliced thinly and half halved

Vegetables

4 onions, thickly sliced
4 carrots, in thick lengths, optional

Liquid

1 litre water or light stock

Seasoning

2 tsp salt
1.5 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
3 sprigs thyme, optional

To finish

1 large handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
30 g butter

Method

Trim the worst of the fat from the meat but leave the bones in; they are most of the body of the finished liquor.
Lay the thinly sliced potatoes over the base of a heavy pot in an even layer and season them.
These bottom potatoes are meant to disappear. Slice them properly thin, about 3mm, so that two hours reduces them to a thickened liquor.
Put the meat on top in a single layer and season it well.
Cover with the sliced onions and the carrots if using, and tuck in the thyme.
Arrange the halved potatoes over the top, cut side up, and season them.
Pour in enough water to come about two thirds of the way up, leaving the top layer of potatoes standing above the liquid so they steam rather than boil.
Bring slowly to a bare simmer, then cover tightly and cook on the lowest possible heat, or in a 150°C oven, for two hours.
Do not stir at any point. The layers are the structure of the dish and stirring turns the whole thing to a grey mash.
Check after two hours: the meat should be falling from the bone, the top potatoes whole, and the liquor thickened.
Dot the butter over the surface, put the lid back on, and let it stand off the heat for fifteen minutes.
Scatter with a great deal of parsley and serve straight from the pot with soda bread.

Notes

Two sizes of potato doing two different jobs is the technique. Do not stir. Mutton is the correct meat and hogget or mature lamb neck the best substitute; leave the bones in. Whether carrots, barley, and thyme belong is a genuine Irish disagreement and either position can be defended. Keep the top potatoes above the liquid. It is better on the second day and thickens further overnight.

The Gastrographer

Name: Irish Stew
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 2 h 15 min
Total time: 2 h 40 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Dublin & Ireland
Ingredients: 1.4 kg mutton or lamb neck and shoulder on the bone, in thick pieces; 1.2 kg floury potatoes, half sliced thinly and half halved; 4 onions, thickly sliced; 1 litre water or light stock; 2 tsp salt; 1.5 tsp coarsely ground black pepper; 3 sprigs thyme, optional; 4 carrots, in thick lengths, optional; 1 large handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped; 30 g butter

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control