EATING IN IRELAND.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20541, 16 February 1935, Page 14

EATING IN IRELAND.

New Methods of Cooking Salmon. It is a common supposition that the Irishman lives on potatoes, buttermilk and fighting, with a bit of bacon what time the ould pig ceases to be companionable, says a writer in the “ Sydney Morning Herald.” All of which is very libellous since, so lcfng as there is a salmon or a snipe to be poached, Iceland will continue to do itself handsomely at meal times. After the excitement attendant upon catching a fine salmon, justice will be done to it if it be baked in the Irish fashion: After cleaning, plunge into boiling water for two minutes. Remove the bones and fill with a stuffing made of breadcrumbs, chopped herbs, pepper, salt, a yolk of egg and sufficient cream to bind it. If some oysters can be come by honestly they can be added to the stuffing. Bake in a buttered dish, in a quick oven, after sprinkling them freely with breadcrumbs and dabs of butter.

Should it so happen that the owner of the fishing rights has a yearning for salmon, or, in a thoroughly selfish mood, has stationed a number of impatient gamekeepers at strategic points along the stream, it may be necessary to fall back on some Irish potato cakes. They may seem poor compensation until you have stood by the kitchen fire with a dish of Irish butter and a healthy appetite:— Mash cold potatoes, adding a teaspoon of salt to each lib. Knead into the potatoes all the flour that they will absorb, using neither milk nor water. Be sure to flour the board well. Roll out very thinly and cut into shapes. Place cakes on a very hot, ungreased frying-pan and keep moving to prevent burning. Turn after about five minutes. Butter and eat hot.

The proper boiling of potatoes is an accomplishment peculiar to the Irish, and is responsible for the glorification of the tuber. No self-respecting Irishwoman ever lays a knife to a potato. Instead, she scrubs them till they shine and lets them stand out of water till three-quarters of an hour before they are wanted. They are then placed in a saucepan of salted water ard are brought to the boil quickly with the lid on. Their positions in the pot are then reversed, the lower ones coming to the top, and, with the lid off, they are slowly simmered till tender. The water is then strained off with gentle care and the pot of potatoes is stood by the fire till they are bone dry. If they are to be peeled before reaching the table, a hot dish is standing by with a hot cloth to cover them so that they remain piping hot till served.

It would i\ot be fitting to leave Ireland until one discovered something truly Irish. Irish black pudding supplies it in that it is a sweet:— Blanch and pound 41b of sweet almonds to a paste with a glass of rosewater; grate 41b breadcrumbs and finely shred lib of fresh suet; add 41b sugar, 41b of cleaned currants, i teaspoon of powdered cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves, a pint of cream, the yolks of 4 eggs, the whites of 2 eggs well beaten, a little candied peel, and a glass of brandy. Mix well, roll in a cloth and boil 1 hour. When cold, cut into thick slices and broil on a greased griddle.