The U.K.’s Favorite Irish Recipes

Ireland serves up some very unique dishes. Many of them are cakes and breads made out of local grains and potatoes.  A famous bread of this nature is known as Barm Brack. This bread is made using a yeasty dough that is laden with sultanas, currants and chopped candied peel and spiced with ginger, nutmeg and sugar. It’s a light sweet bread that is very popular during Halloween.

Another favorite bread is Boxty Bread. This is potato bread.  Irish children named it “dippity” because it would be served with milk and salt. The idea is that it would be dipped into the milk for a savory treat.

Soda bread is also traditional. This is round flat bread with a crisp crust made out of soda and buttermilk. It is often served with stew for dipping purposes.

A popular fruit loaf is known as Irish Rich Fruit Loaf. It is made of sultanas, cherries, walnuts and slivers of ginger.

Ireland is also quite famous for it’s stews. All of England enjoys Irish Stew, which traditionally is a simple dish that includes lamb, onions and potatoes. The stew must ONLY include these three ingredients or it is not the real Irish stew!  It is cooked in a deep casserole dish at a lower temperature so the mixture is thickened.

During the Great Irish Potato famine people ate Irish Potato and Parsley Soup. This is a soup made of blended milk, chicken stock potato and parsley.

Another economical Irish meal is Irish Rarebit. This is basically runny cheese served on taste. The melted cheese is seasoned with vinegar, mustard and gherkin pickles.

Ireland is also renowned for it’s own version of Scallop and Mushroom pie. This is a fish pie with a mashed potato topping. The filling is scallops, haddock, onions, mushrooms and sherry.

An unusual dessert from this area of the United Kingdom is Oaten Honeycomb. This is a steamed porridge made of oats.  Honey is poured over the finished pudding to add gloss and sweetness.  Grated orange and cinnamon add a bit of spice.

Ireland is also famous for Porter Cake. This is a very thick and rich dark fruit cake that is made with porter (a weaker variety of stout beer.)  You can easily make this cake at home using Guinness.  In fact, dark Guinnes chocolate cake served with dollops of whipped cream is now quite a popular dessert.