TRADITIONAL IRISH FARMHOUSE COOKING: Stews, Casseroles Soups

A traditional Irish meal is usually made up of very simple ingredients: potatoes, cabbage, turnips, carrots, tomatoes and onions are usually the core ingredients with meat or fish added for protein. These vegetables have been the main source of the main meal in Ireland for thousands of years, and they continue to be a popular purchase in Irish food markets. This book is all about the simple cooking of Stews, Casseroles and Soups based on wholesome Traditional Irish Recipes. A few new comers to the usual fare have been added to reflect their growing popularity at the Irish family table. Stews, casseroles and soups are really easy to make and provide a perfect one-pot meal for a family. The aroma of a cooking stew or casserole teases the taste buds long before the first spoonful has touched the tongue..... Delicious! Cooking a meal from scratch and passing on the recipe to include whatever ingredients are on hand is a worldwide tradition shared from one generation to another. A home-cooked meal, more especially ‘the dinner’, is under-acknowledged as a global heritage passed down from generation to generation, and in great danger to being lost to the trend of purchasing ready-made meals. Simple, nourishing homemade meals without any frills has kept us all fit and healthy until - sadly - this present era, when processed food and ready-made-meals appears to be growing ever more popular. Our parents would never have believed that there would come a day when one could buy precooked, mashed and buttered: carrots, cabbage, turnip, scrambled eggs etc. Or that we would one day go into a supermarket and have a fully plated meal wrapped in cling film ready to be heated up. I often ask myself ‘Do we have too much money or not enough time on our hands? Can peeling and boiling a carrot be all that difficult or time consuming in this modern rush-hour-paced age?’ Are ready-made meals equal to a real home cooked meal? Why do we install big, ultra modern kitchens into our homes if we not willing to take the time to use it? The population of modern-day Ireland tends to eat more international cuisine when eating out, yet still, when it comes to eating at home, the firm favourite voted by all the members of a family will always be the home cooked meal - it’s just who we are!. Future books on Traditional Irish Food – REAL food that satisfies hunger, and provides comfort – are currently a-waiting editing on my hard-drive. Your comments and suggestions are welcome.