Irish Stew & Brown Soda Bread

The National Dishes Series

The seventh episode of the National Dishes Series — where a country gets picked at random and we cook their national dish while digging into a bit of history. This time: Ireland.

Irish Stew

Irish stew is a dish with an argument inside it. The purist version is just lamb, potato, and onion — boiled together in water until everything collapses into itself. No browning, no stock, no herbs. The potato is the thickener. That’s the historical version, born from poverty and the limited ingredients available to rural Irish households in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The modern version — associated with chefs like Mark Moriarty — browns the meat first, adds stock, leeks, carrots, and pearl barley. More flavour, more body, more depth. Still a stew. Still unmistakably Irish.

Both versions have passionate defenders. This is the modern build.

Brown Soda Bread

Soda bread is Ireland’s other great culinary contribution. No yeast, no kneading, no proving — just flour, buttermilk, bicarb, and salt, mixed in under ten minutes and baked immediately. The buttermilk activates the bicarbonate of soda and the whole thing rises in the oven. The cross cut into the top isn’t decoration: it lets the heat in, and — according to tradition — lets the fairies out.