Traditional Irish stew: the Irish lamb stew with potato, onion and carrot

Irish stew is a poor people's dish that became a national symbol. In the cottages of the 18th-century Irish countryside there was a pot over the peat fire, potatoes, which were the base of all food, onions from the garden and, now and then, the meat of a sheep too old to give wool. Everything went into the pot together and cooked for hours.

The purist version takes only mutton, potato, onion, water and salt. The carrot came later and is accepted by most today; barley, leek and turnip appear depending on the region and the household. What no one disputes is the slow cooking, without hurry, until the potato begins to fall apart and thicken the broth.

Bone-in lamb, such as neck or shoulder, gives the best broth. It is a one-pot dish that is better the next day and is eaten with soda bread and butter, in the tradition of the islands.

Recipe card

• Origin: Ireland
• Category: Main course, stew
• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation time: 25 minutes
• Cooking time: 2 hours
• Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg bone-in lamb (shoulder or neck) in large pieces
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons oil or butter
• 3 large onions in thick slices
• 4 carrots in thick rounds
• 1 kg potatoes, half in thin slices and half in large chunks
• 1 leek in rounds (optional)
• 1.2 liters beef or lamb stock (or water)
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

1. Season the lamb with salt and pepper and dust with the flour.
2. In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat the oil and brown the meat in batches without crowding. Set aside.
3. In the same pot, sauté the onion and leek for 5 minutes, scraping the bottom.
4. Return the meat to the pot and build the layers: the thinly sliced potatoes at the bottom, then the carrot, and the potato chunks on top.
5. Add the thyme, bay leaves and hot stock until almost covered, season with salt and bring to a boil.
6. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, stirring rarely, until the meat comes off the bone and the bottom potatoes fall apart, thickening the broth.
7. Remove the larger bones, the bay leaves and the thyme sprigs, taste for salt and adjust the pepper.
8. Sprinkle with parsley and serve in deep bowls with soda bread and butter.

Tips and variations

• The thin potato layer at the bottom is the natural thickener: do not skip this step.
• With beef instead of lamb, the dish becomes a beef stew, tasty but different.
• A handful of pearl barley at the start adds body and is common in the north of the island.
• In the oven, cook covered at 160 °C (325 °F) for 2 hours 30 minutes instead of on the stovetop.
• Better the next day and freezes well for 3 months.
• A stout beer in place of some of the stock darkens and deepens the flavor, but that is already a modern variation.
• Serve with cabbage cooked in butter to complete the Irish plate.

Irish stew is the smell of an Irish kitchen on a rainy day: tender meat, potato falling apart and a broth that warms the whole house.