Dublin Coddle

If you’re not from Ireland, there is a good chance you aren’t familiar with Irish cooking. Ireland is, after all, better known for its beverages than its cuisine…

One of the most popular dishes around Irish tables of an evening is undoubtedly Coddle, or Dublin Coddle, as it is also known, with Dublin being the place of its creation.

This belly-filling meal is one to warm your cockles on cold nights, especially this time of year when the chill winds start rolling up the Liffey. It is thought that coddle became so popular due to the ease of cooking; a pan of coddle can be left simmering on a hob for hours, allowing an Irish housewife to see to her other chores.

There are many different variations on recipe; some people include carrots or parsnips as a staple item, which would be considered sacrilege by many. There are also numerous cheats; some have been known to throw in a splash of Lea and Perrin’s or even a packet of Erin’s potato soup.

Most Dubliners will claim tell you that their Gran’s recipe is the best one, but here’s a generic recipe which fits the bill, if you fancy cooking yourself a good, hearty Irish meal as the nights draw gradually in.

Ingredients-

• 2kg potatoes
• 500g sausages (good quality is vital!)
• 500g bacon
• 3 onions
• 500ml stock (preferably ham, but beef or chicken will do)
• 4 tablespoons chopped parsley
• Pinch of salt, pepper to taste.

Method-

Preheat oven to 150 ºC (gas mark 2).

Peel your potatoes, and cut into quarters. The smaller the potatoes, the faster your coddle will cook.

Bring your stock up to simmer.

Grill the sausages and bacon until they are just starting to colour.

Slice your onions into rings.

In a deep pot, layer the ingredients as follows (from the bottom up); onions , bacon, sausages, potatoes. Season and add parsley to each layer.

Pour your stock over the top, and set the pot onto a lit stove until the liquid comes to a boil, at which point turn the heat down and put a lid on the pot.

Leave in your pre-heated oven for between 3-5 hours, checking only occasionally and adding extra stock if it appears to be drying out.

Enjoy!

If you’re not big on cooking and prefer to be molly-coddled, you could always sample this staple Irish dish in one of Dublin’s many fine restaurants and eateries.

Here’s a couple of the best ones-

http://boxtyhouse.ie