St Patrick’s Day in this corner of Ireland is celebrated in various ways. Children are given at least one day off school. There are parades through towns and cities. There are historic, high stakes sporting fixtures. Some people wear sprigs of shamrock pinned to their coats, and others don silly green hats. But what about food? This Kitchen Inspiration series promised recipes, and in my book St Patrick’s Day calls for potatoes! So today I’m sharing two potato dishes that have become firm family favourites around our Irish kitchen table.
photo credit Sophie Jones
Astonishingly close to our home is Slemish Mountain, a distinctive tabular volcanic outcrop that rises up like an island in a green sea of pastureland. It was at this very place that Patrick is thought to have worked as a shepherd when he arrived as a slave in Ireland. It’s at Slemish that he learned to pray.
In her address for St Patrick’s Day the current President of Ireland, Catherine Connolly, encourages people to remember that ‘Patrick was trafficked across the Irish Sea from Britain as a young man in the 5th century only to return to Ireland as a missionary, giving voice and his life to fostering an awareness of the consequences of slavery.’ The President concludes that ‘Patrick’s story invites us to respond with hospitality and kindness to those suffering the consequences of war and displacement, those fleeing their countries because of persecution or violence.’
photo credit Sophie Jones
Patrick was indeed one of the first heralds of the Christian Gospel in pagan Ireland. Crawford Gribben’s book The Rise and Fall of Christian Ireland gives a fascinating account of the influence of Patrick’s faith in Irish society in the 5th century and in the years since. It’s an absorbing book that pulls no punches. But I particularly love its evocation Ireland’s medieval monasteries. They are a vital part of our heritage as beacons of hospitality.
Patrick himself benefited, it is said, from the Celtic hospitality enshrined in the Brehon laws. According to medieval manuscripts, householders were expected to share food and lodgings with passing travellers, and it is likely that Patrick and his fellow missionaries would have been provided for by local folk.
Here in County Antrim, St Patrick’s Day is held to be a perfect time to plant potatoes. We do eat other things in Ireland these days, but potatoes remain a constant. This year in college my students and I read Sarah Crossan’s Where the Heart Should Be, a young adult verse novel that has found its place in the tradition of literature for children addressing the Great Famine of Ireland. Under the Hawthorn Tree by Marita Conlon-McKenna is especially popular. Books like these unpack how the catastrophic failure of the potato crop coupled with an absence of political hospitality caused suffering and death in lives and communities across Ireland from 1845. When we plant potatoes I think of those days, and this St Patrick’s Day I am thankful for the plenty that we enjoy.
So let’s get to these potato recipes! The first dish is often served around our table at Eastertime with roast lamb. It’s French rather than Irish in origin, and it’s a real winner. I first encountered this recipe in Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course, a culinary classic given to us as a thoughtful wedding gift. It is a fat paperback edition that has been used regularly and retains dog-eared pride of place on my kitchen shelf alongside more contemporary tomes. We have made lots of great dishes from Delia Smith’s book, and it has proven to be a source of invaluable practical cooking advice. But the recipe I’m sharing today is her Gratin Dauphinois. The ingredients are simple but the combination is rich: very thinly sliced potatoes; finely chopped garlic; fresh milk; cream; and a magic touch of fragrant grated nutmeg. It takes some time to cut the potatoes as finely as this recipe requires, and to assemble them snugly in the oval dish selected for this purpose. Each slice needs to be paper thin and translucent. But the care taken in achieving this seems to add to the sense of ritual and to overall appreciation of the final result. Delia’s Gratin Dauphinois is slow cooking at its finest. There can be no hurry; this buttered dish of creamy, layered comfort needs to cook in a relatively cool oven (at 150 degrees centigrade) for at least one and a half hours. There is no doubt – this is a dish for feast days: luxurious, creamy, and deeply satisfying.
The second potato dish is a traditional family meal with a twist. Given that Patrick looked after sheep on Slemish it is particularly fitting: yes, it’s Shepherd’s Pie! This version has the addition of a very tasty cheese and leek crust. Yet again it’s a Delia recipe, this time from my copy of her How to Cook Book Two. But I imagine the ingredients might have been available when Saint Patrick’s was around too: carrots, baby turnips and onions, all finely diced, cooked up with lamb, and topped off with mashed potatoes, a generous melting of Cheddar cheese, and green leeks. This is a one-pot dish cooked in the oven and, in our home at least, it never fails.
On this St Patrick’s Day I am challenged by the hospitality mandate of his Christian faith: to show kindness not only to each other, but to strangers. I particularly love the advice given in Hebrews 13 verse 2: “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Just imagine that! When you next serve up a helping of Shepherd’s Pie, you could be looking into the face of an angel.
photo credit Sophie Jones
