Coddle: What the Irish Really Eat
Much more Irish than corned beef

Coddle is made of potatoes (of course!), and usually some meat scraps, bacon, sausage, maybe Guinness and random root vegetables like onions and carrots. As with colcannon, boxty, champ, and other colorfully named Irish foods, coddle is what you make on the day after the big dinner the night before.
Coddle can be a kind of stew, or it can be served dry. It's built on improvisation: you use what you have near at hand.
Coddle is a also traditional dish beloved by Irish authors like Jonathan Swift and James Joyce.
Every year around St. Patrick's Day, I go to Oak Park's Irish Shop to buy my favorite types of Irish Candy (Flake, Aero, etc.). This year I picked up some Irish bacon (cured pork loin rather than belly) and bangers. Bangers are another example of foods born of a privation period that have, over time, become beloved. During WWII, the Japanese mixed toasted rice with green tea to stretch their favorite beverage, and now they're quite fond of genmaicha. During WWII in Great Britain, folks stretched their meat rations by adding to their sausage a good measure rusk (wheat or just biscuits, gone stale and crushed up). Now, those who know their bangers will feel they're missing something if rusk isn't in the mix. For the bangers I bought at the Irish Shop, rusk makes up 14%. The grain absorbs some of the meat fat, making the distinctive texture of the bangers more soft and lush than other sausages.
Coddle encourages creativity: you can add what you want, substituting ingredients at will. Our recipe called for Guinness, but we had a Porter from Revolution Brewery on hand, so that's what we used. Not exactly a major creative variation, but it was good to know we could change up the classic recipe in any way we wanted. Got leftover cabbage, some Spam, a bit of lamb? It all goes in.
Our coddle was very simple: Irish bacon, bangers, potatoes, onions, scallions, salt and pepper, dark beer. Carolyn chopped and browned the bacon and bangers, then in a casserole, she put the meat on top containing roughly cut potatoes, onions, scallions, salt and pepper. The can of dark beer moistened it all. It all went into the oven, covered with aluminum foil, for an hour or so at 350.
Coddle is a very, very satisfying bowl of food, especially on cold or cool evenings; I had thirds.
We traditionally have corned beef for St. Patrick's Day, but corned beef, like St. Patrick's Day itself, is more an American than an Irish thing. Says Donal Crosbie, previously of Dublin and now chef at Hudson Hound, a modern Irish restaurant in NYC, "Corned beef is pastrami; it was brought back to the country by Irish immigrants from their Jewish delis."
In Ireland, instead of corned beef, it's more likely Irish folks would be having lamb…or coddle…which is as close as anything to a national food of Ireland. It's thus quite appropriate to consume on Eat Like an Irishman Day, which falls, unsurprisingly, on St. Patrick's Day: March 17.
Love the Journal?
Become our partner in independent community journalism
Thanks for turning to Wednesday Journal and OakPark.com. We love our thousands of digital-only readers. Now though we're asking you to partner up in paying for our reporters and photographers who report this news. It had to happen, right?
On the plus side, we're giving you a simple way, and a better reason, to join in. We're now a non-profit -- Growing Community Media -- so your donation is tax deductible. And signing up for a monthly donation, or making a one-time donation, is fast and easy.
No threats from us. The news will be here. No paywalls or article countdowns. We're counting on an exquisite mix of civic enlightenment and mild shaming. Sort of like public radio.
Claim your bragging rights. Become a digital member.
Reader Comments
No Comments - Add Your Comment
Note: This page requires you to login with Facebook to comment.
Facebook Connect
Answer Book 2019
To view the full print edition of the Wednesday Journal 2019 Answer Book, please click here. |
Quick Links
Sign-up to get the latest news updates for Oak Park and River Forest. | |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | |
Subscribe | Classified |
Multimedia | Contact us |
Submit Letter To The Editor | |
Place a Classified Ad |
Latest Comments
By William Dwyer Jr.
Posted: January 26th, 2021 1:43 PM
Jr. I cleared the cache and the link is still working....
By Bill Maxwell
Posted: January 26th, 2021 1:14 PM
It seems there are two facts here. 1) Clark declared...
By Tom Leeds
Posted: January 26th, 2021 1:02 PM
By William Dwyer Jr.
Posted: January 26th, 2021 12:41 PM
Jenny Earlandson I do not think it takes much to be...
By Bill Maxwell
Posted: January 26th, 2021 12:04 PM
I don't have all the facts to decide this issue,...
By Jenny Earlandson
Posted: January 26th, 2021 11:24 AM
Ruth Lazarus the best challenge that Anthony Clark...
By Bill Maxwell
Posted: January 26th, 2021 10:09 AM
Ruth Lazarus I am not guessing what the circumstances...
By Bill Maxwell
Posted: January 26th, 2021 9:52 AM
I would like to suggest a referendum on defunding Dan...
By Jeffrey Smith
Posted: January 26th, 2021 9:46 AM