Boruma - Irish by heritage, family by name

With St. Patrick’s Day upon us, let’s set aside the ingredients you’ll need to start the day with the modern, traditional Irish Breakfast. Modern? Couple thoughts to get you started:

Orange Juice and more importantly, Oranges, now a staple of an Irish Breakfast, were not introduced to Europe until around 1574 and were certainly unavailable to the general public and relatively remote places such as Ireland until much later. As late as the turn of the 19th century witnessed the orange a special treat for little ones. Not surprisingly, most Irish ate a diet of potatoes and milk; if they were fortunate, perhaps some fish, lamb, or pork.

Did you know?

The infamous potato was introduced to Europe, and Ireland, around the same time. Arriving from South America in 1570, the potato took to the Irish climate like clover leading to an explosion in Ireland’s population. Before the famine, it could be said that the true Irish blessing was the arrival of this hearty plant which grew shockingly well considering the harshness of Irish land and environment. Easily stored and eaten throughout the winter, the potato became uniquely Irish.

By the late 1700s, an average family of two adults and four children ate 5lbs of potatoes each, every day”

Fast forward till today and Ireland has become one of Europe’s great culinary centers. After years of stereotypically bland food, the Irish have embraced food as a part of their rich heritage bringing some fantastic dishes to the table from renown chefs. It is from this series of events, that the “Traditional” Irish Breakfast has a seat at the table.

Prep involves a clean, white tablecloth and napkins, an Irish breakfast is an honorable event, with teacups, small glasses of fresh squeezed orange juice and warm fresh bread or scones with butter and marmalade to clean the plates. Have a pot of Irish breakfast loose-leaf tea served promptly upon seating everyone. Before we start cooking, boil 4 potatoes, chill them, and set them aside to use in preparation.

In the kitchen, place a slice of Irish Butter (cooking oil is a poor alternative) on the skillet and over a medium heat, fry a packet of Donnelly’s Irish Bacon until soft and brown. Avoid the American Crisp if going for authenticity and keep it soft.

Replace the bacon with Donnelly’s sausages and cook until golden brown. Leave both the bacon and sausage in a warm oven on the plates you intend to serve to keep them fresh.

Pour a can of Irish beans in to a saucepan and place them on low heat. Alongside, slice a pack of black and a pack of white pudding into the frying pan available from the sausage. Made from onions, suet, pork, oatmeal, and flavorings, black pudding is famous for its most notable ingredient; usually pig’s blood. White pudding, without the color, is simply made without it. Cut 4 medium tomatoes into quarters and put them with the pudding.

Add to the pan our waiting, boiled, chilled potatoes by slicing them about an inch thick. Fry the pan until everything is golden on both sides and set it in the oven with our meats.

Finally, fry 4 eggs with some Dubliner cheese and serve everything with the beans on each plate. This is a very hearty meal so you’ll serve 2-4 with this recipe.

Keep your guests satiated with a bowl of hot, stone cut Irish oatmeal while the breakfast cooks.

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