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They came in the 1840s to escape the devastat- ing potato famine. And they stayed to become part of the fabric of America. Today 36.9 million U.S. residents claim Irish ancestry, second only to those who claim German heritage, and more than eight times the population in Ireland, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2009 statistics.
Enduring hardships and privations, the foods these Irish immigrants cooked in the new land would have replicated foods that reminded them of home — dishes such as cottage pie and Irish apple cake. Below are recipes for these dishes from Darina Allen’s “Forgotten Skills of Cooking,” (Kyle Books, 2009) now available in the U.S.
Allen, considered the Julia Child of Ireland, is on a mission to teach everyday home cooks the kind of cooking skills early Irish immi- grants would have practiced. “There is a real revolution going on about food — a longing, a craving to re-learn life skills like butchery, keeping chickens, growing vegetables and curing meat,” Allen said. The popularity of her Forgotten Skills classes at her renowned Bally- maloe Cookery School in County Cork, Ireland, inspired Allen to write the “Forgotten Skills” cookbook. Allen also has re-issued her “Irish Traditional Cooking” (Kyle Books), just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.
The recipes below feature Irish dairy products because dairying has been a part of Ireland for centuries, long before potatoes. “In Ireland
www.womanwithknowhow.com MARCH 2012 55
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