h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Irish Stew - A Recipe - A3285263
Author: King_Bomba - U891566

A recipe for good winter eating!

Yum yum!

I assume you cut the tatties into 'bits' after peeling them?

The only thing worth going to school for was the giant vats of Irish stew! Best not to wonder about the kind of meat they used though.

Good recipe. The only suggestion I have is that you get rid of the first header and, perhaps, pad out the introduction a bit.

Otherwise, the phrase 'just nothing like lettuce that doesn’t cook well' is a bit unwieldy.

Although the may not be a "right way", there are some things that a genuine Irish Stew has:

1. Lamb or mutton
2. Potatoes in the stew
3. Grey in colour. There is no browning added.

Best to mention preparing and chopping up the veg and the meat - nothing bigger than a mouthful, and for preference about the size of a die.

Thanks for all the comments. I'll tweak it a bit with this in mind.

mmm *tummy grumblin'* Long time since I've had a stew, and a good one at that. Mouth watering entry, although I noticed a lack of EG links, something I like to see (Try A505513 for starters). Links to other Irish Recipes perhaps? And good BBC links, like http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/ Keeps h2g2 in favour with the beeb

Also, kilos should really be expanded to kilograms.

Do we need to peel the onions? I know some people like onion skin though. And what about the carrot, parsnip and swede? Does these need peeling too?

'Chop the vegetables and add them.' (If taken literally you could get people adding up their bits of veggie and coming to 42, as is bound to happen - just say what to add them to).

'Leave on a long, low heat...' (Just a low heat would be satisfactory, for a long time - simmering?)

Unfortunately you need to take the "I like to serve with HP Sauce" and make it non personal. "Some cooks like to serve with..." perhaps?

Ook, I must get my cauldron out...
HF

For St Patrick's Day this year, the BBC canteen offered an Irish Stew. Get this - potatoes were sold separately! I spoke to the head cook who told me that it was because some people might not want potatoes, to which I noted that if they don't want potatoes they probably won't want an Irish stew, seeing as it's an essential ingredient. The cook said 'Well, it's got Guinness in it'.

So, he got a bit of a history lesson from me, about why potatoes were such an important part of the meal, considering the historical forces that means the people of Ireland depended on the potatoes as their main food, and how thousands of people had been forced to cross the seas to England after the potato crops became blighted.

It'll be interesting to see if they try to serve that recipe again next year, but if they do, they'll be getting a copy of this recipe instead.

Good for you Jimster you'll be welcome in Ireland at any time.

Sheeeeeeeeeesh, Irish stew, Atkins style

They call that Gruel

My lot are originally from Cork. In Liverpool, Irish Stew is of course called Scouse.

Can I just make four suggestions?

1. Lose the "Irish Stew" header and make '....Or, How I...[etc]' into a full header instaed of a sub-.

2. Put the list of ingredients as a bulleted list and the stages of cooking as a numerical list. (Should the potatoes be sliced or diced or chopped or just dropped in whole, by the way?)

3. Find out what 'Bon Appetit' is in Gaelic as a final flourish.

4. Finally, simply waft a good sniff of the finished meal under a scout's nose. Et voila! It's in the EG!

you can't have irish stew without guiness in it!!!
blasphemy!!!

Oh dear, I forsee an argument about the pros and cons of Guinness in your stew. A little thing no doubt, but one with the potential to blow up much like the argument on how to make a 'nice cup of '

* straps on crash helmet *

Right, now I've got a couple of questions.

The lamb in the water. Do you refridgerate it at all between day one and day two? Or do you just leave it out on the hob?

Swede. Do you mean a purple and brownish looking root vegetable with a yellow flesh? Or do you mean a white fleshed root vegetable with a white skin which colours to green at the top where the stalk and leafs would be?

In Irish cooking, swedes are big round purplish vegetables with a yellowish flesh. They look suspiciously like turnips.

I would say you can't have an Irish Stew with Guinness in it!

Not exactly the best topic of conversation for the day that's in it, eh Gnomon?

Ahhhh fair play to you Gnomon, fasting away yet commenting anyway

Thanks for all the comments. I've tweaked it a bit, and also sorted out one or two things with the Guide ML