Experience Ireland Through Food With These Traditional Irish Recipes

*By: Deepi Harish*

Around this time last year, I was visiting Ireland’s Ancient East, a place that’s underexplored and magical. Spanning across 17 counties, I can confirm that there’s no shortage of scenic viewpoints, expressive castles or mystical gardens. This is a place so lush and full of green fields that the air smells sweet.

Then there’s the food. Locally grown and harvested within hours of landing on your plate. You can find sustainable, farm-to-table cuisine almost everywhere.

Since the world has baking, booze and travel on the brain and we’re currently unable to do one of those things, it’s almost outrageous to not explore places through food. Starting with Ireland. The following three recipes are brought to you by the award-winning restaurant housed inside Dunbrody Country House Hotel in Wexford, Ireland.

Dunbrody Country House Hotel

My visit to Dunbrody House was lovely. Staying here gives you a proper Irish countryside experience with its hospitality, charm and unfussy food. It’s uniquely located on the dramatic Hook Peninsula — not only is this Europe’s oldest lighthouse, but it also provides epic views of the land and Irish sea. 

The restaurant within the hotel named The Harvest Room has secured the Michelin Plate for several years in a row. It’s clear that the engaging husband and wife duo, Kevin and Catherine Dundon, who own the hotel have a personal connection with the land and the food created in their kitchen, forged from their own gardens and nearby farms. 

Catherine was kind enough to hook me up with a few recipes of things I had one too many of during my visit.

1. How To Make Irish Coffee

The Irish coffee at Dunbrody House is so popular that they even offer it as an option instead of dessert on their menu at the restaurant.

Ingredients

Yields: 1 serving 

• 3 tbsp Irish whiskey, preferably Jameson
• 1 cup freshly brewed coffee
• 1–2 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp whipped cream — full fat! 
• stemmed red wine glass 

Prep

1. Heat your stemmed glass with some boiling water. Make sure you have a metal spoon in the glass when adding the boiling water to prevent the glass from cracking. Heating the glass keeps your Irish coffee warm for longer.

2. Pour in the Irish whiskey.

3. Add freshly brewed coffee until the glass is about 3/4 full. 

4. Add in a spoonful (or two) of sugar. Make sure the sugar is mixed into the coffee well. Check the bottom of the glass to make sure there are no granules left at the bottom. 

 5. In a separate bowl, whisk some full fat cream until it’s foamy. Don’t whisk the cream too stiffly or you won’t be able to pour it.

 6. Turn the spoon upside down and hold it over the glass, then slowly pour the whipped cream over the spoon to create a float. Pouring the cream gently ensures that it doesn’t sink into the coffee. 

Enjoy!

Tip: Do not add chocolate or coffee beans to the top — this is NEVER done in Ireland!

2. How To Make Traditional Irish Soda Bread 

I love soda bread so much that on my first trip to Ireland, my mission was to find as many cute bakeries as possible to get my daily fix of two warm slices of fresh soda bread, slathered with Irish butter and a good cup of quality coffee, with beans that came from micro-roasters. The other days it was a freshly pulled pint of Guinness. 

Ingredients

Yields: 1 loaf  

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 rounded tsp baking soda (it’s just a bit more than a level teaspoon)
• 1 tsp salt
• 11⁄2 cups buttermilk
• 2 tbsp milk 

Prep

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Dust a baking sheet with flour.

2. In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and salt. 

3. Pour in the buttermilk. 

4. Dust your hands with flour and transfer the dough onto a well-floured work surface. 

5. Knead for a minute or two, just long enough to form a rough ball that feels soft and sticky. Then place the dough on the prepared baking sheet.

5. Brush the loaf lightly with milk.

6. Bake for 45–55 minutes, or until the bottom of the bread sounds hollow when tapped. 

Cool before cutting.

Tips: 
Soda bread stays fresh for 3–4 days in your bread bin, but also freezes quite nicely. 

You can add other ingredients such as ¾ cups of sultanas (golden raisins), currants or walnuts to dry mixture. I prefer to add 1 tbsp sugar to the mix. 

3. How To Make Traditional Irish Scones

This is something Dunbrody House bakes every single morning for breakfast, and has been for the last 25 years. And I got to make them in their commercial kitchen, which was a treat for me being an avid baker. Even being in the kitchen by 6 am, on three and a half hours of sleep due to drinking one too many Irish coffees the night before didn’t stop me from having this experience. 

Fun fact: What we in Canada call “tea biscuits” is what the Irish call “scones.” 

Ingredients

Yields 8–10

• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup castor sugar or white sugar 
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 cup butter, cold
• 1 vanilla seed or 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup buttermilk or yogurt
• icing sugar for dusting 

Prep

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Flour your sheet pan.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients until a breadcrumb-like consistency forms.

4. Slowly add buttermilk and knead gently to smooth out dough.

5. Roll the dough to about 1/2″ thick and cut the dough into circles with a round cutter. 

6. Bake for 15–20 minutes. You’ll know they’re cooked when the bottoms are brown and they sound hollow when tapped.

7. Put them on a cooling tray. If you leave them on the hot sheet pan they’ll get soggy.

8. Dust with icing sugar.

Allow to cool before digging in.