Dublin Coddle Recipe (Irish Stew) (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between a coddle and a stew? ›

The primary difference is that a coddle is cooked in layers of vegetables, meat, and potatoes with just a small amount of liquid. A stew is much more like a thick soup with cubed meat, veggies, or both.

Coddle (sometimes Dublin coddle; Irish: cadal) is an Irish dish which is often made to use up leftovers. It most commonly consists of layers of roughly sliced pork sausages and rashers (thinly sliced, somewhat-fatty back bacon) with chunky potatoes, sliced onion, salt, pepper, and herbs (parsley or chives).

The main difference between an Irish stew and classic beef stew comes down to the protein. Traditional Irish stew is usually made with lamb, while beef stew is always made with beef.

The word “Coddle” derives from the French term caudle which means to boil gently, parboil or stew. Apparently, coddle dates back to the first Irish famine in the late 1700s where anything to hand got thrown into the pot.

The origins of Irish stew are somewhat shrouded in mystery, but it's believed to have originated in the 17th or 18th century. At that time, the dish was often made by shepherds and rural farmers who had access to only a few ingredients but needed a nourishing meal to sustain them through long days of work.

Irish stew (Irish: Stobhach Gaelach) or Stobhach is a stew native to Ireland that is traditionally made with root vegetables and lamb or mutton, but also commonly with beef. As in all traditional folk dishes, the exact recipe is not consistent from time to time, or place to place.

Representative dishes include Irish stew, bacon and cabbage, boxty, brown bread (as it is referred to in the South) or soda bread (predominantly used in Ulster), coddle, and colcannon.

Great Famine, famine that occurred in Ireland in 1845–49 when the potato crop failed in successive years. The crop failures were caused by late blight, a disease that destroys both the leaves and the edible roots, or tubers, of the potato plant.

According to Wiki: “Coddle is particularly associated with the capital of Ireland, Dublin. It was reputedly a favorite dish of the writers Seán O'Casey and Jonathan Swift, and it appears in several references to Dublin, including the works of James Joyce.”

In addition to chuck beef and Guinness Beer, here are the other ingredients in Irish Stew. Flour and tomato paste – to thicken sauce and the tomato paste also adds some flavour; Guinness Beer and broth/liquid stock – the braising liquids.

Why is my Irish stew bitter? ›

Stouts, like Guinness, are known for their bitterness. If the stew is cooked too quickly or if it doesn't include ingredients to balance the bitterness, this flavor can be very pronounced.

However, the good news is that it is very difficult to actually overcook this dish. Your primary focus should be ensuring that it has cooked adequately rather than worrying about overcooking. A properly cooked Irish Stew should have a slightly thickened deep brown broth and extremely fork-tender meat.

So if someone says “What is milk as Gaeilge” they are looking for the Irish word for Milk which is 'Bainne'. Our best advice is don't try saying any of this in public, it could lead to tears – probably of laughter … at you. We just wanted you to know what it meant.

Fry. Definition: A traditional Irish breakfast. Example: “Nothing beats a hearty fry-up with bacon, eggs, and black pudding.”

transitive verb. 1. : to cook (something, such as eggs) in liquid slowly and gently just below the boiling point. coddled the eggs for the Caesar salad.

In cooking, to coddle food is to heat it in water kept just below the boiling point. In the past, recipes called for coddling fruit, but in recent times the term is usually only applied to coddled eggs.

Coddling has a more negative connotation. It is synonymous with overprotective parenting. Parents must find a balance between providing the right amount of supervision and letting their child have enough esteem to make his own decisions.”

Another way to look at it: Soup is any combination of ingredients cooked in liquid. Stew is any dish that's prepared by stewing—that is, submerging the ingredients with just enough liquid to cook them through at a simmer in a covered pot for a long time.