Hold the Irish stew

LiPILIAL

WE HAVE a dear little saint on 15 September. She sounds like the patron saint of anti-fast-food emporiums, but is in fact one of the patron saints of servants, civil or otherwise, I suppose. She glories in the name of Notbruga and was born in the middle of the 13th century to poor peasants in the Tyrol. She became a kitchen-maid for Count Henry of Rattenberg, but his cruel wife sacked her for giving the lavish pig-swill to the poor at the gates. So revered was this humble woman that her relics were cher- ished at the church of St Rupert, Eben, after her death in 1313, and in the year 1718 placed in a position of honour on the high altar. The saint we should all be praying to at the moment is, of course, St Patrick, to keep the peace and stop the troubles over the water. So to encourage him I will turn to some Irish dishes which have recently been reprinted from Theodora FitzGibbon's book A Taste of Ireland. She, alas, is now dead.

Cheese savoury

The Countess of Clanwilliam, Bally- nahinch, Co. Down (1900).

1121b of grated cheese such as cheddar

3 tablespoons of milk 1 teaspoon of made English mustard 2 tablespoons of chopped mixed pickle or chutney 2 tablespoons of beer 401 of butter 4 large rounds of hot buttered toast black pepper

This is a nice simple supper dish, an Irish rarebit, I reckon. Grate or cut the cheese into small cubes and put into a saucepan along with the milk, butter and beer. Stir over a low flame until the mixture is creamy. Add the made mustard and a good grinding of pepper to taste and, when well mixed, the chopped pickle or chutney. Serve at once on the rounds of hot buttered toast. I like to give them a quick blast under the grill to pro- duce that browny-black speckled look.

Thts must be embarrassing for Lady Archer, too.' Now for a rich decorative pudding of the 1880s and 1890s.

Dublin rock

4 oz of unsalted butter, or 8 oz of very thick cream 2 stiffly beaten egg-whites a few drops of orange-flower water

1/2 lb of ground almonds

2 oz of caster sugar 1 tablespoon of brandy angelica, blanched split almonds and maiden- hair fern for decoration

Make an earthenware mixing-bowl very hot (in the oven, or filled with boiling water). Put in the butter or a-earn. Beat into this the ground almonds and sugar. When well mixed add the brandy and a few drops of orange- flower water. (This can usually be bought at a chemist's and is a pleasant face lotion to boot). The beating should continue until the bowl is quite cold, then the stiff egg-whites are added and well amalgamated (nowadays this could all be done in the blender or the processor). The mixture is now left in the refrigerator overnight until it is quite stiff. It is then broken into rough pieces (it will be soft but firm) and piled on to a glass dish in the shape of a pyramid. It is decorated with strips of green angelica, shredded blanched almonds and fm the old days) little fronds of maidenhair fern to resemble plants growing out of the rock. Fancy.

Here is the simplest pudding in the world, perhaps.

County Wexford honey mousse

lib jar of honey — preferably from Wexford 4 eggs, separated

Mix the egg-yolks with the liquid honey in a saucepan, or a double-boiler is the safest. If the honey is 'set' and thick, stand the jar on a piece of wood in warm to hot water until it liquefies). Cook the yolks and honey on a very low heat, stirring all the time, until the mixture thickens like a custard. Remove from the heat and allow to cool Whisk the egg-whites until stiff and fold into the mix- ture. Pour into individual dishes or one large bowL Chill for several hours before serving. A squeeze of lemon doesn't come amiss.

Jennifer Paterson