Coddle

Coddle

Coddle with carrots, which are not used in the traditional recipe
Alternative names Dublin coddle
Place of origin Ireland
Main ingredients Potatoes, pork sausage, rashers, onion
Cookbook:Coddle  Coddle

Coddle (sometimes Dublin coddle) is an Irish dish which is often made to use up leftovers, and therefore without a specific recipe. However, it most commonly consists of layers of roughly sliced pork sausages and rashers (thinly sliced, somewhat fatty back bacon) with sliced potatoes and onions. Traditionally, it can also include barley.

Coddle is particularly associated with the capital of Ireland, Dublin.[1] It was reputedly a favourite dish of Seán O'Casey and Jonathan Swift,[2] and it appears in several Dublin literary references including the works of James Joyce.[3]

The dish is braised in the stock produced by boiling the rashers and sausages. Some traditional recipes favour the addition of a small amount of Guinness to the pot, but this is very rare in modern versions of the recipe.[2] The dish should be cooked in a pot with a well-fitting lid in order to steam the ingredients left uncovered by water.[1] The only seasoning is usually salt, pepper, and occasionally parsley. It could be considered a comfort food in Ireland, and is inexpensive, easy to prepare and quick to cook. It is often eaten in the winter months. In the days when Catholics were not supposed to eat meat on Fridays, this was a meal often eaten on Thursdays as it allowed a family to use up any remaining sausages or rashers.

The name comes from the verb coddle, meaning to cook food in water below boiling, which in turn derives from caudle, a warm drink given to the sick.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 A Little Irish Cookbook. Appletree. 1986. ISBN 0-86281-166-X.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 O'Connor, Derek (September 21, 2008). "Food that Only The Irish Eat (Apparently)". Sunday Tribune (Sunday Tribune).
  3. ↑ Veronica Jane O'Mara & Fionnuala O'Reilly. (1993). "A Trifle, a Coddle, a Fry: An Literary Irish Cookbook" . Wakefield: Moyer Bell. ISBN 1-55921-081-8.
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