From last week's blog post we travel from the Land of brisket barbecue, Texas to... Ireland? Wait, wait, wait hear me out. You might just be interested to know that not everything in Ireland is boiled.
But before we head into the facts, another Irish themed Jack connotation for you readers as told by me ma...
At the grand old age of 15 and a budding rugby player for Chingford Rugby Club I was introduced to Guinness after a Sunday afternoon game. I didn't actually have any money so who knows who was supplying me with drinks on this journey to my first true hangover. But whoever you are kind Guinness supplier, you broke me that day.
I vaguely remember wandering into our local McDonalds and ordering nuggets and chips on the short walk home, because what goes better with 8 pints of Guinness than some greasy shit to mop it up with? Fast forward approximately 8 hours later to me ma positively screaming at me, I was lying in the bath with a puddle of sick on the floor next to me, chips in my hair and half a bath run. Fuck knows why I felt that having a bath with a McDonalds was a normal thing to do but needless to say it's a story which my ma has told more than once.
A young suave Jack and his Guinness. Needless to say I was a hit with the ladies.
I still do love a pint of Guinness though, despite having chundered all over the floor that fateful day. It is true when they say that the only place where you can get a true Guinness is in Ireland itself. One person even told me whilst there that what we get here in Blighty is "the piss they scrape off the top". Fair enough Guv.
They've nailed their Ruby beauty (yes Guinness is fact dark red, not black - hold it up to the light!) but BBQ? If you think about it, it makes sense for the Irish to be born grillmasters, as meat accounts for over 40% of Ireland’s gross agricultural output. Their main export is dominated by beef, followed by pigmeat and sheepmeat.
Ireland’s meat and livestock exports account for one third of all food and drink exports. In fact, Ireland’s beautiful grass fed beef includes 1.1 million beef suckler cow herds kept on just under 80,000 farms. That's a lot of cows!
Sherwood Foods have absolutely nailed exporting beef cuts from Ireland over to us here in England. They are one of the limited outlets who are supplying American cuts of low and slow cooked meats such as their Jacobs Ladder cut from higher on the rib cage resulting in bigger, fattier, thicker ribs than the traditional short rib we are used to. But don't just take my word for it, you can order a whole range of meats from Riverside Hertfordshire from huge slabs of Brisket to their amazing cowboy steaks which weigh in at an impressive 1kg per steak!
In saying this, it appears that the Irish themselves prefer their pork, consuming twice as much pork per person than beef. Historically, the Irish have preserved their fresh pork with honey and berries, then slow-cooking it over a flame and this tradition was in place well before it appeared in the American South.
AND Ireland aren't behind on the BBQ festival scene either. This weekend 16 - 19 August 2018, Herbert Park in Dublin will be hosting Europe's largest Barbecue Festival celebrating all things Irish Barbecue. The event is expected to attract approximately 20,000 visitors!
To get involved with the Craic and have a Jolly good Irish time then crack open a can of Guinness and give some of these recipes a try:
VERY CHERRY PORK ROAST
PORCHETTA WITH IRISH BLACK BUTTER
MEAT DUST COLCANNON
GUINNESS DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE
I just love all these post and great recipes!!