Sir, – What a wonderful treasure trove Rosita Boland has shared with us (“Clear turtle with cheese straws? Bizarre and wonderful dishes on old Irish menus”, Magazine, October 21st)!
The menus and their dishes highlight two things for me. First, and not a surprise, is the use of French menu terms which were quite fashionable throughout the 20th century. However, from the examples that Boland gave in the article, it is interesting to me that the further west you go, the less menu French is used.
Second, and this is a surprise, is the emphasis on where the main ingredients came from: Galway Lobster, Aran Prawns, Cratloe Chicken, Ballyvaughan Lamb, etc.
Clearly pride of place and food from the locality was important some 40 or 50 years before food or culinary tourism (my area of expertise) became buzz words. Indeed, the emphasis on local foods is seen by some as a thoroughly 21st-century practice, but clearly the west was ahead of the curve.
Dublin riots left north inner city youth ‘traumatised’ by the stigma of violence
A helping hand with the cost of caring: what supports are available?
Matt Williams: Take a deep breath and see how Sam Prendergast copes with big Fiji test
New Irish citizens: ‘I hear the racist and xenophobic slurs on the streets. Everything is blamed on immigrants’
Separately, Boland wonders about some of the menu terms in medieval English, particularly: ‘Sew Limbarde’ is likely to have been Lombard Soup, made with a cannellini beans, spices, and chicken stock; ‘Tarte fysche’ is probably fish in pastry; ‘Joutes’ were herbed beets; ‘Salomene’ was game, roasted and served in a wine sauce. As regards ‘Grilled Golden Vein Steak Chasseur’, this refers to beef from the Golden Vale in Co Tipperary. Historically, it was known as the Golden Vein in the 19th century, according to Jim Meagher writing in the Southern Star in 1987.
Finally, if this has whetted readers’ appetite (pun intended), they might note that the next Dublin Gastronomy Symposium (where the theme will be Food and Memory: Traces, Trauma and Tradition) takes place May 28th-29th, 2024. – Yours, etc,
JOHN D MULCAHY,
Dublin 6.