CleverRoot

f a l l 2 0 1 7 | 7 1 Those of us who have paused over our glass of a Black & Tan in Dublin for a meal of skirt and kidneys, white pudding, black pudding or the local street food called spice bag do have reason to wonder about the wisdom of bringing Irish food to our often equally quirky shores. There's also a well-earned percep- tion that without the blessed potato, there would be no cuisine in Ireland at all (ubiqui- tous potato-based dishes like boxty, champ, colcannon and Ulster Fry do little to dissuade that impression). And yet, in transferring the cooking of the Auld Sod to these shores, the powers that be behind Rí Rá have managed to keep the essential Irishness of the dishes alive while also giving them an American affability. As I mentioned, the presence of many a fine brew doesn't hurt the process, including a choice of seven stouts—along with Guinness and Guin- ness Foreign Extra, there's Murphy's, O'Hara's, Young's Double Chocolate, Sam Adams Nitro Coffee and the wonderfully-named Delirium Nocturnum. All of which make the Irish Break- fast, served all day, that much easier to enjoy. As Executive Head Chef Kevin Soucy explains: MERRILL SHINDLER: For a lot of Americans, the most memorable dish encountered on a vis- it to Ireland is the Irish Breakfast, which makes the Grand Slam at Denny's seem healthy by comparison. How have you managed to make it palatable enough to serve it at all hours? KEVIN SOUCY: The problem with the way the dish is cooked in Ireland is that it's all produced in one skillet. The result is the eggs, the bangers and rashers, the puddings, the grilled tomato, sautéed mushrooms and toast are all cooked in the same grease. We cook the parts separately, reducing that. And it's notable as the one major Irish dish that doesn't include potatoes. MS: You should probably explain bangers, which are easily understood over there, but are a bit of a mystery here where our breakfast sausages are leaner and crispier. KS: Bangers are nothing like American sau- sages. A real banger is very soft in the middle, a world apart from the sausages we know or the franks eaten at ballparks. We ate at pubs all over Ireland, and came back with several options for bangers. We took the recipes to a number of meat packers and found one who made it just right—Irish, but not too soft. MS: How about the bacon? I have memories of Irish bacon being very soft—and again, very greasy. KS: The bacon sourcing was very difficult. Hogs in America are fed completely different foods from those in Ireland. So here, the bacon tastes very different. Basically, there are two types of bacon—streaky bacon, which can be cooked 'til it's crispy. And rasher bacon, which is used in Ireland, is center cut and so lean it's hard to get it crisp without drying it out. We tried to split the difference so it was Irish, but for American taste. MS: Would an Irishman recognize the food served at Rí Rá? KS: We maintain the core values of Irish cook- ing, so it's true to the basic flavors. But it's like opening a Chinese restaurant in America—you have to adjust for the American palate, while still being Chinese. MS: One of my favorite Irish dishes is shep- herd's pie, which I guess is shared by the people of both Ireland and England. It's very satisfying. KS: It's a hard dish to mess up—just minced lamb with peas, carrots and leeks, topped with a baked mashed potato crust. Our corned beef and cabbage is very Irish as well, though we don't use the saltpeter they use in Ireland to preserve the beef. And just adding Guinness to a stew makes it Irish; Guinness is as Irish as it gets. MS: What's the most popular dish? KS: Fish 'n chips, of course. We make it with Icelandic haddock. We use 100,00 pounds of Icelandic haddock every year, supplied to us by a couple of brothers in Iceland. We tried using Icelandic cod, but they couldn't keep up with the demand. Sad to say, they're running out of cod. Rí Rá Irish Pub's most popular dish is fish n' chips, made with Icelandic haddock. They use 100,000 pounds of the fish every year. ■cr

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