John George Brown, St Patrick’s Day for Boy with Shoeshine Kit

IF YOU are nauseated by the binge-drinking festival known as St. Patrick’s Day, now a week-long binge-drinking festival in some parts of America, you may find this 1985 interview with an Irish-American housewife who valued simple, homemade food and conversation to be refreshing and charming in comparison.

A KITCHEN WITH ROOTS IN IRELAND

Mar 10, 1985

By Marilynn Marter, Philadelphia Inquirer Food Writer

“And this is my little bit of Irish heaven,” says Agnes Patricia Songster McCafferty, introducing visitors to her domestic domain in Upper Darby, a kitchen with a decor that gives one the illusion of being, at once, both in and outside a cozy country cottage.

The morning sun seems to stream through the dimity-curtained windows, despite a cloudy sky. To push aside the curtains, a visitor feels certain, could reveal only the lush green lowlands and rolling hills of the Emerald Isle itself.

We’ve come in advance of St. Patrick’s Day to sample Irish dishes, particularly the McCafferty specialty – scone (pronounced scahn), one of the best known of the traditional Irish foods. While here, we will glean a few recipes from this fine Irish cook.

“There are as many variations of Irish scone,” says McCafferty, “as there are Irish cooks. If you had 10 Irish ladies in a room, all 10 would have their scones come out different, even different shapes. My mother made hers in a cast-iron skillet. “

McCafferty’s version of the sweet bread is evenly textured, rich and cakey but light and as moist as the dew on an Irish morn. The buttermilk helps.

One other trick to keeping the “cake” moister than most, we learn, is to pour boiling water over the raisins and let them soak and plump up before adding the drained fruit to the batter. She is careful to pick over all the raisins and remove any stray seeds or stems.

But, says McCafferty, “maybe the real trick is that I love making them. “

A firm believer in the “the three C’s” (charitable, civic and cultural affairs) as well as cooking, McCafferty, who declined to reveal her age, has baked not just for family but for everything from the Philadelphia Folk Fair to church bake sales.

“I’ve been very busy. It’s been a wonderful, wonderful life, one packed full of fun. I like a whole lot of nonsense,” she says, the ring of truth evident in her laughing Irish eyes.

McCafferty’s husband, Hughie, is an engineer with Boeing Vertol, where she, too, was employed before their marriage 27 years ago. For all that time they have lived, with their four daughters, in the same house on a quiet, tree-lined street in Upper Darby.

[…..]

Like so many of her fellow Irish -Americans, Agnes McCafferty has a special fondness for the ancestral homeland. But she is firmly and proudly rooted here and, she says, could never leave Philadelphia.

The Irish began settling here as far back as 1830, but immigration swelled after 1845 and the devastating potato blight that brought famine to Ireland. Some of the earliest Irish settlement here took place in Kensington, Port Richmond and Germantown. There were Irish sections in Tacony, Spring Garden, and South Philadelphia. McCafferty herself was raised in St. Agatha’s Parish, near 37th and Wallace Streets, an area she fondly recalls being nicknamed “Cork Town” (after County Cork) by the locals.

“And there was a big Irish population in Swampoodle (in North Philadelphia) and in Mother of Sorrows Parish around 48th and Lancaster,” she recalls.

By the turn of the century, about 10 percent of the city’s population was of Irish descent. With the shift to the suburbs, that figure has slipped a bit, to about 8 percent, or just over 300,000 Irish -Philadelphians tallied in the 1980 census.

Several generations of Irish -American cooks have made subtle changes in the old Irish recipes . But potatoes remain a staple. As we add the ubiquitous tuber to the stew pot and mash others to whip into a tasty concoction called Colcannon, we learn there is more to the Irish diet.

Breakfast is typically porridge or oatmeal. And oatcakes, made with freshly ground oats and served hot from the fire, dripping with creamy fresh butter, are a sensory treat that some rural Irishmen still savor.

More than half of the island’s population continues to make its living from the land, and many others have at least a small plot for growing vegetables that will go on the family table.

For many, the midday meal is still the main one of the day and is eaten at home with the family.

“And we love our tea. The Irish have tea time, similar to the English,” says McCafferty. “They serve small sandwiches with brown bread and scones. “

Tea promotes good conversation, she says. Also, she maintains, a good hot cup of tea will cure anything.

The traditional 6 o’clock tea has grown into a light meal for many, but a good variety of breads, buns and cakes remains an obligatory part of the meal.

The old-fashioned earthy Irish breads and cakes are probably the most distinctive part of Irish cooking, after potatoes. Baked goods are leavened with ammonium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) or baking powder. Only the classic barmbrack, a light bread similar to fruitcake, is made with yeast.

The extensive coastline and warm waters of the Gulf Stream make fish and seafood an integral part of the Irish diet. Prawns and scallops are prized. Oysters, too, are costly enough that they rarely get beyond service on the half shell. When they do, they might be added to a meat stew. The seasonally abundant (and cheap) mussels, however, are commonly used as a basis for soup or stew.

Along with potatoes, the simple fare of the Irish includes other root vegetables, turnips, onions and parsnips. There are several varieties of cabbage, plus Brussels sprouts and cauliflower; kale and other greens, like spinach, and mushrooms. Among fruits, rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries and apples are popular.

[….]

The stew can be cooked in the oven, like a pot roast, notes McCafferty. ”But I like the smell of it going through the house, so I do it on top of the stove. “

IRISH STEW

4 pounds lamb neck pieces, boned and trimmed of fat (2 to 3 pounds meat)

4 pounds (12 medium) potatoes, peeled

4 large yellow onions, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Cut lamb meat into fairly large cubes. Cut four potatoes into thin slices. Leave remaining potatoes whole or, if they are large, halved.

Place the sliced potatoes into bottom of stew pot or Dutch oven. Add about half of the sliced onion. Add lamb, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper. Top with remaining sliced onion. Cover with remaining (whole) potatoes. Add water barely to cover. Cover pot, and set to simmer on top of stove (or bake in oven at 350 degrees) for about 2 1/2 hours or until sliced potatoes and onions have dissolved into the broth to form a pale, thickened gravy. Makes six servings.

[…]

IRISH SCONE

4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons ( 1/2 stick) butter, melted

1/2 pound raisins, plumped (see note)

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 large egg

1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, a 9- or 10-inch round baking pan, or three 6-inch pans. (Scone also may be baked in an iron skillet. )

In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Pour melted butter into dry ingredients. Stir, then rub with hands until mixture is the consistency of coarse cornmeal. Stir in raisins.

In separate bowl, beat together buttermilk, egg and baking soda. Add to flour mixture, stirring until blended. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and knead lightly just until smooth, about one minute. Place dough in prepared pan.

Using a floured, sharp knife, make two half-inch-deep cuts at right angles across center-top of dough to form a cross. Bake at 375 degrees for 70 to 75 minutes or until loaf tests clean. Let stand on wire rack for 10 minutes to cool before removing from pan. (Small loaves will bake in 45 to 50 minutes. ) Let cool completely before slicing. Makes one large or three small loaves.

Note: Pour boiling water over raisins and let stand at least five minutes to soften and absorb moisture. Drain and pat dry. Pick out bits of stem or seed.

[Image Courtesy of It’s about Time.]

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