Coddle

Coddle (sometimes Dublin coddle; Irish: cadal)[1] is an Irish dish which is often made to use up leftovers. It most commonly consists of layers of roughly sliced pork sausages and rashers (thinly sliced, somewhat-fatty back bacon) with chunky potatoes, sliced onion, salt, pepper, and herbs (parsley or chives). Traditionally, it can also include barley.

Coddle
Coddle
Alternative namesDublin coddle
Place of originIreland
Main ingredientsPotatoes, pork sausage, rashers, onion

Coddle is particularly associated with Dublin, the capital of Ireland.[2][3][4] It was reputedly a favourite dish of the writers Seán O'Casey and Jonathan Swift,[5] and it appears in several references to Dublin, including the works of James Joyce.[6]

Coddle in Dublin, 2022

The dish is braised in the stock produced by boiling the pieces of bacon and sausages. The dish is cooked in a pot with a well-fitting lid in order to steam the ingredients left uncovered by the broth.[2] Sometimes raw sliced potato is added, but traditionally is eaten with bread.[7] The only seasonings are usually salt, pepper, and occasionally parsley.

Etymology

The name comes from the verb coddle, meaning to cook food in water below boiling (see coddled egg), which in turn derives from caudle, which comes from the French term meaning ‘to boil gently, parboil or stew’.[3]

Because coddle is seen as particular to Dublin, and because of its unappetising appearance to those who have not seen it before, many Dubliners are defensive of the dish.[8] As with other controversial national dishes such as casu martzu, escargot or hákarl, enthusiasts take the revulsion of the uninitiated as a point of pride—in particular, many coddle enthusiasts see browning the sausages as an unacceptable cop-out.[9]

See also

References
  1. "Bia Gaelach: Cé na cineálacha bia Gaelach is fearr leat? (Irish Words for Irish Foods)". 17 March 2018.
  2. A Little Irish Cookbook. Appletree. 1986. ISBN 0-86281-166-X.
  3. "A traditional Irish cold weather treat Dublin coddle recipe". Irishcentral.com. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  4. "From Bacon and Cabbage to Coddle: What is Ireland's national dish?". Independent.ie. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  5. O'Connor, Derek (21 September 2008). "Food that Only The Irish Eat (Apparently)". Sunday Tribune. Sunday Tribune. Archived from the original on 21 April 2009 – via Wayback Machine.icon of an open green padlock
  6. Veronica Jane O'Mara & Fionnuala O'Reilly. (1993). A Trifle, a Coddle, a Fry: An Irish Literary Cookbook. Wakefield: Moyer Bell. ISBN 1-55921-081-8.
  7. Hickey, Margaret (2018). Ireland's green larder : the definitive history of Irish food and drink ([Paperback edition] ed.). London: Unbound. pp. 118–119. ISBN 978-1-78352-799-1. OCLC 1085196202.
  8. "We need to talk about the coddle debate that's dividing the Internet again". The Daily Edge. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  9. "5 things non-Dubliners need to understand about coddle". The Daily Edge. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  • The dictionary definition of coddle at Wiktionary
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