A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR, AOIFE CARRIGY

Contained in the following pages is a unique collection of recipes focused on tried and tested dishes from the homes of ordinary women from all over the country. Some of these women prefer to cook their food from scratch every time, down to using home-made stocks, sauces and pastries. Others believe life is too short to boil bones or roll your own puff pastry; these women have fridges, freezers and larders well-stocked with reliable fall-back ingredients and have no problem reaching for a bottle or opening a packet to save time. Some would consider these shortcuts to be cheating, others see them as pragmatic routes to delicious dishes. Some wouldn’t dream of using a microwave; others cook their fish, vegetables and even their cakes in them. The women of the ICA have never been shy of holding their own opinions, and these recipes give voice to a broad range of culinary schools of thought.

We are bombarded today with ideals of the perfect home-maker but the reality is that often we want to know how to cheat without compromising on flavour. There are other times when we want to dedicate the time to developing a new skill, so that our fridges, freezers and larders can become well-stocked with our own home-made fall-backs. This cookbook aims to satisfy both of those demands, and much else in-between.

We have also included dishes from Marie McGuirk and Edward Hayden, two of the chefs who work with the ICA on a regular basis and who pass on their culinary knowledge as tutors at An Grianán adult education centre. But for the most part these are real recipes from real women, some of whom may have trained in home economics, some of whom were trained by their grannies (many of them ICA members too), many of whom learnt from experience by cooking for their younger siblings or their growing families.

As you might expect there are lots of very traditional recipes tucked throughout these pages, many with interesting twists that take into account the changes in how we eat. Irish stew no longer needs to be cooked for hours before it is palatable, as tender lamb is available year round. Deep freezers mean bread and butter pudding is now less of a necessary frugality for using up stale bread, and more of a beloved classic – and a steady supply of fresh fruit means we can now play around with what we put into it. Indeed, in some cases we have included two different approaches to the one idea just to illustrate that there are many ways to scratch an itch.

But while many of these recipes are distinctly Irish, there are international influences too. Some of the authors of these recipes moved to Ireland from other countries, bringing with them their most treasured recipes. Others have taken a flavour of their favourite travels home to incorporate into their everyday repertoire.

Just as the women who these recipes represent are an eclectic bunch with diverse taste in home-cooked flavours, so too will the readers differ in their own culinary leanings and expertise. Experienced cooks looking for new ideas will find much to inspire and intrigue, whether they favour shortcuts or cooking from scratch. But this cookbook will also prove an invaluable resource for the next generation of home-makers, the novice cooks still building up confidence in the kitchen who might call home for that foolproof recipe – or might reach for this book instead. Think of The ICA Cookbook as akin to having not just your own mammy on speed dial but rather a whole host of mammies and grannies from all over the country, each sharing their own words of wisdom and precious firsthand experiences.