To Spice Beef (An Irish Receipt)

There are some very appealing options in the Old Line Plate database for an “Irish” theme.

In “Domestic Cookery”, Elizabeth Ellicott Lea suggests a hearty Irish Stew of mutton chops with onions, potatoes, black pepper and mushroom catsup for extra umami. (No, she did not use that word but that’s what it’s there for!) “A slice of ham is a nice addition,” she wrote.

“Queen of the Kitchen” author Mary Lloyd Tyson added “a cup of rich milk or cream” to her Irish Stew of Mutton. Sounds good to me!

Instead of indulging that route, I decided to reckon with a dish from my youth that I was never on very good terms with: Corned Beef and Cabbage.

The Pennsylvania Gazette, 1737 

In Ireland, Corned Beef is considered more of a Christmas dish, and beef in general has historically been less popular there than it is here. But this isn’t an Irish food blog, it’s a Maryland food blog, and Marylanders have probably been consuming “Irish Beef” since European colonization. The semi-preserved beef was favored for its ability to survive the journey across the Atlantic.

The first digitized newspaper mention that I found of “Irish Beef” is in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1737. The fact that it is “sold by the barrel” makes it apparent that this beef was corned beef.

According to “Irish-American Trade, 1660-1783,” by Thomas M. Truxes, Irish beef was readily available in most mainland ports in small casks “fit for family use.” This is likely meant in contrast to the portion used as provisions on the weeks at sea… maybe less appetizing to non-sailors.

Domestic colonial beef was “considered second-rate by comparison” at the time.

As the young nation began to sprawl westward, it made more and more sense to produce beef domestically. Interestingly, some of the first American recipes for what we might recognize as corned beef were printed in Maryland.

Although the method of curing beef with salt and nitrates and seasoning with cloves, mace, and allspice is ancient, Mary Randolph didn’t include such a recipe in her book. She only included a recipe for corning beef in hot weather (no spices mentioned, but she did include molasses.)

Before that, Eliza Leslie described brining and spicing the meat – but goes on to smoke the beef. Amelia Simmons stuck to more of an ‘á la mode’ dish in her slim 1796 cookbook.

Elizabeth Ellicott Lea in 1859 suggests serving corned beef (or pork) with Cabbage.

It was Mary Lloyd Tyson, in 1870, who printed the “Irish Mode of Spicing Beef.” Like so many other recipes in “Queen of the Kitchen,” it was copied by Mrs. B.C. Howard and altered slightly into “To Spice Beef (An Irish Receipt.)”

As it turns out, neither of these recipes even contains cabbage. Instead, the beef is served with carrots and turnips and a buttery sauce made with some of the cooking gravy.

This was a very gradual way for me to come to terms with Corned Beef and Cabbage… because there was no cabbage. The problem is that cabbage can be so easily overwhelmed by the power of corned beef. But curing and seasoning the meat yourself gives you more power over the end result. Newer recipes include mustard seeds and garlic, which sounds inviting. Undertaking the process of spicing the beef helped me get an appreciation of the flavors – and the possibilities.

Recipe:

Recipe from “Fifty Years in a Maryland Kitchen” by Mrs. B. C. Howard

What I did, more or less:

Most recipes say to use brisket. I bought a way cheaper cut of beef because I’m not Rockefeller over here. Rubbed it with brown sugar and pink curing salt (this contains sodium nitrite not potassium nitrate but I had it on hand) and sat overnight. The next day, added crushed up black pepper, cloves, allspice, and on a whim some bay leaves. Turned once a day for the next 7 days.

Cooked the meat for 8 hours in a slow cooker.

Boiled the vegetables and cooked in a generous amount of butter plus some of the beef-cooking broth, strained. Then thickened it a little to serve.