Irish Stew

Irish cuisine has long been rooted in the principle of nourishment through simplicity: humble, hearty ingredients transformed into deeply satisfying meals. Potatoes and mutton were staples of rural Irish cooking, their combination forming the backbone of the beloved Irish Stew.

In the recipe below, one interesting historical detail is the measurement of a “gill”—a unit smaller than both a cup and a pint. In the American system, one gill equals half a cup (4 fluid ounces), while in the British Imperial system, it was slightly more, at 5 fluid ounces or a quarter pint.

This recipe appears in The Economical Cook Book (1905), written by Mrs. Sara T. Paul and published in the United States. Like many turn-of-the-century cookbooks, it reflects both thrift and tradition, using everyday ingredients with care and precision. A particularly notable touch in this recipe is the mention of mushroom catsup, a once-common condiment of the 18th and 19th centuries. Far from the sweet tomato ketchup we know today, mushroom catsup was a thin, dark brown sauce made from salted mushrooms simmered with vinegar and spices. Its deeply savory flavor—much like modern Worcestershire sauce—was prized in Britain and its colonies for enriching meats and stews, so its inclusion here is not at all surprising; it brings a layer of rich umami to the rustic Irish stew.

Prepared with mutton, potatoes, and onions, this stew is a perfect illustration of how layering and slow simmering can build complex flavor. The meat, seasoned with salt, pepper, and chopped parsley, is arranged in alternating layers with onions and potatoes in a heavy stew-pan. A pint of broth is poured over, followed by the ketchup. Then, covered loosely, it’s left to simmer gently for an hour, long enough for the potatoes to soften, the onions to melt into the broth, and the mutton to release its richness.

The result is a deeply comforting dish: tender, gently seasoned meat surrounded by vegetables infused with the concentrated, savory depth of the broth. It’s an evocative taste of early 20th-century cooking—practical, but rich with the layered history of both Irish tradition and Anglo-American culinary exchange.

• 4 lbs. mutton
• 1 dozen white potatoes
• 6 onions
• 2 tbs. chopped parsley
• 2 cups broth, like beef or vegetable
• 4 oz. ketchup
• Salt
• Pepper

Four pounds of meat from the neck or loin of mutton; peel, wash and cut in half ten or twelve white potatoes, six onions peeled and sliced; put a layer of meat cut in chops at the bottom of your stew-pan, then a layer of onions, then one of potatoes; season with pepper and salt and a little chopped parsley; then another layer of meat, onions and potatoes, seasoned as before, until all are in; pour over all a pint of good broth, with a gill of mushroom or tomato catsup; cover loosely and simmer for one hour, slowly.