When I was a kid, I’d go to the St. Joseph parish dinner, where they served German rope sausage – German, not Irish but it was still tradition - and of course, I couldn’t wait for the cake walk. If I were lucky enough to win, I’d take my prize back to Grandma’s house to share with my aunts.
These days, I mark the holiday a little differently. For the past fourteen years, I’ve been cooking corned beef and cabbage. And this year, I got curious—what do my chef friends make for the holiday?
Chef Ambyr Caster, one of Our Chefs at Public, was born in Galway, Ireland, and came to the States when they were 12 years old. They cook her grandmother’s lamb stew, a dish that always reminds them of time spent at their grandmother Ramona’s sheep farm. Romano would leave a pot of stew to simmer on the stove all day Sunday, in the evening the family would enjoy It together after mass or after helping with the sheep shearing.
Chef Adam White is down in Tulsa. He is the chef at a pub called Bishop Quigley’s and cooks his corned beef and cabbage by first searing the cabbage quarters, then braising them in stock with potatoes. His corned beef starts with beef belly cured for six days, then seared and braised with Guinness and mirepoix until it’s melt-in-your-mouth tender.
Both chefs tell the same story: cooks finding resourceful ways to bring old-world flavors to a new home.
