Cuisine: Irish

VeganMoFo is a lot of work for just one person. So here is the gallant Dr HH taking the reins for a day for his annual guest post (check out his excellent previous contributions: the greatest scramble recipe of all time, a detailed history of the best burger vegan spot in Nottingham (the world?), and a guide to demolishing a giant serving of tigelle). What’s he got up his sleeve this year?

Hello Dr. HH here to take you on a culinary tour of Ireland. Around Easter time we went on a little adventure to Dublin for a few days for a little spring sunshine. We actually experienced days of rain, upon rain, upon rain. On the one day it didn’t rain, we were on a day trip a little closer to the coast and were greeted with howling winds instead. None of this could possibly deter us from some holiday feasting though.

You may be wondering, why is Dr. HH talking to us about Ireland?

Does he have some Irish ancestry?

Is it because of his great knowledge of Irish history?

Does he already know the best of Dublin’s eateries?

Is it down to his cracking Irish accent? [Note from Ms HH:NO.]

Sadly, it is none of the above. On the day that we were all set for an Irish breakfast at Sova Vegan Butcher, Ms. HH was struck down with illness. She didn’t think she could even make it to the restaurant, nevermind eat anything, so it was down to me save VeganMoFo. This was a lot of pressure and it weighed heavily on me as we slowly made our way out. There were moments when Ms. HH didn’t think she was going to make it but the sight of numerous medical dogs [Note: they were wearing little medical coats! I really should have asked one of them for a diagnosis] along the high street raised her spirits and convinced her to plod on.

By the time we’d settled in at the restaurant Ms. HH’s spirits and (more importantly) appetite were raised and she managed a macaroni cheese, whilst the serious business of the full Irish was left to me. And serious business it was. A hearty plate came out, stacked with garlic and thyme sausages, streaky bacon, black pudding, scrambled tofu, baked beans, spinach, a tomato half, a giant mushroom, sourdough toast, and a little pot of ketchup. I told you it was hearty.

The sausages were great, lots of flavour and a good meaty texture. The tofu was well seasoned and had a nice eggy taste to it. The streaky bacon was quite the exciting novelty, it seemed to essentially be some tasty well seasoned seitan slices, and I am always delighted to see some nicely fried black pudding on my plate. The breakfast staples of a mushroom and beans were solid, though I always prefer some more mushroom on my plate, and the sauce for the beans had more depth than your regular tin of beans. The tomato and spinach are two things I’m never particularly pleased to have on my plate, I’m generally not a big fan of raw tomato and even this lightly grilled version didn’t particularly elevate it. The spinach fell foul of the usual breakfast spinach problems in that it was just spinach. I never understand why it isn’t seasoned, it doesn’t need much to elevate it to a worthy addition to the plate.

Overall, this was an excellent breakfast. It was a hearty plate with lots of different elements to it, just how I like my cooked breakfast. Three different meaty elements and a mushroom made it quite the treat.

How disappointed would you have been if you were too ill to sample this breakfast? Which component looks the most exciting?