Irish

It's interesting, sophisticated fare like this that keeps Roly's Bistro constantly crowded. Restaurateur Roly Saul and chef Colin O'Daly are Dublin fixtures.

Mary Tuohy, a Cappagh, County Tyrone, native who now lives in Redbank, New Jersey, has been making this raisin tea cake for so long that she can almost do it from memory. She says, "I can't remember where the recipe came from, but we used to bake it over an open turf fire back home. It came to me on a piece of dilapidated paper, which I still have." It's a very moist cake, she says, nearly foolproof. "You can't go wrong with it."

From the Temple House in Ballymote, Ireland.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The lamb in this recipe is blanched to make a light-colored stew. Active time: 1 1/4 hr Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr

Translated from medieval Scottish, farl means, "the fourth part." In this version, quartered rounds of dark bread are sweetened with treacle, which is similar to molasses, and lightly spiced with ginger. The mixture may occasionally include a handful of raisins or other dried fruit, but the bread is always served sliced and buttered, with a cup of tea.

A classic lamb preparation from the Temple House in Ballymote, Ireland. Mint adds a nice touch to the puree.

Eggs and fat were once forbidden during the 40-day Lenten fast, so on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent, Irish bakers would make pancakes to use up their stores of those ingredients.

A warming and filling main-course soup.

Canola oil replaces butter in this light version of a classic.

Once the ingredients have been combined for this dish, use immediately. Serve the potato pancakes while crisp. These pancakes were developed at Dublin's Gresham Hotel and were featured on the "Bird Flanagan" bar menu. The "Bird" Flanagan was a celebrated Dublin character who once rode his horse into the lobby bar of Dublin's famous Gresham Hotel and requested a drink for his horse.

Here's a delicious specialty from The Gallic Kitchen in Dublin, Ireland, a small, bright pâtisserie with excellent sweet and savory goods.

(Bacon and Root Vegetable Stew)

Rightfully this cake belongs in the chapter with the other cakes that contain dried fruit, but to me it is the quintessential coffee cake. It is a quick and easy version of a cake that I remember from my childhood, made by the mother of my school friend, the late Noel Giles. Noel and I consumed about a ton of this cake per year between the ages of twelve and eighteen — a taste of it still makes me feel like a teenager.

The best way to get warm and cozy after a day outdoors is with this drink, in Ireland known simply as "hot whiskey."