Free 1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List by Mimi Sheraton

Patrick’s Day, March 17. Elevated to its current status as an iconic and beloved Irish meal by millions of Irish immigrants to North America, this simple dish has become an essential component of the annual celebration of all things Ireland.
    Where:
In Dublin
, Oliver St. John Gogarty, tel 353/1-671-1822, gogartys.ie ;
in Arlington, VA
, Ireland’s Four Courts, tel 703-525-3600, irelandsfourcourts.com . Further information and recipes:
Saveur Cooks Authentic American
by Colman Andrews and Dorothy Kalins (1998); mrfood.com (search classic corned beef and cabbage). Special event: Milwaukee Irish Fest, Milwaukee, WI, August, irishfest.com .

THE MEAL THAT LASTS ALL DAY
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Irish Breakfast
Irish
    A delectable model for self-destruction, the over-the-top Irish breakfast seems to be gaining popularity outside of its home country as a leisurely weekend brunch. Once a daily meal for farm workers and anyone preparing for the day’s hard labor, today it is more of a weekend indulgence, one worth risking a couple of times a year.
    Picture a plate piled with fried eggs, black and white pudding (black pudding is a blood sausage, while white pudding contains oatmeal and leeks), thick and smoky rashers of Irish back bacon or gammon (a cured cut from the pig’s hind leg), fried tomato, fried potatoes, bread, and mushrooms—maybe beans, too—and don’t forget the jam. A strong cup of breakfast tea is the traditional accompaniment, and traditional or not, hot whiskey-spiked Irish coffee topped with whipped cream might be just the right finish.
    Where:
In Dublin
, Slattery’s Bar & Early House, tel 353/1-874-6844, slatterysbar.com ;
in Arlington, VA
, Ireland’s Four Courts, tel 703-525-3600, irelandsfourcourts.com . Mail order: Food Ireland, tel 877-474-7436, foodireland.com (search traditional irish style breakfast). Further information and recipes:
Irish Traditional Cooking
by Darina Allen (2012).

CHEESECAKE TIES ONE ON
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AS SIMPLE AS BREAD CAN BE …
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French

SEASONED BY MOTHER NATURE
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Agneau de Pré-Salé, Three Ways
Salt Meadow Lamb
French (Breton and Norman)

    Mont Saint-Michel crowns the largest salt meadow area in France.
    Serious gourmet cooks consider buying preseasoned meat an unforgivable gaffe, anticipating bland commercial spice mixtures at best. But when the seasoner is Mother Nature herself, who can argue? Cavils end with a taste of the verdantly saline, lean lamb from France’s coastal provinces of Normandy and, especially, Brittany. There, lamb and sheep graze on the reclaimed salt meadows known as
prés-salés
, nibbling random herbs and bits of sprightly green seaweed along the way (or, in the hills around Provence, on the wild lavender that lends sweet overtones to the meat). These
agneaux
(lambs) or
moutons
(mutton)
de pré-salé
are treasured marks of quality on menus and in butcher shops throughout France.
    Restraint and balance being two of the hallmarks of the best French cuisine, chefs and home cooks respect the elegant natural taste of this meat and are careful not to overpower it, hence the following favorite methods for appreciating this lamb and mutton.
    Gigot aux flageolets à la Bretonne
—Brittany leg of lamb with beans. A great classic roast that is fast disappearing from French restaurants in the U.S., this leg of lamb is adorned with only pepper and a few slivers of garlic, inserted close to the bone, before it is roasted to roseate perfection at an inner temperature of 145 to 148 degrees Fahrenheit.
    Once cooked, the roasted meat lends its rich juices to beans, preferably the small, dried ivory or jade flageolets, or, almost as good, the creamy white haricots. After a good soak, the beans are simmered with onion, thyme, bay leaf, and garlic until tender, and then are baked to an inviting mellow brown color along with lamb pan juices and perhaps a touch of tomato.
    True gigot, cut from a whole leg of lamb, is hard to find in American restaurants these days. Changing eating