So the idea of having a folk food in a restaurant would have been quite revolutionary in the 1960s in Ireland. And when she opened the restaurant, she took great pride in serving these vernacular things, but elevating them. Allen always set great value on traditional Irish dishes. But then there's a sixth item that never changes, and that’s the moss pudding – the seaweed set milk. So there's always five things that change every day. People can have a little bit of each dessert on the trolley. Our desserts are served from a dessert trolley or a cart that roams the dining room that goes from table to table. That is one of the signature desserts that we serve in Balymaloe House.
But if you get your hands on a good recipe, and you soft set the milk, it's really a wonderful thing.Ĭarrageenan, a type of seaweed that grows along the coastline of County Cork, Ireland, is foraged and used in desserts. If you talk to some people, particularly of my mother's generation, they will have memories of a very overset milk dessert, and they might not look at it so fondly. You end up with a soft-set seaweed dessert. So the tradition then is that you would simmer the seaweed and milk to set it. Then, the dried seaweed could be brought indoors, and you'd have enough for the year. And the tradition around the part of the country where I live is that during a spring tide when the moon pulls the tide out further than normal, usually during the first two weeks of July, you'd pick the carrageen from just below the tide line, and lay it out on the nearby cliffs, the sun would dry it, and the rain would wash it in a time-honored way.
It's about the size of a closed fist, and it grows in the little rock pools all around our coastline. So carrageenan moss means ‘little rock moss’ when you translate it from the Irish language. Carraig is the Irish word for ‘rock,’ and carrageenan means ‘little rock.’ Even the name itself is lovely. It fascinates a lot of people to learn that this great tradition of using seaweeds in Ireland that goes back centuries, especially for carrageenans, as we call it. How's it used in cooking desserts in particular? Most people see that word on ingredient labels and have no idea what it is. Ireland has a rich history of using seaweeds, especially carrageenan. So we usually have either an apple cake or tart, or maybe rhubarb as well, if we're lucky enough to have the first stems from the garden. In Ireland when I say apple cake, usually they will be baked on a plate and traditionally in a cast iron pot on a fire. Many households would probably have an Irish apple cake or an apple tart – or pie as you might know it. Is there a dessert that's particularly associated with the holiday? So depending which part of the country you're in, it can be relaxed or a little bit more revved up. The holiday usually involves a couple of drinks afterwards as well, depending on what age you are. You'll find that throughout the country in the bigger cities, there'll be large parades, and people really go to town on it. It was always bacon, cabbage and potatoes that my mother would cook. Then we'd go home and usually have what we'd consider a very traditional Irish meal. My primary school would often organize us all to dress up in some way and we'd be marched down the town as a group and our parents would take pictures, and be very proud of all of us making it to the end. Patrick's Day at home would have involved us getting ready in the morning to go to the local town. JR Ryall: it tends to be quite a relaxed affair – it's very much a family holiday. Patrick’s Day festivities look like in Ireland? This interview has been edited for length and clarity. His book “ Ballymaloe Desserts: Iconic Recipes and Stories from Ireland” details treats from the infamous Ballymaloe dessert trolley. JR Ryall went from student to pastry chef at Ballymaloe House in County Cork, Ireland.
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