Ask an Irish person what their grandmother made on a Sunday and bacon and cabbage will come up before long. Irish bacon is not the crisp strips of an American breakfast but a whole joint of cured pork loin or shoulder, boiled gently and sliced thick like ham. The cabbage is cooked in the same pot at the end, so it drinks in the salty, smoky broth, and the whole plate is brought together by a white sauce full of parsley. Corned beef and cabbage, the version many Americans know, is what Irish emigrants cooked when bacon joints were hard to find in New York.

It is honest, generous food that asks almost nothing of the cook beyond a timer and a sharp knife. On a race weekend the joint simmers through the morning sessions, and leftovers make the best sandwiches of the season.

The bacon

Ingredients

• 3 lb (1.4 kg) Irish bacon joint, uncooked
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 whole black peppercorns

The potatoes

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lb (1.1 kg) floury potatoes
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 tablespoons (30 g) butter

The cabbage

Ingredients

• 1 head Savoy cabbage
• 1 tablespoon (15 g) butter
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

The parsley sauce

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons (45 g) butter
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 cups (480 ml) whole milk
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) bacon cooking water
• 3/4 cup (25 g) fresh curly or flat leaf parsley
• 1 pinch fine salt and white or black pepper

More from Ireland