No discussion of Irish cuisine would be complete without considering the potato. Thought to have been brought to Ireland from Peru in the 17th century, the potato soon became subsistence for the peasantry, overtaking oats, milk, cheese and offal as the staple food. This dependency on a single crop led to the devastating potato famines of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, yet potatoes - boiled, mashed, fried or baked - remain at the core of Irish cooking.

Simple meat dishes with minimal sauces make use of Ireland's quality beef, lamb and pork produce. Pork is particularly well-loved - including Limerick Ham (cured leg of pork baked with juniper berries, cloves, mustard and sugar), Crubeens (boiled pig's trotters) and the bacon, sausages and blood pudding of the classic Irish breakfast.

The structure of daily working life in rural Ireland has led to a one-pot cooking style, with stewing and boiling emerging as the prevalent techniques. Mutton and beef stews, tripe and corned beef are favoured - these may be accompanied by boiled root vegetables, such as turnip, swede, carrot, parsnip and beetroot. Although since the early 1990s modern Irish chefs such as Paul Rankin and Clodagh McKenna have updating Irish ingredients with French cooking techniques.

Potatoes

One of the most beloved of Irish potato dishes is colcannon, a traditional Irish dish similar to British 'bubble and squeak'. Frequently making use of left-over vegetables, colcannon consists of mashed potatoes mixed with onions, and kale or cabbage. Other potato-based dishes include champ (potato mashed with spring onions and hot milk), boxty (a fried cake made from a mixture of grated raw potatoes and mashed potatoes) and potato pie.

Breakfast

Like the English and the Scots, the Irish traditionally enjoy a fried breakfast. The Irish fry can be made up of any combination of fried or scrambled eggs, bacon rashers, sausages, black or white pudding, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms and slices of soda bread served with lashings of creamy Irish butter.