Simon Cooper - Hairy Lemon Cookbook

Hairy Lemon
Cookbook SIMON COOPER AuthorHouseUK 1663 Liberty Drive Bloomington, IN 47403 USA www.authorhouse.co.uk Phone: 0800.197.4150 2016 Simon Cooper. All rights reserved. Interior Photography by Jennifer Oppermann Front Cover by Thomas Rudys Illustration by Susan Shorter No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author. Published by AuthorHouse 12/08/2016 ISBN: 978-1-5246-2972-4 (sc) ISBN: 978-1-5246-2973-1 (e) Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,
and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only. Certain stock imagery Thinkstock. Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them. Darren Cooper AUTHORS NOTE The hairy lemon cookbook has come together through decades of preparing delicious and well loved food for the people of Dublin as well as its visitors to the point of The Hairy Lemon Restaurant receiving awards from the city council and being consecutively rated as the best of its kind for traditional food in Dublin. The pub itself is named after a well known street character from the forties who had turned jaundice from drinking too much poitn, a homemade potato vodka renowned for its potency, and with his beard and the shape of his head, he was said to resemble a hairy lemon. The menu was originally inspired by my Grand Mother Kathleen who was famous throughout our family for being a fantastic traditional cook. All the kids would eagerly anticipate the regular Sunday visit to Grand Mothers house for her famous roast beef, stews, bread & butter pudding & apples pies. Not typical foods for kids to fight over but hers were that good that to eat her cooking was a real treat.

Over the years the Hairy Lemon has broadened its menu to include some different dishes such as our curries and stir frys but with a mind to keep our Grand Mothers style of cooking alive and well. This however is not all you get with a visit to the Hairy Lemon as our customers know. Our customers are greeted cordially and treated as family and relationships are regularly formed with people from every corner of the globe keeping in regular contact or returning with family to introduce to us from far and away. We like to have fun and our customers know us for a bit of real Dublin banter in cosy surroundings that make them feel like theyre visiting their Grand Mothers with our home made comfort foods that are just always the favourite compared to anything else. I hope you find this book to be a treasured resource for great food, Irish character and fun. Contents Hairy Lemon In the first half of the 20 th century, Dublins city centre had a number of street characters who were noticed and remarked upon for their individuality and perhaps more so their oddness.

This was a time when most people had less money, no television and had recently come into a modern state of living. People had to entertain themselves, with a parlour in the front of the house for visitors where singing and playing of musical instruments was practiced for when in company. There was also the Irish wit which in part consisted of gentle jibes which were only meant in good fun. Our Irish elders often fondly look back and refer to this period as Dublin City in the rare auld times. There were however a number of stragglers who didnt move with the times as quickly as the rest. The Hairy Lemon was one of the best known of these.

He worked for the council catching stray dogs as in those days all wandering unlicensed dogs were rounded up and Hairy Lemon was one of those who did the catching. He had no fixed address and wore a loose cloth cap and a large scarf around his short neck. In the colder months he wore a raincoat fastened with a straw rope and in the summer months an old tweed jacket. He was frequently on the streets due to his profession so he was well known to see by many. He suffered with jaundice, most likely from the love of the drink and when someone remarked that with his yellowish complexion and the shape of his head and his facial hair that he looked like a hairy lemon, the name seemed to just stick and history was made. Children of the time would shout from a safe distance, Hairy Lemon, has your mother got any more like you? There have been television shows such as Strumpet City, songs such as The Mero by The Dubliners and works of art which are largely based on individuals like the Hairy Lemon not forgetting that one of todays best pub and restaurants in Dublin is named after the Hairy Lemon.

Another of Dublins well known street characters was called Forty coats who was a kind of hobo who wore everything he owned. The children of the time had a kind of game for a bit of excitement and would run past him and shout, Hey Forty Coats, how many coats are you wearing today. The aim of the game being to get away without being caught and dealt a swift chastisement. Yet another of these characters was Known as Bang Bang. Bang Bang was traumatized from World War One and was known to wander the streets carrying a large old key which he would point and shoot at people. With this particular activity, he was well liked by children and adults alike for causing fun.

Children would point their fingers and shoot back at him and it is said that when Bang Bang would travel by bus or tram that within minutes, inevitably, the whole carriage would be having a shootout with each other with their hands. These characters are a part of Dublin culture which has formed part of our modern Dublin Irish-ness which you have to come to Dublin to really experience for yourself and there is no better place for great traditional Irish food and drink and the craic than the Hairy Lemon pub and restaurant. We look forward to your visit. My mother started the business in the hairy lemon 20 years ago on the 14 Feb and over the years weve been constantly been asked for recipes. The Irish Shamrock The Irish shamrock symbol is closely associated with St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. St Patrick is believed to have actually been from Scotland or Wales.

Irish raiders captured and enslaved him at the end of fourth century. He spent six years in slavery, probably in the west of Ireland. While in captivity, he turned to his religion for comfort and strength. He finally managed to escape and return home. Years later, ordained as a priest, he returned to convert what was at that time pagan Ireland. The story of the Irish trefoil relates to St Patrick trying to teach the Irish about the Blessed Trinity, the Christian concept of three Gods Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Spirit) in one.