Coddle
Coddle (sometimes Dublin coddle; Irish: cadal)[1] is an Irish dish which is often made to use up leftovers. It most commonly consists of layers of roughly sliced pork sausages and rashers (thinly sliced, somewhat-fatty back bacon) with chunky potatoes, sliced onion, salt, pepper, and herbs (parsley or chives). Traditionally, it can also include barley.
![]() Coddle | |
Alternative names | Dublin coddle |
---|---|
Place of origin | Ireland |
Main ingredients | Potatoes, pork sausage, rashers, onion |
Coddle is particularly associated with Dublin, the capital of Ireland.[2][3][4] It was reputedly a favourite dish of the writers Seán O'Casey and Jonathan Swift,[5] and it appears in several references to Dublin, including the works of James Joyce.[6]

The dish is braised in the stock produced by boiling the pieces of bacon and sausages. The dish is cooked in a pot with a well-fitting lid in order to steam the ingredients left uncovered by the broth.[2] Sometimes raw sliced potato is added, but traditionally it was eaten with bread.[7] The only seasonings are usually salt, pepper, and occasionally parsley.
Etymology
The name comes from the verb coddle, meaning to cook food in water below boiling (see coddled egg), which in turn derives from caudle, which comes from the French term meaning ‘to boil gently, parboil or stew’.[3]
References
- "Bia Gaelach: Cé na cineálacha bia Gaelach is fearr leat? (Irish Words for Irish Foods)". 17 March 2018.
- A Little Irish Cookbook. Appletree. 1986. ISBN 0-86281-166-X.
- "A traditional Irish cold weather treat Dublin coddle recipe". Irishcentral.com. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
- "From Bacon and Cabbage to Coddle: What is Ireland's national dish?". Independent.ie. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
- O'Connor, Derek (21 September 2008). "Food that Only The Irish Eat (Apparently)". Sunday Tribune. Sunday Tribune. Archived from the original on 21 April 2009 – via Wayback Machine.
- Veronica Jane O'Mara & Fionnuala O'Reilly. (1993). A Trifle, a Coddle, a Fry: An Irish Literary Cookbook. Wakefield: Moyer Bell. ISBN 1-55921-081-8.
- Hickey, Margaret (2018). Ireland's green larder : the definitive history of Irish food and drink ([Paperback edition] ed.). London: Unbound. pp. 118–119. ISBN 978-1-78352-799-1. OCLC 1085196202.
External links
The dictionary definition of coddle at Wiktionary