Here's another in Colin Murphy and Donal O'Dea's series of oddly titled little souvenir books from Ireland. But, while the two previous books have been mere curiosities -- a collection of Irish slang and a collection of Irish quotations -- this one is actually useful.

The slim volume contains a fair number of interesting recipes, including 11 main courses, four potato dishes, 10 breads, cakes and desserts, and a trio of cocktails. But the authors also have inserted a wee bit of Irish attitude into their culinary instructions.

Take, for instance, the first one, which is for Dublin coddle. They note, in the brief introduction, that coddle is a "mouthwatering dish that's likely to bring back many a memory to Irish people -- like unemployment, having no central heating, the Christian Brothers beating the crap out of you etc." Then there's a list of ingredients that ends, suspiciously, with a "large glass of cider" -- which, I must note, is never mentioned again. It is NOT used in the recipe that follows so, presumably, the cook is free to drink it while slaving over the stove. Later, when they tell you to drain water from a pot in which sausages and bacon have been boiling, the authors remind you to "reserve the liquid." If that's not enough, they add, parenthetically, "Now remember this! Don't go draining the thing over the bloody sink!"

You get the idea.

Will I make all of the recipes provided here? No, of course not. Will I make a few? Yeah, maybe. Some of them sound oddly unappealing, but others are downright tempting. So yes, I'll probably try a few.

In any case, it's a neat little addition to Murphy and O'Dea's little collection of Irish books. It's entertaining and utilitarian.

Let's look, as one more example, at the recipe for crubeens.

INGREDIENTS
The hind trotters of 4 unfortunate pigs (hind ones are meatier)
1 large onion, quartered
1 medium carrot, sliced
1 bay leaf
1 tablesp parsley, chopped
1 teasp thyme
1 teasp salt
1 teasp whole black peppercorns

METHOD
1 Chuck all the ingredients into a large saucepan.
2 Cover with cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for three hours.
3 That's basically it. Remove the trotters and eat them off the bone.
None of your fancy haute cuisine here, pal.
P.S. Discard vegetables.

Sounds yummy.