Skirts and Kidneys, the infamous Irish dish from Cork has an interesting tale behind it. Cork has had a long-standing association with animal produce and was a major supplier of butter and preserved beef and pork to the British Empire, specially the armed forces. This meant plenty of offal which was available at affordable prices for local consumption. An entire Cork cuisine developed based on offal with Skirts and Kidneys probably the best known of these dishes. The meat ingredients come from a pork butcher's shop. Skirts are the trimmings from the inside of the ribs and backbone. The dish is a white stew made with skirts, kidneys, onions, thyme, salt, white pepper, water, and potatoes boiled and simmered to which a little corn flour is added for thickening. The meal is best served with crusty white bread.
