The Spiced Beef Pilgrimage

Cork spiced beef is a centuries-old tradition rooted in the city's history as a provisioning port: beef was brined and packed with spices - pimento, cloves, cracked pepper, brown sugar and saltpetre - so it would survive long sea voyages. The curing takes a month or more, each butcher guarding their own spice mix like a family secret. The joint is then simmered slowly, often with a bottle of Murphy's or Beamish stout, cooled, and sliced thin. It's tangy, aromatic, faintly sweet and completely unlike anything else in Irish food. Traditionally a Christmas dish, it's now eaten year-round in Cork and almost nowhere else.

The English Market is where this pilgrimage begins and ends. It's one of the oldest covered markets in Europe (1788), a buzzing, slightly chaotic collection of stalls selling fresh fish, farmhouse cheese, artisan bread and, at its heart, Tom Durcan's famous spiced beef counter. Buy a few slices at the stall, then walk upstairs to the Farmgate Cafe and eat it properly. Cork is Ireland's food capital and the market is its beating heart. An hour and a half from London.