In honour of Saint Patrick, this dish is made from humble ingredients, leftover spuds and bully beef, two staples that were relied upon during many wars and are popularly eaten on the 17th March to commemorate this 5th century Romano-British missionary and bishop who introduced Christianity to Ireland.

Although the potato originates from Peru/Bolivia, it became the most important new food in Europe in the 19th century as it had three major advantages over other foods for the consumer: its lower rate of spoilage, its bulk (which easily satisfied hunger) and its cheapness. The crop slowly spread across Europe, becoming a major staple, especially in Ireland.

Potatoes were known as ‘the taste of WWII’. Here, in Britain, The Ministry of Food’s Potato Division was extremely successful in its efforts to increase production and promoted potatoes as a way of reducing reliance on food imports while also improving the nation’s overall health.

We call bully or salt beef, corned beef as it is made from beef brisket that is dry cured using ‘corns’ (coarse pellets of salt) which draws out the moisture and prevents the growth of bacteria.

Potato based dishes such as corned beef hash made from spuds and corned beef continued to be popular throughout the baby boomer years following WWII from 1946-1964 and many a party had corned beef and tomato sandwiches on the table.

I have given this dish a Mexican uplift by adding judía de lima (butter beans), cheese and piquant spices.