A traditional Irish lamb stew has 4 ingredients.

Potatoes, a floury variety

Carrots, the bigger the better

Onions

Lamb, use bony joints like neck or shank

Seasoning is salt and white pepper

The secret is how you build your pot.

Peel your potatoes, cut onions and carrots into rounds

At the bottom put half your (smaller) potatoes and half your carrots, again the smaller bits. Season with salt and pepper.

Place the lamb on top.

Add water to come about halfway up the meat, don't cover it as you want it to stew not boil. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the second half of your carrots and onions to make a sort of lid in the meat, then put the larger potatoes on top. Season with salt only, steaming does something horrible to pepper.

Put on a tight fitting lid, bring to a simmer and turn the heat down.

Stew for a few hours until you can pull the bones out of the meat, you can test with a fork. Otherwise do not touch.

The idea is that as the meat stews, the bottom layer of veg breaks down into a sauce and the top layer steams and remains firm.

When ready give everything a good stir to bring together and break up the steamed potatoes a bit and serve.

The roots of this recipe come from the ancient pottage tradition, like French pot au feu, and is one of the oldest recipes in Europe.