The Clancys of mid-20th-century Boston would get quite a chuckle out of the lofty new status of corned beef hash. This classic New England dish was originally based on leftovers --- the corned beef and cabbage Sunday lunch and cooked potatoes. It was a cheap and easy way to feed a family, and a festive accompaniment to green beer on St. Patrick’s Day.
But somehow hash became a regular at the chichi Power Breakfasts of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. And now, it’s a fashionable, anytime-of-day feast, with highly respected chefs tossing in everything from beets and horseradish to roasted chiles and chorizo.
In the right hands, this plebian staple is a thing of beauty. And “right” is an apt description of the hands chopping and dicing in the kitchen of the Four Seasons Philadelphia.
In the hotel’s elegant
yet comfortable Fountain Restaurant, the House-Made Corned Beef Hash is served
with two perfectly poached Lancaster eggs. The meat is sweet and meltingly
tender. The caramelized onions are from Vidalia, GA. Some of the Yukon Gold
potato cubes are crisp, some soaked in meat juices. But what I loved most was
the nearly-hidden bits of fiery, roasted peppers. (The menu calls them “Long
Hot Peppers.”)
This corned beef hash looks plain and simple (as you can see in my “doesn’t-do-it-justice-but-I-was-anxious-to-dig-in” photo.) But start eating and you know immediately that it’s a “10,” with luscious bits of what seem to be roasted tomatoes and red bell peppers hiding behind the beefy façade. As the runny yolk starts to weave its way through the dish, you might even pronounce it an “11.”
A humble plate of hash goes haute at the Four Seasons. Gotta love it.
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