Cork's most stubborn old-pub dish: brined pig's trotters simmered long, then either eaten straight from the cooking liquor or split, breadcrumbed, and crisped under the grill.

Crubeens (from the Irish crubin, meaning hoof) were sold by street vendors outside Cork pubs from the late 19th century until the 1960s as a working-class pub snack: the trotter slow-boiled in a stock pot of allspice and bay, served in the hand with a glass of stout. The Coal Quay markets ran the trade until the 1950s, when refrigeration changed butcher-shop economics. Today only a handful of Cork city kitchens still preserve the dish, notably Cornstore on Cornmarket Street and the Mutton Lane Inn during traditional autumn months; the Coal Quay revival markets occasionally bring back a vendor running the original boil. Pat O'Connell at the English Market still supplies the raw trotters.

Where to eat Crubeens (Cork Pig's Trotters) in Cork

3 editor picks for Crubeens (Cork Pig's Trotters) in Cork, ranked by editorial score. All Cork signature dishes · Crubeens (Cork Pig's Trotters) across every city.

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Make it at home

Serves 45 hrIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 4 pig's trotters, scrubbed (ask your butcher to split each lengthwise)
  • For the brine: 100g sea salt, 50g brown sugar, 2L water
  • 2 onions, halved
  • 2 carrots, halved
  • 2 celery sticks
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 10 black peppercorns
  • 4 cloves
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 150g panko or coarse white breadcrumbs
  • 60g unsalted butter
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
  • Wholegrain mustard and brown soda bread, to serve

Method

  1. Dissolve salt and sugar in the brine water. Submerge trotters and refrigerate 24 hours.
  2. Drain and rinse. Place trotters in a deep pot with onions, carrots, celery, bay, peppercorns, cloves, and fennel.
  3. Cover with cold water by 5cm. Bring slowly to a simmer, then cook gently for 4 hours until the meat releases from the bone with a fork.
  4. Lift trotters carefully onto a tray. Pick off any large pieces of skin and arrange the trotters cut-side up.
  5. Brush trotters with mustard, then press a thick layer of breadcrumbs onto the cut surface. Dot with butter.
  6. Heat the grill to high. Crisp the trotters 4 to 5 minutes until the crumbs are deep golden.
  7. Scatter parsley. Serve with wholegrain mustard, brown soda bread, and a glass of stout. Eat with your hands the Cork way.
  8. Reserve the cooking liquor; it sets to a clear pork stock that freezes well for stews.

Editor tip. Split trotters cook in half the time of whole ones; ask the butcher to do it, because the saw cut at home is rarely clean.