Originally a thick and hearty peasant dish created with readily available and inexpensive local ingredients such as lamb (or beef), potatoes, onions, turnips, parsnips, carrots and parsley, Irish stew is so popular and nostalgic that recent recipes have been exalted to near-gourmet status. Called ballymaloe or stobhach gaelach in Gaelic, Irish stew is sometimes favored with Guinness stout.