This dish is one of the great favorites of Irish people at home, to judge by its presence in almost every deli, convenience store and supermarket you walk into (in the latter case, in both fresh and frozen-food case versions). It also turns up on practically every pub menu in the country...

usually with a green salad on the side, and sometimes with chips / fries as well.

Once upon a time this near-universal presence might have made sense in terms of a pie being a great way to use up leftovers from when "chicken and bacon in the pot" had been made on the premises within the last few days. But nowadays, when such traditional and somewhat labor-intensive dishes are made a lot less frequently than they used to be, these pies look as if they're being made from scratch most of the time.

The ingredients involved in the basic recipe are simple, but the pie takes a certain amount of work, so this isn't something to embark upon on the spur of the moment.

Readers should note in advance that the "ham" of the recipe title is not ham in the North American sense of the word. It is slow-simmered brine-cured pork -- almost all cuts of which are called "bacon" in Ireland. (What a North American would think of as bacon is called "rashers" in Ireland.) It's fairly simple to duplicate this meat by finding a cut of fresh pork such as collar or butt and then brining it for a couple of days. The recipe below will give more details on how to proceed if you're brining your own pork.

For the pie:

• Enough shortcrust pastry for a deep 9-inch pie with top and bottom crusts, or enough puff pastry to top a deep 9-inch pie pan
• 1 boiling fowl or chicken, about 4 lb / 1.8 kg
• 1 1/2 lb collar or similar boiling bacon (see the bottom of the recipe for brining instructions if you're curing your pork yourself. Note that the brining will take at least a couple of days.)
• A few springs parsley and thyme, tied together
• 1 onion or leek, roughly sliced
• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 onion
• 8 oz / 225g button mushrooms
• 3 oz / 75g butter
• 2 oz / 50g flour
• 1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley
• 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon water (to glaze the pie)

Make (or buy) the pastry: if making it, allow it half an hour to rest before starting to assemble the pie. Put the chicken in a large pan with the bacon, herbs, roughly sliced onion or leek, and carrot. Cover with cold water, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil: then reduce to a simmer and cook until tender. (A regular chicken will take an hour or so. A boiling fowl, if you're able to get one, will take 3 hours.) When finished, take out the bacon (if it's showing signs of falling apart) and set aside. The chicken should be left to cool in the cooking liquid if at all possible: overnight in the refrigerator, if you like.

When you're ready to start putting the pie together, peel and chop the onion: wipe and trim the mushrooms. Leave them whole if they're small -- otherwise halve or quarter them. Melt half the butter in a pan and sweat the onion in it: add the mushrooms and cook gently until they start to soften.

Skin the bacon (if necessary), trim off excess fat, remove any gristle, and cut it into bite-sized chunks. Remove the chicken from its pot, drain it, and remove the skin. Pull the flesh off its bones and cut them into bite-sized chunks (or a little larger). Degrease the cooking liquid by spooning off all the visible fat (if the chicken has been in the refrigerator overnight, simply lift off the solidified fat before getting the chicken out). From the cooking juices, strain off 10 fluid ounces / 600 ml for the sauce. Add the remaining butter to the onions and mushrooms, sprinkle in the flour and cook over moderate heat for a few minutes: then stir in the strained liquid to make a thick sauce. Bring to the boil and cook for a few minutes, stirring. Then season to taste: add the chopped parsley. Mix the chicken and bacon pieces into this sauce carefully, so they don't break up too much. Check the seasoning.

If making the pie with shortcrust pastry, line the pie dish with the lower crush and prick all over. Then (and if using puff pastry) turn the pie mixture into the dish or pie shell. Cut out a circle of pie crust or puff pastry slightly bigger than the pie dish: top the pie and seal the edges of the crust layers together, or press the puff pastry down against the edges of the dish. Whichever kind of pastry you're using, cut a few slits in the top of the pastry to let out steam: if you like, cut one large slit or hole in the middle of the pie and insert a "pie bird" or other object that will keep the slit open during the baking process. Brush the crust of the pie with the egg/water mixture.

Put the pie in a preheated 220C / 425F oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until the pie is thoroughly heated and the pastry golden brown and crisp. Serve with carrots and a green vegetable.

This pie is also excellent cold.

If you're brining your own bacon:

Ask your butcher for a pound and a half or so of pork collar. (You can also use shoulder or butt for this purpose.)

Then make your brine. This recipe makes a gallon, which should be more than enough to cover a pound and a half of pork. You only need enough of this to cover the piece of meat you're brining: throw out what you don't use.

• 3/4 cup coarse kosher salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 gallon cold water
• 1 tablespoon pepper
• 1 bay leaf

A stainless-steel bowl or resealable plastic bag can work as a brining container, as long as the pork is fully submerged. Weight with a plate, if necessary, to keep the meat fully covered by the brine.

Dissolve salt and sugar in the boiling water. Add it to the cold water; add pepper and stir to combine. Chill brine completely in the refrigerator before adding pork. Place your pork in the water and place in the refrigerator for at least 48 hours.

When you're ready to start cooking, remove the pork from the brine, rinse well and pat dry. The pie mixture will need very little salt, as more salt will come out of the bacon as it's cooked: so be cautious about how you salt the cooking liquid.

By the way, brining is a great way to make pork in general more tender and flavorful: you might like to throw a few pork chops into the brine as well, if you're going to the trouble of making it. They only need to stay there for 12 hours or so. Check out the excellent brining page at WhatsCookingAmerica.net for more information on brining.