With St. Patrick’s Day rapidly approaching, I am once again being inundated with recipes for corned beef and cabbage. My mailbox is filled with flyers for discounted cabbage at the grocery store (never fear, Beulah appreciates this!) and I find myself once again frustrated. Why? Well because the Irish don’t eat corned beef and cabbage!
No, I’m not kidding. I’ve never seen corned beef and cabbage on a menu in Ireland. Most of my Irish family has never even heard of corned beef and cabbage, so no, you will not find that dish gracing our table on this St. Patrick’s Day or any other! (No minty shakes from fast food restaurants either, but that’s a different rant.)
So, if they don’t eat corned beef and cabbage? What DO they eat in Ireland? Well, when we went in October I made a list of all the foods the children particularly loved, because they all really loved Irish food! One little secret that I will share is that the Irish don’t eat as many potatoes as people think, they actually eat a lot more! Yes, potatoes graced our plate in some form or fashion in nearly every meal we had, much to the aggravation of my daughter Erica, who does not care for potatoes!
A food highlight of our trip was visiting the English Market in Cork, which I discussed in my Shrimp & Grits recipe post. While there, Erica managed to find something that she did like, Turkish Delight! Which certainly managed to delight our little Narnia fans! *affiliate link*
In terms of dinner dishes, it isn’t terribly different from food we eat in the States. We had several lovely beef stews (with potatoes, of course!) Salmon from the beautiful waters (with potatoes, duh!) and Roasted chicken with vegetables (and potatoes!) Erica particularly took a liking to Irish sausage, but she preferred to skip the mash (-ed potatoes) that typically come with it!
Another favorite was the ham and cheese panini sandwiches with sharp Irish cheddar from Titanic Belfast. Irish bacon (different from American bacon, but totally delicious) was even found on kid’s menus with chips (potatoes)! And of course, my children’s particular favorite, fish and chips!
The Irish have a lot of international cuisine as well. I couldn’t leave this trip until we had proper Irish-Chinese take-away which is spectacular! They also eat lots of curries and pasta as well. One night my cousin Catriona even fixed Mexican food!
One night Eric and I went out to a nice dinner with my cousins. Imagine my delight when I saw kale on the menu at Made in Belfast; a restaurant totally up my alley, serving local, seasonal foods!
In the end though, let’s face it. Ireland isn’t exactly know for their cuisine. Ahem.
So do you cook anything special to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Why not leave me a comment and tell me about it!
If you liked this post, you might be interested in my Ireland Vacation Pinterest Board! Also, be sure to sign up for Beulah’s moooooosletter so you don’t miss any of the fun Irish recipes I post in the coming days! (It’s a newsletter written by a cow with attitude. It’s pretty funny…)
***This post contains affiliate links. A small percentage of the purchase price of items bought here will go toward keeping this blog up and running and food in Beulah’s bowl, so thanks!***
I typically make a chocolate cake with Guinness as one of the ingredients. It is spectacular! Also oysters, and potatoes.
That sounds amazing! Feel free to share that cake recipe if you are so inclined! I was thinking of a chocolate cake with Bailey’s buttercream, so we must be on the same wavelength! 🙂
This is also a familiar complaint in my family, my mother was virtually rabid on the subject. She maintains that when the Irish were hired on to household staffs in the states, corned beef & cabbage was chosen by them upstairs to feed their servants as they were the cheapest cuts available.
There is also a rather lengthy story of a gorgeous luncheon of leg of lamb with peas & potatoes, served on Saint Patrick’s Day by my mother & me to a room full of club women. As we were serving coffee and tea with dessert of trifle, one lady ventured to ask why the menu did not include corned beef & cabbage and off she went. With a big grin. Good fun.
So thanks for your piece on what Irish people like to eat, I am printing for my mother who is now 92!
That made me grin! I hope your mother enjoys it!
Glad to see this post i keep telling everyone the only corned beef we see in Ireland comes in tins (cans) from S America and is a mashed up beef (hopefully- might be horse!) and fat!
The reason we in America eat corned beef and cabbage on st pats day is because early Irish immigrants were beyond poor and meat wasn’t often on the menu, when they splurged and did get meat they got the very affordable corned beef and fixed it as a stew with cabbage. An enormous pot of this could be stretched very far and could also be very filling. This coming from a girl whose family was some of those very poor early Irish immigrants.
And before u go dissing on the shamrock shake…there isn’t a whole lot else that’s green that’s appropriate for a milkshake, and green is the official color of st pats day. You can thank us pagans for this. We were very proud to bastardize a day originally in celebration of the pagans being driven out of Ireland.
Our Irish family tradition shepherd’s pie made with lamb that has been slow cooked in guinness, rutabaga, potatoes and whate er other root veggies sound good, and the obligatory soda bread… my great grandmothers yummy recipe. Oh, we always have bangers and eggs with sharp irish cheddar for st pats breakfast. Mmmmmm
Guinness stew made with beef, lots of onions sauteed in butter, beef broth, and…Guinness. (Could be made with lamb.) And soda bread.
YUM! That sounds divine!
I make a boudin with Guinness and thinly sliced onions that is the bomb. Unfortunately I serve it over garlic mashed potatoes!
What a fun post! I dream of going to Ireland one day, and have heard from many people that they don’t eat many of the “classic” Irish foods we attribute to them in the States. Thanks for all the info on the Irish 🙂
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