SAINT PATRICK’S DAY FARE BRYAN CORSINI BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Italian & center of the plate
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t. Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of St Patrick, is a celebration in honour of the patron saint of Ireland, St Patrick. The celebration, which marks the day of St Patrick’s death, was originally a religious holiday meant to honour the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. Interestingly, St Patrick wasn’t Irish. He is believed to have been born in either Scotland or Wales and sold into slavery in Ireland as a child. So, what do the Irish eat on St. Patrick’s Day! If you said CORNED BEEF, you’d be wrong. Corned Beef was primarily adopted by Irish immigrants in America. The American variety consumed by Irish settlers was Jewish corned beef, made from kosher brisket. What differentiated it as “Irish” was that it was cooked with potatoes and cabbage. What are the favourite and traditional, authentic foods of The Irish?
Meats: Inside and Out. Pork is Ireland’s favourite meat, judging from the proliferation of homemade sausages and dishes featuring pigs’ feet, bacon, ham, ribs, chops, and roasts. Sheep, in the forms of older mutton and younger lamb, also 12
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play a major role in Irish cuisine— from stewed chunks to whole roasted legs.
Potatoes, parsnips, carrots and cabbage—these are the primary vegetables served in Ireland. Onions also play into most dishes. When available, the Irish also cook meals with cauliflower, mushrooms, leeks, broccoli, turnips, peas, chicory, endive and asparagus. Apples are by far the most common fruit, eaten fresh or made into cakes, breads, pies, and fools. Fools are simply puréed fruit layered with rich whipped cream, usually served in glasses, but their simplicity is part of Ireland’s love of fresh ingredients. Strawberries and rhubarb also appear in puddings, jams, crumbles and tarts. REPRESENTATIVE TRADITIONAL IRISH DISHES INCLUDE: 1. Irish stew - made with pork, lamb, mutton, or beef 2. Bacon and Cabbage, served with potatoes 3. Boxty - a type of potato pancake 4. Coddle - sausage, bacon, and potato 5. Colcannon - mashed potato, kale or cabbage, and butter
