BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Irish Culture St Patrick's Day

HI LIsa---

YEs it really was corned beef -----often a lot of the moms would buy the cut and then "corn" it themselves---by whatever means I cannot remember. I DO rememebr my mom boiling the beef for several hours ---and the taste was so unmistakeable.LOL

TOny

Hmmm, the people I knew from Millstreet said it was a type of bacon that was traditionally served in Ireland for special meals. Ireland in general strikes me as a sheep and pig sort of place, not huge beef cow farms - did you come from cow country to be able to afford beef?

Slainte everybody, for an early St Pat's! (Great thread ) I am working on some great Irish short stories for that month!

Lisa - you are right about the ham but I have eaten a similar dish in Belfast - and been served it by family from there - perhaps there it was a sort of concoction of the tqo?

We had the typical 'beef stew' with the potatoes actually in it! Also carrots and onions!

Tony and everybody, he is SO right about all that lovely butter not only on the cabbage, but also on the boiled potatoes in their 'skins.!'

Sorry about the Carbs/fat, Lisa, but even my sons love their greens that way!

When we've visited Ireland, most of the Irish folk we met went out dancing with us every night - and worked hard every day - so the last thing they had to worry about was carbs

Yes, when you think of it, a healthy diet with lots of greens, fruit and exercise means maybe we can lighten up a bit on the odd garnish or two - like butter!

What about Colcannon? That's tasty too - people will think we Irish grow no veg except cabbage LOL ! (I think its made with mash potatoes, leeks and cabbage - yum!)

Maybe I'll ring the changes this St Pat's - we always have Irish stew!

My family has always served corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day. It just wouldn't be the same without it. The "pinching" thing alwasy bothered me when I was a child, because there were always some "wise acting" boys that ran around using the day as an excuse to pinch the little kids, wether we wore green or not. The rule was: if you were not wearing green you would get pinched. If someone pinched you and you were wearing green then you could pinch them back ten times. But, that did not work with the big boys, because we could not catch them!

Ulster Fry. Popular as its name suggests in the North of Ireland no visitor to Ireland should miss this traditional meal usually served as a breakfast but often eaten at any time of the day. The meal consists of the following Bacon, Sausages, Black Pudding, Mushrooms, Tomato and Eggs served with Soda Bread and Potato Farl. www.emeraldtiger.com/general/food.htm

I looked up some traditional Irish foods and found the recipe above. I think I will try that for dinner tonight. But, what is Black Pudding?

My father always loved his homemade Irish Stew like his Dad made, using kid or lamb. It is so good!!!