Way back in the annals of history, between the time when the fairies hid under the hills and the English came and screwed the pooch, had a very different cuisine, if you can call a backwater European country’s hunting and gathering to be cuisine.
Meat, especially beef, was more of an upper class luxury, and this type of separation would remain constant until the modern age, leaving the peasantry to subsist on mutton and pork, and later on the potato. In fact, corned beef production was such a big deal that the cattle farms forced out other agriculture, which meant the Irish had less land to grow and raise their own food, and weren’t able to reap the benefits of their newly apportioned land. The consumption of corned beef was such a big deal that, during the Potato Famine, as the immigrants came to America and found that corned beef was incredibly cheap here, it became a staple in Irish American food, which is why your grandmother makes it every year. So, in the interest of learning a bit more about Irish culture today, here’s a few Irish dishes to try.
Boxty
This little dish is the Irish version of the potato pancake, and like most potato pancakes or latke’s it can be served in many many different ways. Straight up, sour cream, various veggies or meats or sauces. My personal favorite is Irish bacon, a sharp chedder cheese, and a white wine sauce like they do in the Field in San Diego, which, if you’re ever in San Diego, go there. They imported a pub from Ireland and set it up inside a building. The atmosphere is wonderful and the food is incredible.
Colcannon
Colcannon is another potato dish, this time a variation on mashed potatoes. While it’s a side dish, and uses many of the traditional mashed potato ingredients, it also contains cabbage , ham, parsley and scallions. I’m not a cabbage lover, but I could eat buckets of this.
Bacon and Cabbage
This one might look familiar to some of you, since it’s basically corned beef and cabbage, but with the corned beef substituted with bacon. Though, since this is the original dish, I’m not sure if we should say that the corned beef has been substituted, but rather is the American substitute. Either way, it’s something different to do, and if you haven’t had Irish bacon, you need to.
Irish Stew
Walk into any Irish pub tomorrow and you’ll see barrels full of some take on Guinness Beef Stew. Here, we have the more traditional base, using pork or mutton instead of beef. Another “variation” is the coddle. Similar ingredients, slightly different preparation, and a favorite of Mr. Let Them Eat Babies, Jonathan Swift.
Rhubarb Fool
Had enough of bread pudding? Sick of triffle? Looking for something sweet, but tart and easy to make? Check out the rhubarb fool. This is a more universal dish, but rhubarb is a fairly traditional Irish. . . fruit or whatever it is.
So, after a huge day of drinking, you’re probably gonna be massively hung over. See if you can’t find an Irish breakfast. If you’re in NYC, Mike’s Diner in Astoria has a very good one and the Brass Monkey over the Meatpacking district has a more traditional one, even if it’s a lot smaller.
