Wednesday, March 11, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Journey
through
Thyme
Jodi Schneider
Columnist
What the Irish
really eat on
St. Patrick’s Day
Darina Allen, cookbook
author, chef and owner of
Ballymaloe Cookery School
in Shanagarry, County Cork,
Ireland said, <For centu-
ries in Ireland, the March
17 holiday celebrating the
country9s patron saint was a
somewhat sober affair. It was
much more of a religious
feast 4 you went to Mass
where people would wear a
live shamrock, a little Irish
dancing, and sometimes a
parade.=
St. Patrick is one of the
patron saints of Ireland. He
is said to have died on March
17 in or around the year
493. He grew up in Roman
Britain but was captured
by Irish raiders and taken
to Ireland as a slave when
he was a young adult. After
some years he returned to
his family and entered the
church, like his father and
grandfather before him. He
later returned to Ireland as
a missionary and worked
in the north and west of the
country.
According to popular leg-
end, St. Patrick rid Ireland
of snakes. However, it is
thought that there have been
no snakes in Ireland since the
last ice age. The <snakes=
that St. Patrick banished
from Ireland may refer to the
druids or pagan worshipers
of snake or serpent gods.
It9s often said that every-
one is at least a wee bit
Irish on St. Patrick9s Day,
and across America it9s cer-
tainly a giant celebration
of green brew and tiny lep-
rechauns. No St. Patrick9s
Day in America would be
complete without a dinner of
corned beef and cabbage 4
but that9s not quite as Irish
as you might think. That
dish actually comes from
the early days of Irish immi-
grants in America, not the
old country itself. Head over
to Ireland and you9ll find all
sorts of parades, festivals,
live music, and street carni-
vals, but you won9t find any
corned beef on the table 4
and there won9t be any green
beer either.
An Irish St. Patrick9s
Day meal revolves around
staple ingredients that have
remained part of the Irish
tradition for generations.
Beef was long considered
a luxury item in Ireland, and
thus wasn9t consumed very
often. When Irish immi-
grants arrived in America,
beef (including corned beef,
thanks to its popularity in the
community) was plentiful,
and soon became a signature
dish.
So, what do the Irish eat
on St. Patty9s Day?
When our friends across
the pond awake on St.
Paddy9s Day, they9ll likely
start the day with a tradi-
tional Irish breakfast of fresh
eggs (normally fried), along
with sausage, bacon, grilled
tomatoes, black pudding,
white pudding, mushrooms,
and Irish brown bread. The
bacon served in Ireland is
generally back bacon, which
is thicker and meatier than
the kind sold in America.
After all the festivities of
the day 4 including parades,
dancing, music, and religious
services 4 families will usu-
ally return home for a large
meal. Nine times out of 10
this will feature leg of lamb,
probably roasted in the oven
with rosemary and garlic.
It could also include shep-
herd9s pie. The Irish love
their pies, and a bit of steak
and Guinness pie is a guar-
antee for many traditional
tables set for St. Patrick9s
Day celebrations.
Of course, potatoes are
customary on the side and
sometimes as soup with
bacon, or alongside root veg-
etables like carrots, parsnips,
and pretty much anything
else they can boil the heck
out of. Potatoes can also be
served mashed or roasted
too, of course. For greens,
peas and broccoli are the
Irish standards.
In many places bread
recipes rely on yeast as the
agent that makes them rise.
In Ireland, though, that9s tra-
ditionally been a little diffi-
cult to do. Ireland9s climate
presents some problems
when it comes to baking, and
that includes getting things
to rise properly. Wheat flour
grown and produced in
Ireland is what9s known as
9
<soft,= and the low protein
content of that flour means
yeast doesn9t work in quite
the same way. The Irish use
what9s on hand and what9s
affordable to survive on.
The Irish have long relied
on bread made from bicar-
bonate of soda, not yeast,
called baking soda, or bread
soda, this particular ingre-
dient works to make bread
rise when it reacts with other
ingredients to produce CO2.
While you might find all
kinds of bread at a grocery
store or bakery, it9s soda
bread that still forms the
backbone of a traditional
meal, and it9s always on the
table. It9s incredibly easy to
make and can be either white
or brown.
A benefit of this bread is
its versatility, and it9s just as
good first thing in the morn-
ing with a bit of butter and
honey as it is in the evening,
soaking up the last remains
of the gravy from a steak and
ale pie.
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