According to a recent article in allrecipes.com, real Irish people – that is, those who grew up on the Emerald Isle, never touched corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s day. That, apparently, is a solely AMERICAN-Irish tradition. On this day, also known to Irish foodie types as “national feast day,” The Irish eat regular Irish food (and perhaps drink a little extra) to celebrate the day.
Here are just some of the different Irish foods you might find a real Irishman – or woman – eating on Paddy’s Day (definitely not called St. Patty’s Day), plus a well-known Irish hangover cure.
A fried Irish breakfast will set you up for the whole day. A traditional fry includes a few slices of bacon (we call them rashers), fried tomatoes, black pudding (blood sausage), brown soda bread, and a huge pot of tea.
We love buttery scones. Homemade scones are available in every small corner shop, grocery store, and gas station and are best eaten with lots of salty Irish butter.
Soda bread is a staple in Ireland. Brown soda bread is made with whole-wheat flour, buttermilk, and baking soda; and white soda bread is made with white flour. It’s traditionally made into a round loaf with a cross etched in the center to keep the fairies out.
A traditional Sunday roast dinner is very popular in Ireland. The roast meat is served with roasted potatoes, peas, carrots, and lashings of gravy. Nothing will taste as good as your Ma’s roast dinner.
Stews and hearty soups are also wildly popular in Ireland. One of the classic dishes is an Irish Lamb Stew. Similar to a pot roast, but with more stock for the stew, these typically have onions, potatoes, and carrots and sometimes bacon to add that rich smokey salty flavor, as well as other seasonings. People in the know say this kind of stew ages well, so you can even make it a day ahead, refrigerate the stew overnight, and reheat it the next day for eating.
In the U.S., there is apple pie, but in Ireland we have apple tart. These rustic tarts are often baked on a plate, and made with homemade pastry and local apples. No matter where you go in Ireland, someone will always have rustled up a homemade apple tart.
The Irish Hangover Cure
St. Patrick’s Day can be a day of heavy drinking, and the crisp sandwich is a well-known hangover cure. It’s essentially some Irish potato chips sandwiched between two slices of buttered white bread.
Another cure for hangovers is a “flat 7Up,” which is essentially some 7Up with a splash of hot water. It’s widely believed a “flat 7Up” can cure almost anything.
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