Food in Ireland

Tourist don't go to Ireland for the cuisine. For the beer maybe if you like a stout Guinness or maybe for a Jamison chaser, but food, nah. Irish cuisine consists of over a hundred ways to make meat and potatoes. Traditionally, the Irish raised livestock and their diets relied heavily on the proteins from these animals. In the 16th century, potatoes became a staple of many Irish dishes and it was meat and potatoes from there on.
I have never been to Ireland and unfortunately never would be able to go because I am highly allergic to potato's and would not eat pig's feet either.

But, you may love it, so let's see what the Irish eat today. 

Mutton Stew

Long a staple of traditional Irish cooking, mutton stew is a hearty dish prepared with lamb shoulder, carrots, parsley, potatoes, and seasoning. Many pubs serve a variation on this dish, and it is also available in restaurants and other dining establishments.

 

Boxty

A Boxty is a potato pancake made from fine grating of the potato, providing a smoother consistency than other varieties of potato pancakes.

 

 

 

 

Bacon & Cabbage

Perhaps the best known of Ireland's traditional dishes, bacon and cabbage is often referred to simply as cabbage stew. Typically, you boil the bacon with cabbage and potatoes, resulting in a flavorful and filling dish. Note that the bacon is served in slabs more like Canadian bacon that that found in the US.






Colcannon

By combining two Irish favorites, potatoes and cabbage, and adding other seasoning, you get a creamy starch called Colcannon.

It is said that the Irish eat this mixture on Halloween. Parents even hide coins inside the dish for children to find. The tradition is for a blindfolded single woman to be led to the cabbage patch to select a head of cabbage for the dish. The characteristics of the cabbage she chose were said to be those of her future husband. I guess the women consider Irish men to be real cabbage-heads.

Crubeens or crunchy pig"s feet

Crunchy pig's feet are widely sold in Ireland as bar or street food. This messy dish is the preferred accompaniment to a pint of beer in many parts of the country, and has experienced a resurgence of popularly. This dish looks awful to me.  I would never eat pig's feet but some people in Ireland love it.

Homemade Corned Beef with Vegetables

Here the traditional Irish meal of corned beef and cabbage, served in the US on St. Patrick's day. In the photo it is supplemented with turnips, Brussels sprouts, carrots, and boiled potatoes, an upscale version of the Irish home meal. It is often served with Irish Soda Bread.








So, here they are and hope if you go you enjoy the food.