All you people asking about St Patrick's Day food?

Question

Do you realise that NOBODY in ireland eats corned beef and cabbage?

People barely eat corned beef in sandwiches, nevermind anything else.

Bacon (ham) and cabbage is eaten here alright, sometimes. But anyway, I hav never heard of anyone eating a special meal on Paddy's day. Cos everyone is drinking it's usually chips.

Also, Guinness is not a beer, it is heresy to say it is, it's actually a stout.

Why drink green beer? That's kinda disgusting?!

March 17th is the day St. Patrick died. St. Patrick's day is a religious holiday celebrating Ireland's Patron saint, cos he converted Ireland to christianity.

And if you want to celebrate a traditional Paddy's day, go to catholic mass, said in irish, and then watch the parade, and then have a meal, and then go to the pub.

Some of the hokey stereotypical stuff is what we call plastic Irish. That is, irish - american inventions that are a little insulting to real irish people.

That help at all?!

Yea that's the Point... There IS no Paddy's day food!!!

Answer 1

Once again, Guinness is a beer. If it is heresy then the people at Guiness are heretics:

From Guinness' own web site:
(ironically enough, from the section titled "the beer")
"Adored since 1959, it’s the powerful surge and settle that gives GUINNESS® Draught beer its uniqueness. Lovingly poured around the world, GUINNESS® Draught is one of best-selling imported beers in the USA."
Notice they call it beer? Hello?
http://www.guinness.com/us_en/beer/draught/
See your other question for more details.
What is with the attitude? Be glad we in America celebrate your culture.....insulted?? The English, French, Germans, Italians, Japanese, Chinese, I could go on and on...in America do not have their own day! Only the Mexicans have a day where we celebrate a culture like we do on St. Patricks day. And that is mostly regional. Look at all the major parades we have for this Saturday.
There are more people with Irish heritage in the US then there are in Ireland!
So we don't get the food right, big deal. We Americanize all ethnic food....we are a melting pot after all.
Drop the attitude and the superiority complex enough to be proud of your culture and the fact that the most powerful country in the world sets apart a day to do the same...even if we don't get the details perfect.
Does your country have a day to celebrate American culture? NO. You probably hate our culture like much of Europe.
And if you did I would never think of insulting the way you chose to celebrate us Americans with talk of all you got wrong.
Unbelievable.

Answer 2

We know that corned beef is an american irish immigrant adaptation used since bacon and ham weren't easily available in the cities for the immigrant population. Many of the Irish american catholics will attend mass on St. Patrick's day. Most masses here are said in English though. I would have trouble finding a mass locally said in Latin, let alone Irish since the catholics in West Virginia are only abou 3 % of the population. Most of our Irish friends here get together and drink Killian's, and we don't dye it green. Our meal will be corned beef, cabbage and potatoes with soda bread tomorrow.
Most Irish descendants we know don't go for all the commercial stuff. For us it is a day to celebrate our heritage and share some of it with our kids. Some of the kids are learning Step dancing and they love the music. We won't go to a pub, as they are just bars here and we will all get together as a big extended family of friends.
We might have started celebrating today, but since it is Lent, we will settle for attending Stations of the Cross and a meager meal instead. :*)

Answer 3

Well, actually...please do not lump all Americans or Irish-Americans in with the green beer folks. I have never drunk green beer, never will. I don't really understand why anyone would. Not sure they even do that anymore.

Yes, I know the difference between lager/stout/porter/ale etc... I think people just refer to it as beer as some call everything beer, sort of like calling something a mixed drink rather than by it's specific name.

Yes, I do know that corn beef and cabbage is not a traditional meal in Ireland, but it is/was a cheap meal had by Irish immigrants here when they came to the US, so don't judge the adaption to another land by your standards. That is as ignorant as you claim Irish Americans to be. Many of us have parents and grandparents who came over and started their own traditions (green beer not withstanding) so who are you to judge them? In another time, under different circumstances you could have found yourself an immigrant in America. Different country different traditions. Similar culture.

Corned beef and cabbage is also known along the eastern seaboard of the US as a New England boiled dinner. It's an American thing. It just became traditional here on Saint Pats.

And I know that I should go to mass, but I don't care for anyone but my dear irish roman catholic school bred mother to nag me about it. I am sure that she will be going, so I am covered. It needn't be in Irish though, the Pope said that Latin will do.

I know the story of Saint Patrick (see info about my mother, above)

St. Pat's isn't a day off in the US, so most families only celebrate it with a big meal. Hence the corned beef and cabbage, as noted, an immigrant meal. There is no time to go to a parade and masss etc...unless it falls on a weekend such as this year.

A lot of us find the strange items marketed over here insulting too - companies just want to sell useless things to make a buck. Plenty of Irish shops sell green garbage to tourists, so it's all over (Carrolls shops etc...). Most of that crap isn't made by anyone vaguely Irish - it's just sold to them. Sort of like the commercilization of Christmas and every other holiday.

I don't watch the parade, and I try to avoid Irish style bars if possible as they are filled with the people swilling the green beer, no one pulls a decent pint as the places are jammed, and it's an annoying scene. St. Pats is the one night I rarely hit a pub. Just dinner with friends. All that said, we don't call those that get weird and wear green hats plastic, we just call them a**h*les and avoid them. And by the way, do try a corned beef sandwich (a reuben) if/when in NYC, they are very good. But very large, one could last you a week.

Happy St. Pats, stop being so cranky.

Answer 4

I agree with everything you said, except for Guinness not being beer.

While it IS a stout, a stout is a form of beer. I know because I brew it myself all the time.

Answer 5

Corned Beef and cabbage sounds disgusting!

p.s. i didn't even know there was St. Patricks Day FOOD!

You learn something new EVERYDAY i guess!

Answer 6

Well said! Beer, stout, chips and fun...thats all you need to celebrate!!! And church, of course...

Answer 7

i agree with ya mate them damn yanks ....again just haven't got a clue watch the thumbs down sign i will get

Answer 8

but i LOVE corned beef!!! i could eat it every day! thanks for sharing, that's very interesting! i love bacon/ham too

Answer 9

i just use that as a day to get shitfaced :)
any holiday is suitin for such! even if i'm an athiest....i can pretend for a good party.

Answer 10

So there are Catholics that don't like to drink-- interesting!!