What do the Irish eat on St. Patrick's Day?

Question

I read that most Irish do not eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day, so I was wondering, well, what do they eat then?

Answer 1

the traditional meal on st. patty's day is corned beef and cabbage.

Answer 2

Many people will be eating Irish food such as Irish Stew and Corned Beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day. Corned Beef is not an Irish dish. It is what Americans think the Irish eat. A more traditional meal would be ham and cabbage or bacon and cabbage. Some say that in Ireland on St. Patrick's Day the traditional green beer is prominent. However, in Ireland, many years ago, St. Patrick's Day is considered a holy day and Pubs were not open for business. There were no parades, no drinking or wearing green. Green was considered an unlucky color.

Answer 3

Irish Potatoes

Answer 4

They fast and drink beer. The beer buzz last longer if you don't eat. I'm sure there is a record down there for how many days an Irish man was able to live on bear alone, that we will never be able to beat here in the USA.

Answer 5

Green Hostess Snowballs?

Answer 6

im irish and i didnt even no we were supposed to eat corned beef on st patricks day lol!!!....wat am i having 2day?.... well i started celebrating last nite so prob nothing... my stomach is in bits need more drink lol!!!

Answer 7

I'm Irish and living in Ireland. Today I treated myself to fresh lasagne followed by Belgian chocolate cheesecake and Jersey double cream - and not a begorra in sight.

Answer 8

They don't eat on St. Patrick's day. They drink stout, enjoy music and have fun.

Answer 9

I usually eat irish soda bread

Answer 10

Corned Beef & Cabbage - The Feeding of A Myth


What's the national dish of Ireland? Corned Beef and Cabbage, you say?
Since March has undoubtedly become "Irish Awareness Month", we thought
it would be fun to explore the truth behind yet another Irish myth.

Our research took us to an informative page on European Cuisine.
According to the article written by an Irishman, Corned Beef first turns
up in the Vision of MacConglinne, a 12th-century poem which describes
Irish food as it was eaten at the time.

The poet tell us that Corned Beef is a delicacy given to a king, in an
attempt to conjure "the demon of gluttony" out of his belly. This delicacy s
tatus makes little sense until one understands that beef was not a major part
of the Irish diet until the last century or so.

True, cattle were kept from very early times, but it was for their milk - not
their meat. Said one bemused sixteenth-century traveller and historian,
"They make seventy-several kinds of food out of milk, both sweet and sour,
and they love them the best when they’re sourest."

So, what meat did the Irish eat? History tells us that pork was always the favorite.
In ancient times, cattle were prized as a common medium for barter. The size
of one’s herd was an indication of status, wealth and power -- hence all the
stories of tribal chieftains and petty kings endlessly rustling one another’s cattle.

Long after the cattle raids were a distant memory, the majority of Irish people
still didn’t eat very much beef because it was much too expensive and those
who could afford it, consumed it fresh.

Corned Beef again surfaces in writings from the late 1600's as a specialty, a
costly delicacy - expensive because of the salt - and made to be eaten at Easter,
and sometimes at Hallowe'en. Surprising to this writer, was learning what the
term "corn" really means. The name comes from Anglo-Saxon times when meat
was dry-cured in coarse "corns" of salt. Pellets of salt, some the size of kernels
of corn, were rubbed into the beef to keep it from spoiling and to preserve it.
Today, brining -- the use of salt water -- has replaced the dry salt cure, but
the name "corned beef" is still used, rather than "brined" or "pickled" beef.

But back to the myth: It was in the late 19th century that it began to take root.
When the Irish emigrated to America and Canada, where both salt and meat were
cheaper, they treated beef the same way they would have treated a "bacon joint"
at home in Ireland: they soaked it to draw off the excess salt, then braised or
boiled it with cabbage, and served it in its own juices with only minimal spicing -
may be a bay leaf or so, and some pepper.

This dish, which still turns up on some Irish tables at Easter, has become familiar
to people of Irish descent as the traditional favorite to serve on Saint Patrick’s Day.
Certainly, there will be many restaurants in Ireland that will be serving Corned Beef
and Cabbage on March 17th , but most of them will be doing so just to please
the tourists.

The truth is, that for many Irish people, Corned Beef is too "poor" or plain to eat
on a holiday: they'd sooner make something more festive. So, what then, is the
Irish national dish - if indeed, there is one?

When I was growing up, my dad's favorite on St. Patrick's Day was boiled bacon
and cabbage and it would appear that is still true in Ireland today. The "bacon joint"-
various cuts of salted or smoked and salted pork - is sometimes cooked alone, or
it might be braised with a small chicken keeping it company in the pot; it might
also be served with vegetables, or with potatoes boiled in their jackets. For
holiday eating, the winner would probably be spiced beef, served cold and sliced
thin, with soda bread and a pint of Guinness on the side. At our house, we always
had Roast Goose at Christmas and Roast Lamb on Easter. In fact, the first time
I ever ate Corned Beef & Cabbage was after I came to the U.S. So what will people
in Ireland be eating on St. Patrick's Day? The question was put to listeners of South
East Radio which reaches south Wicklow and parts of Wexford and Kilkenny. Said
one respondent: "Eat? I eat pints."Another referred to the pint of Guinness as a
"shamrock sandwich"and one mentioned a dish her family sometimes made which
used cabbage, turnip and potatoes to honor the colors of the Irish flag. Of the
twenty-five people who were polled, none of them mentioned any specific food
as being of any interest.

Long after this article was written, a subscriber to our newsletter brought the
following poem to our attention. It's just too good not to include as an addendum.

GOOD GRIEF - NOT BEEF!
I just want to put something straight
About what should be on your plate,
If it's corned beef you're makin'
You're sadly mistaken,
That isn't what Irishmen ate.

If you ever go over the pond
You'll find it's of bacon they're fond,
All crispy and fried,
With some cabbage beside,
And a big scoop of praties beyond.

Your average Pat was a peasant
Who could not afford beef or pheasant.
On the end of his fork
Was a bit of salt pork,
As a change from potatoes 'twas pleasant.

This custom the Yanks have invented,
Is an error they've never repented,
But bacon's the stuff
That all Irishmen scoff,
With fried cabbage it is supplemented.

So please get it right this St. Paddy's.
Don't feed this old beef to your daddies.
It may be much flasher,
But a simple old rasher,
Is what you should eat with your tatties.