Today is St. Patrick’s Day. Quick, name an Irish food favorite…

Today is St. Patrick’s Day. Quick, name an Irish food favorite…

Mar 17

Today is St. Patrick’s Day.  Quick, name an Irish food favorite…

You said Corned Beef and Cabbage, didn’t you?  Corned Beef and Cabbage is considered the quintessential Irish food.  But it isn’t exactly Irish in origin.

When the Irish emigrated to the United States, like every other ethnic group to make that journey, they brought their favorite foods with them.  But what they brought was NOT Corned Beef and Cabbage, but rather a slow boiled combination of PORK with Cabbage and other vegetables.  In the US, the recent Irish immigrants found the cost of pork to be out of their reach.  But not far away on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the Jewish neighbors of the Irish were using a cut of meat from the lower breast of the cow which is generally called Brisket to great success and much lower cost.  The Irish decided to adapt their recipe to include the brisket instead of pork, and sure and begorrah, a new Irish tradition was born.

I’m Jewish and love brisket, but I have to admit that I prefer the way the Irish use the same cut of meat.  So today, St. Patrick’s Day, let’s order a plate of Corned Beef and Cabbage, lift a glass of warm Stout and say “Beannachtam na Feile Padraig!”  (Happy St. Patrick’s Day)