What to Eat on St. Patrick’s Day

Every St. Patrick’s Day a good friend of mine of Irish decent spends the day slow-cooking potatoes, corned beef and cabbage. This is always delicious, but I have long been curious where in Ireland this tradition comes from. It is actually American in origin, relating to the New England boiled dinner. In Ireland it would be far more common for individuals to celebrate with ham or something closer to bacon, whereas immigrants to the United States, fleeing from the Irish famine, had more ready access to beef. Hence the corned beef.

Another celebratory favorite is Irish coffee, which also has association with America. This drink was served in the 1940s for the first time. The association of whiskey to St. Patrick’s Day stems from the lesson of generosity taught to an inn keeper where St. Patrick was staying the night. He noticed that the inn keeper was only filling the glasses half full and that it was the greed and the temptation of the devil that urged him to do so. After explaining generosity, he returned a while later to find that the inn keeper has changed his ways and filled his customers’ glasses to the brim.

Sarah Montrowl

October 10th, 2008 by admin | Posted in Uncategorized | (0)