When March 17 rolls around, many folks around the globe are ready to don green attire, do some drinking, and eat some corned beef and cabbage. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in more than 200 countries, particularly by the Irish diaspora. While we’ve often believed that the celebrations associated with St. Patrick’s Day come directly from Éire itself, most of the traditions have been adapted through the years and vary by country. In the U.S., Irish Americans have long celebrated by drinking green beer and eating corned beef and cabbage.
However, most people in Ireland don’t actually eat corned beef and cabbage, and few have actually tipped a glass of green-tinted Guinness. While many Irish people tend to eat regular meals on St. Patrick’s Day, the go-to celebration food is much more likely to be stews and roasts. Households in Ireland will commonly have bacon and cabbage on the table rather than corned beef and cabbage, which is an Irish-American construct. In this dish, cabbage is fried in bacon drippings, then sprinkled with crumbled bacon and black pepper.
This can be served alongside roast leg of lamb with rosemary, or a special dish called coddle, which is a stew made of potatoes, onions, sausage, and bacon. Another traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal that might be served is colcannon. A simple presentation of buttered mashed potatoes with cabbage and cream, colcannon is a comfort food that’s also notably served at Halloween, and has been known to have hidden treasures within, such as coins.
Other festive fare for St. Paddy’s Day
While it might depend on what region of the Emerald Isle you’re in, many folks will start out their St. Patrick’s Day with a breakfast that sustains: the Irish Fry. An Irish fried breakfast usually comprises bacon (often called rashers), black pudding (blood sausage), pan-fried tomatoes, and Irish soda bread made with flour, buttermilk, and baking soda. This breakfast is definitely a good base for a day of drinking at the pub, and most celebrations will also feature scones and other types of bread or pastry as a means to soak up a bit of alcohol, which usually includes some rounds of Guinness with a top-off of whiskey at the end of the evening.
Other noteworthy St. Paddy’s Day foods include boxty, a potato pancake made of grated potatoes, flour, and eggs. Boxty is often served with beef Irish stew or Irish pub lamb stew. Desserts are also regional, but you’ll likely find chocolate butter pastry pies or fresh apple tarts as sweet offerings. If you’ve taken to the pub for most of the day, rest assured the Irish know the best hangover cures, and they might be just strange enough to work. Widely known to combat overindulgence is the crisp sandwich. That’s right, crisps (potato chips) between two slices of buttered white bread. This is oft served with a hangover-curing glass of flat 7-Up, which isn’t just 7-Up that’s lost its fizz, but the soda mixed with a splash of piping hot water. Sláinte!
