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Irish
Culture and History Articles
Irish
Food History
Our Irish Food History page
features the stories of some of your favorite Irish foods.
History
of Irish Soda Bread
In
the early and mid 1800's, rural Ireland did not
have
a strong tradition of bread made by using yeast.
All baking was done in the home and, in addition
to having limited baking supplies, time was often
at a premium. The use of baking soda as a leavening
agent was quick, effective and it produced a
much more consistent result than yeast did. It
caught
on quickly and made soda breads a staple of the
Irish diet until commercial bread production
began. Irish soda bread is still popular with
the Irish,
as well as with people of other nationalities
from all over the world. The
original soda breads contained nothing more than
flour, buttermilk, baking soda and salt. The
buttermilk was leftover from the butter making
process and the bread was almost always served
with freshly churned butter. Today, the breads
often contain additional ingredients such as
sugar, butter, currants or caraway seeds, to
enhance the
flavor of the bread. Soda bread is heartier than
most yeast breads and goes very well with soups,
stews and meat dishes. The modern soda bread
mixes are available for those with a busy schedule
and
are easy to make with a delicious result.
If
you are looking for a soda bread recipe, we have
several in our recipes section, as well
as soda bread and brown soda bread mixes in
our online
store.
History
of Corned Beef and Cabbage
 Originally,
corned beef and cabbage was a traditional dish
served at Easter Sunday dinner for the
aristocracy in Ireland. The more expensive
beef, because
there was no refrigeration at that time,
was salted or
brined during the winter to preserve it;
then It was eaten after the long, meatless Lenten
fast.
However,
the majority of Irish people feel that corned
beef and cabbage is about as
Irish as
pizza. In rural Ireland, the country folk
made bacon and
cabbage for Easter Sunday dinner which
consisted of cured boiling bacon (or pork loin)
cooked
together with cabbage and potatoes.
Since
the invention of refrigeration, the trend in
Ireland is to eat fresh meats.
The Irish
say that mostly Irish-Americans eat corned
beef and
cabbage on St. Patrick's Day, Ireland's
principal feast day, as a nostalgic reminder
of their
Irish heritage.
Corning
is a form of curing; it has nothing to do with
corn. The name comes from
Anglo-Saxon times, before refrigeration.
In those days,
the
meat was
dry-cured in coarse pellets of salt,
some the size of kernels of corn, which
were
rubbed into the
beef to keep it from spoiling and to
preserve it.
Today,
brining, which is the use of salt water, has
replaced the dry salt
cure
but the name
corned beef is still used. Commonly
used spices that
give corned beef its distinctive
flavor are peppercorns and bay leaves but
these spices
may vary regionally.
Although
I have traveled to Ireland six times, I have
never seen corned
beef
and cabbage
on any menu. However, there is
usually bacon and
cabbage,
available nearly every day in some
restaurants. It is usually served
with carrots and
mashed potatoes with parsley sauce.
History
of
Bailey's Irish Cream
In
1971, a group of high echelon managers at Gilbey's
of Ireland
had the idea
for a unique
Irish drink.
Whiskey is a distilled grain
product which is blended with
about 50%
cream to produce
Irish
Cream. Back
in the old days, one way to
handle an upset stomach was to mix whiskey
and
cream together.
The problem
was that the two would only
mix well together for a very short
time. Bailey's
found a
secret way
to get the mixture to last.
No
one had managed to blend cream and whiskey before
and
the first
Bailey's
Irish Cream
appeared in
a ten gallon milk churn.
They had been trying to get the
whiskey to mix with
the cream
and it took
three years of patient work,
plus
a little chocolate and vanilla,
to create
the
truly amazing taste.
Finally, on November 26th
1974, by way of an accident, Bailey's
Irish
Cream
Liqueur was
born.
The
process used was mixing chocolate nibs and vanilla,
adding burnt
sugar, sugar,
and then
whiskey with the cream
to
make this delicious drink
that
has a shelf life of two
years. Now, Bailey's is not only
a drink but
is used as an
addition to
coffee and many recipes.
Thank you for a job well
done!
Bailey's
Irish Cream Recipes!
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