Happy St. Patrick's Day
Who was Saint Patrick and why do we celebrate?
St. Patrick's Day is a global celebration of Irish culture celebrated on or around March 17th. It particularly remembers St Patrick, one of Ireland's patron saints, who ministered Christianity in Ireland during the fifth century. St Patrick's Day is celebrated in many countries with people of Irish descent.
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It's often said that everyone is at least a little bit Irish on St. Patrick's Day, and across America, it's certainly a giant celebration of green beer and tiny leprechauns. No St. Patrick's Day in America would be complete without a dinner of corned beef and cabbage. However that's not quite as Irish as you think it is. That dish actually comes from the early days of Irish immigrants in America, not the old country itself. Head over to Ireland, and you'll certainly find all sorts of parades, festivals, live music, and street carnivals, but you definitely won't find any corned beef on the table, (sorry!). An Irish St. Patrick's Day meal revolves around staple ingredients that have remained part of the Irish tradition for generations. It's not what you're probably expecting, but that doesn't mean that it's boring! When Americans hear the word "bacon," thoughts are filled with the idea of crispy strips of pig-sourced goodness.
They're the stuff of BLTs and burgers, but head to Ireland, and you'll find the number one meat of St. Patrick's day is a bacon that's so different, it's worth talking about. Bacon is loosely defined as meat (that's gammon), and it typically comes from the lion, belly, or collar. That also means when you head to Ireland and order a hamburger with bacon, you're going to get a slice of ham on it.
When it comes to St. Patrick's Day, almost every restaurant and countless dinner tables in Ireland will be serving up a loin of bacon (ham), cabbage and champ. The loin is boiled based on weight, and seasoned with things like peppercorns and mustard. Later, it's glazed with vinegar, honey, more mustard, rosemary, and sage. Cooked cabbage is a staple side dish, and as for champ, that's mashed potatoes with scallions, milk and butter. Sounds yummy, huh? One of my personal favs indeed.
