Corned Beef and Cabbage

Margie usually ends up making this for some church ed class dinner around this time of year (e.g., this week), and everyone loves it.

Of course, its actual connection with the Irish is a lot more limited than popularly thought:

When the Irish emigrated to America and Canada, where both salt and meat were cheaper, they treated beef the same way they would have treated a “bacon joint” at home in Ireland: they soaked it to draw off the excess salt, then braised or boiled it with cabbage, and served it in its own juices with only minimal spicing – may be a bay leaf or so, and some pepper.

This dish, which still turns up on some Irish tables at Easter, has become familiar to people of Irish descent as the traditional favorite to serve on Saint Patrick’s Day. Certainly, there will be many restaurants in Ireland that will be serving Corned Beef and Cabbage on March 17th, but most of them will be doing so just to please the tourists.

The truth is, that for many Irish people, Corned Beef is too “poor” or plain to eat on a holiday: they’d sooner make something more festive.

Of course, St Patrick’s day is a much bigger thing in the US than it is in Ireland, too.

(via J-Walk)