Besides its wonderful whiskey, Ireland is highly popular with its culinary temptations. Meat and dairy products, along with seafood in the coastal areas, have been the basis for Irish cuisine from its very origins until today.
The main ingredients found in every Irish home have always been potatoes, vegetables, bacon, and of course cod, salmon and mackerel in the coastal regions. The good news is that Irish cuisine does not consist of 7 courses of potatoes.
The dishes offered in traditional restaurants in Dublin and in the central parts of the country are favorites among all Irish around the world, who number about 80 million.
No matter what continent they find themselves on, you can tell an Irish for their unconcealed love toward soda bread, stewed mutton and potato pancakes boxty. The famous Irish bread is made with baking soda instead of yeast since the flour on the island is very soft.
The bread is also a part of the Irish breakfast which invokes turmoil among nutritionists. Traditionally it includes oatmeal porridge with milk, fried eggs, slices of bacon, sausages, black pudding, boiled potatoes and fried tomatoes with tea or coffee generously poured over them. Instead of soda bread they may offer you toast and scones with marmalade.
Local dish recipes have remained unchanged for centuries. Most notable is Irish ragu. To make it, the lady of the house puts together everything found around the house and the ragu turns out thick, nutritious, with a whole lot of vegetables and meat. Sometimes beer is added as well. The easiest recipe for Irish ragu includes Vienna sausages, bacon, potatoes and onions.
More than on any other day, on St. Patrick's Day which is celebrated on March 17, the Irish prefer to make the classic dishes. Breakfast might not be purely Irish but will definitely include bacon, eggs, tomatoes and soda bread.
Among the emblematic dishes, colcannon (mashed potatoes with cabbage) takes a key spot. The Irish's love for cabbage is age old, especially when it comes to kale. It is present in many appetizers, the most famous among them being boiled bacon with cabbage - also found on the St. Patrick's Day kitchen table.
Lunch is also hearty and traditional. If you ever ask someone what Irish dish comes to mind, you'll probably get this as an answer: mutton stew.
This quintessential stew with mashed potatoes, onions and thyme is made with 2 bottles of traditional Irish beer - 1 is added after the meat darkens, while the 2nd is intended for the cook.
Take a look at these appetizing Irish recipes: Irish bread, Irish cake with chocolate and whiskey, Irish pancakes with cream and strawberries, Irish cream caramel espresso, Irish cake, Irish boiled lamb, Irish stew, classic Irish toddy.
