A pint of stout and some soda bread Irish cuisine can be divided into two main categories – traditional, mainly simple dishes, and more modern dishes, as served by hotels etc. for tourists.
There are many Irish dishes involving potatoes. Colcannon is a dish made of potato and one of wild garlic (the earliest form), cabbage or curly kale, (compare bubble and squeak). Champ is a combination of mashed potato and egg, into which chopped scallions (spring onions) are mixed.
Other examples of simple Irish meals are Irish stew, and also bacon and cabbage (boiled together in water). Boxty is another traditional dish. A dish mostly particular to Dublin is coddle, which involves boiled pork sausages. Ireland is famous for the Irish breakfast, consisting mainly of pork, and, particularly in Ulster, fried potato farls.
Seafood has never been a mainstay of the Irish diet, despite the country being an island, but many dishes have developed nonetheless. Salmon and cod are perhaps the two most common types of fish used. Hotels might also serve oysters and mussels.
Traditional Irish breads include soda bread, soda farls and blaa, a doughy white bread roll particular to Waterford.
Food in early Ireland
There are many references to food and drink in early Irish literature. Honey seems to have been widely eaten and used in the making of mead. The old stories also contain many references to banquets, although these may well be greatly exaggerated and provide little insight to every diet. There are also many references to fulacht fiadh. These were sites for cooking deer, and consisted of holes in the ground which were filled with water. The meat was placed in the water and cooked by the introduction of hot stones. Many fulacht fiadh sites have been identified across the island of Ireland, and some of them appear to have been in use up to the 17th century.
Excavations at the Viking settlement in the Wood Quay area of Dublin have produced a significant amount of information on the diet of the inhabitants of the town. The main meats eaten were cattle, sheep and pigs, with pigs being the most common. This popularity of bacon extended down to modern times in Ireland. Poultry and wild geese as well as fish and shellfish were also common, as were a wide range of native berries and nuts, especially hazel. The seeds of knotgrass and goosefoot were widely present and may have been used to make a porridge.
The potato in Ireland Potatoes form the basis for many traditional Irish dishes The potato would appear to have been introduced into Ireland in the second half of the 17th century, initially as a garden crop. It eventually came to be the main food field crop of the tenant and labouring classes. As a food source, the potato is extremely valuable in terms of calories yielded per acre of crop. The potato is also a good source of many vitamins and minerals, particularly vitamin C (especially when fresh). As a result, the typical 18th and 19th century Irish diet of potatoes and buttermilk was a contributing factor in the population explosion that occurred in Ireland at that time. However, the damp Irish climate favours the spread of potato blight and this frequently led to shortages and famine. The most notable instance being the Irish potato famine of 1846 to 1849 which more or less undid all the growth in population of the previous century by a combination of starvation, disease and emigration.
Food in Ireland today In the 20th century the usual modern selection of foods common to Western culture has been adopted in Ireland. Both US fast-food culture and mainland Europe's dishes have influenced the country, along with other world dishes introduced in a similar fashion to the rest of the western world. Common meals include pizza, curry, Chinese food, and lately, some west African dishes have been making an appearance. Supermarket shelves now contain ingredients for traditional, European, American (Mexican/Tex-Mex), Indian, Chinese and other dishes.
The proliferation of fast food has led to increasing public health problems including obesity, and one of the highest rates of heart disease in the world. Traditional Irish food and diet is also somewhat to blame, with a large emphasis on meat and butter. Government efforts to combat this have included television advertising campaigns and education programmes in schools.
In tandem with these developments, the last quarter of the 20th century saw the emergence of a new Irish cusine based on traditional ingredients handled in new ways. This cuisine is based on fresh vegetables, fish, especially salmon and trout, oysters and other shellfish, traditional soda bread, the wide range of hand-made cheeses that are now being made across the country, and, of course, the potato. Traditional dishes, such as the Irish stew, Dublin coddle, the Irish breakfast and potato bread, have enjoyed a resurgence. Schools like the Ballymaloe Cookery School have emerged to cater for the associated increased interest in cooking with traditional ingredients.
References Print - Mitchell, Frank and Ryan, Michael. Reading the Irish landscape (1998). ISBN 1-86059-055-1
- National Museum of Ireland. Viking and Medieval Dublin: National Museum Excavations, 1962 - 1973. (1973).
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