Saint Patricks Day & Green Food
Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit. 'the Day of the Festival of Patrick'), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (c. 385 – c. 461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland.
Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early 17th century and is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion (especially the Church of Ireland), the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Lutheran Church. The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, and celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish in general. Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, céilithe, and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks. Christians who belong to liturgical denominations also attend church services and historically the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol were lifted for the day, which has encouraged and propagated the holiday's tradition of alcohol consumption.
So, basically its a day of drink and merriment. Well, you really should eat, when you drink! Todays thread is of course about Irish food, not all green naturally...but Irish none the less.
Irish cuisine encompasses the cooking styles, traditions and recipes associated with the island of Ireland. It has evolved from centuries of social and political change and the mixing of different cultures, predominantly with those from nearby Britain and other European regions. The cuisine is founded upon the crops and animals farmed in its temperate climate and the abundance of fresh fish and seafood from the surrounding waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Chowder, for example, is popular around the coasts.
Dairy: butter, milk, buttermilk, cheese
Grains: barley, oats, wheat
Freshwater fish: pollan, trout, salmon, smoked salmon, smoked trout
Seafood: mackerel, cod, hake, haddock, smoked haddock, mussels, oysters, lobster, crab, sea vegetables (seaweeds), dillisk
Meat: beef, chicken, duck, lamb, pork, turkey, goose, offal
Vegetables: curly kale, potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage, rhubarb
Fruits: apple, pear, plum, blackberry, strawberry, raspberry, tomatoes
Herbs: parsley, thyme, rosemary, chives.
Spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, mixed spice, black pepper.
And now of course to go along with your GREEN BEER, a few Irish inspired dishes...
RECIPES
Braised lamb shanks with lentils
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Download PDF • 233KB
Welsh Rarebit
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Download PDF • 231KB
Irish Stew
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Download PDF • 127KB
Cheers, and Happy St Pats!