Quezi

Happy St. Patrick's Day - courtesy mccun934 - CC-BY

Is corned beef and cabbage really Irish?

Well, the short answer is that corned beef and cabbage is about as Irish as spaghetti and meatballs.

The dish was actually invented in the United States in the mid 1800’s, though it was developed by Irish immigrants.

Since cattle were used for milk rather than meat in poor times in Ireland, beef was a luxury that was fed to kings and the nobility.  Cows, if owned at all, were predominately for their dairy products, from which butter, cheese and cream could be made, and were only slaughtered when they were too old for milking.  Salt pork and bacon, became the commonly consumed meat protein of Irish tables.  It was more common to celebrate a holiday, such as St Patrick’s Day, with what they call a ham (Gammon) or bacon joint. ( a cured but un-smoked piece of pork ) with their cabbage and potatoes.

When many Irish Immigrants came over in the mid 1800’s they couldn’t find a bacon joint like they had in Ireland, so they found that Jewish corned beef was very similar in texture, and they used that for their holiday celebrations.

By the 17th century, salting beef had become a major industry for the Irish port cities of Cork and Dublin.  Irish beef was cured and exported to France, England and later to America.

So, why Jewish corned beef when Ireland had been exporting corned beef for years?  Simple, there is a textural difference between the two kinds of corned beef and Jewish style came closer to the Irish Gammon for cooking with vegetables and potatoes.

On March, 4, 1861, the menu for President Lincoln’s Inaugural Dinner was: Mock turtle soup, corned beef and cabbage with parsley potatoes, topped off with blackberry pie.

While both salted beef and green cabbage have historic connections with Ireland, the ritual of serving corned beef and cabbage for St Patrick’s Day is exclusively an American tradition.