Corkey Trivia: St. Patrick’s Day & Corned Beef
It is a happy coincidence that Saint Patrick’s Day falls in the middle of Lent.
Lent is a Christian tradition of fasting during the 40 days leading up to Easter. As my first grade catholic school teacher, Sister Mary Ann, used to say, “Sacrificing the eating of meat during lent is but a small reminder of how our savior suffered for our sins.” Repentance should serve as our main course during lent. Over a couple of thousand years the fasting traditions varied, but they pretty much all shared some version of not eating meat.
In Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th, the Lenten prohibitions against the eating of meat were waived and people could dance, drink, and feast on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage… not corned beef and cabbage!
Corned beef and cabbage is actually an Irish American variation of the traditional Irish dish of bacon and cabbage. Irish bacon is generally salt cured pork which is either boiled and eaten with cabbage or boiled then baked and then eaten with cabbage. This was the dish that Irish immigrants yearned for when they came to America to escape the great potato famine. But being poor, many of them could not afford Irish bacon, or even a decent place to live. The ghettos of Manhattan, on the lower east side, provided a tasty alternative to Irish bacon. Jewish immigrants from Germany brought many delicacies with them. Among them: matzo balls, pastrami, and corned beef.
[Corned beef got its name from the size of the grains of salt (Corns of salt) that they used to make the brine that preserved the beef brisket. The addition of a little saltpeter into the brine allows the meat to retain its pink color. It is best for your appetites if I do not explain how saltpeter was made in days of old. Pastrami is simply spiced and smoked corned beef.]
You could cook corned beef like Irish bacon, it tasted great with cabbage, and best of all, it was cheaper! Thus was born the Irish American dish of corned beef and cabbage.
Clearly Irish Americans thrived on it. Today there are 34 million Irish Americans. That number is almost nine times more than the entire population of Ireland itself (3.9 million).
Irish Americans are proud of their Irish roots. The world’s first St. Patrick’s Day parade actually took place in New York City on March 17th in 1762. That’s why it should be no surprise to learn that the New York City parade is the largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the world. In that city, and on that day, in the welcoming hearts of the Irish, everyone is Irish.
In modern day Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day was viewed more as a religious occasion rather than as a celebratory one. As a matter of fact, until the 1970s, the law required Irish pubs to be closed on March 17th. Since then things have changed. Not only are the bars allowed to be open, but the government is using St. Patrick’s Day to market Ireland to the rest of the world. It’s a celebration that lasts several days: parades, concerts, theatrical performances, and fireworks. I’ll bet you can even find corned beef and cabbage being served up in honor of the festivities. A hot plate of food and a pint of Guinness to celebrate St. Pattie… seize the day. We can always repent tomorrow. Cheers!
Tags: corkey trivia, corned beef, Easter, Lent, st. patrick's day
