Happy St. Patrick’s Day! May the luck o’ the Irish be with you today!
As you celebrate, remember that St. Patrick’s Day is more than just about green foods and Guinness beer.
To get the scoop on what the Irish really eat on St. Patrick’s Day, I called my friend Patrick Reilly, chef and owner of The Majestic Grille as well a native Irishman.
“Even though corned beef and cabbage is associated with Ireland and St. Patrick’s Day, it is in fact not that widely consumed in Ireland.”
So if that’s the case, what do they eat?
“The dish more likely to be served on the Irish table on St. Patrick’s Day would be boiled bacon and cabbage.”
Since pork and even lamb is much more prevalent in Ireland than beef, Patrick explains: “It’s far more common for the people to eat pork than it would be any beef.”
Many Irish consider boiled bacon and cabbage to be the national dish.
Patrick reminisces, “My father used to tell me stories when he was growing up in Ireland the family used to kill a pig every fall and salt it for the winter.”
The cut of bacon traditionally used in this Irish dish is a cured loin bacon that is leaner than traditional American bacon. You can order Irish boiling bacon from an on-line source or substitute Canadian bacon or cured ham.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Patrick’s Boiled Bacon and Cabbage
Although traditional Irish farmhouse bacon was cut from a whole dry cured pig, todays Irish boiling bacon is typically a raw, wet brined, unsmoked piece of pork cut from either the shoulder or the loin. It is available online at www.foodireland.com along with a huge variety of Irish foods, including Kerrygold Irish butter.
- 4 pounds Irish boiling bacon
- 12 whole white (or black) peppercorns
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- 2 sticks celery, diced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig thyme
- 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
- ¼ cup breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon Coleman’s English mustard
- 1 head dark green cabbage
- 1 tablespoon Kerrygold Irish Butter
- Ground white pepper
Place the bacon in a large pot and cover with cold water. Add the peppercorns, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 1 hour (Approx. 15 minutes per pound.)
Remove the bacon from the cooking liquor. Allow to cool and trim any excess fat.
Remove and discard the solids from the cooking liquor. Bring the liquor to a boil.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and toss until lightly toasted.
Rub the mustard over bacon and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake until crispy, about 15 minutes.
While the bacon is baking, slice the cabbage into thin shreds. Drop into the boiling bacon cooking liquor and cook until tender about 6 minutes. Strain well and mix with a tablespoon butter. Season with white pepper.
Carve the bacon against the grain in thin slices. Serve with the cabbage, parsley sauce, and boiled baby new potatoes.
Parsley Sauce
- 2 cups whole milk
- ½ medium onion, peeled but left whole
- 4 cloves
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespoon Kerrygold Irish Butter
- ½ teaspoon Coleman’s English Mustard
- 1 small bunch curly parsley, chopped
Place the Milk in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the parsley stalks. Stud the onion with the cloves and add to milk mixture.
Heat the milk and gently simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile in another pan make a roux by melting the butter and whisking in the flour. Cook over a medium heat, constantly stirring, for a few minutes until the mixture smells like baking biscuits.
Strain the solids from the milk and whisk into the roux. Cook gently until thickened. Stir in the mustard and chopped parsley.
Recipe courtesy of Patrick Reilly, chef and owner of The Majestic Grille.
