St. Patrick’s Day traditions are still tasty after all these years

Next week, we will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, Tuesday, March 17, but the weekend ahead of the date is full of activities to commemorate your Irish heritage (or give you an opportunity to pretend). There will be a parade in Dover, and menu and beer specialities at Crooked Hammock, Big Chill Surf Cantina, The Starboard, and (of course) Irish Eyes restaurants in both Milton and Lewes.

In the lead-up to the big green day, groceries have stocked their butcher counters with corned beef, the produce aisles are full of green cabbages, and cooking sites are posting recipes for Irish soda bread. Many restaurants will offer the traditional meal of corned beef and cabbage, but if you look a little deeper, you will discover the true source of this menu.

For centuries, Irish grazing lands were ideal for raising cattle, primarily for a range of dairy products. Once the cows stopped producing milk, they became a rare, dinner-table treat: roast beef. As beef became a valuable commodity for trade, the Irish turned to raising cattle to produce what is known as corned beef, a technique for preserving the meat through salt curing. 

The term “corn” was used to name any small, hard grain; it’s likely the term was used for the coarse, granular salt used in making corned beef. By the late 1600s, Ireland was producing the largest quantity of corned beef in the world. But the Irish people ate relatively little of it, instead shipping it out to consumers across Europe and the Caribbean.

It was a popular food source for both the British and French naval fleets, vessels involved in the slave trade, and laborers on Caribbean sugar plantations. When the British tried to limit the presence of the Irish in the United Kingdom, many residents were pushed from their abundant pasture lands, and forced to farm smaller and smaller tracts.

The British continued to raise cattle for export, while the Irish turned to potatoes as a cash crop. When potato blight struck in 1845, close to a million people died of starvation, and droves of Irish immigrants settled in New York City. Here is where the Irish began eating corned beef. Instead of their traditional pork-based bacon and cabbage, they turned to the salt-cured beef brisket produced by their Jewish neighbors.

No longer the expensive delicacy of their homeland, corned beef was readily available and affordable here. It seems corned beef and cabbage is actually an Irish-American tradition: beef that has been salt-cured and treated with potassium nitrate or saltpeter (which gives the meat its bright-pink color). Typically, corned beef comes from a cut known as the brisket, from the lower chest of the cow, a tough cut of meat with a great deal of connective tissue.

To render that tough muscle into a fork-tender dish requires a long, slow cooking time. The cured (and often brined) piece of meat is simmered in a blend of spices for hours. The signature flavor of corned beef comes from the mixture of peppercorns, bay leaf, garlic, thyme, tarragon, cloves, mustard seed and nutmeg that seasons the cooking liquid. Toward the end of the cooking time, cabbage is added to the pot to cook.

For your St. Patrick’s Day menu, I’ve included a recipe for baked mashed potatoes and one for Irish soda bread, studded with currants. To accompany your menu, consider serving a Fuzzy Leprechaun (see photo) or a glass of Guinness.

Baked Mashed Potatoes

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Coat the inside of a 2-quart casserole dish with 1 T butter; set aside. Cut potatoes into 2-inch chunks; do not peel. Place potatoes, salt and garlic clove in a large pot. Add enough cold water to cover the potatoes by a few inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-high and cook until potatoes are very tender when pierced with a fork, about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain in a colander set in the sink, and leave the potatoes in the colander to steam-dry for 10 minutes. While the potatoes are drying, add the remaining 5 T butter to the same pot; melt over medium heat. Add the green onions and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Pass the potatoes and garlic clove through a potato ricer or food mill into the pot with butter and green onions; discard potato skins. Fold the potatoes into the butter mixture with a rubber spatula until evenly mixed. Gently fold cream into the potatoes. Add 1/2 t nutmeg and the cayenne pepper. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon the potato mixture into the prepared casserole dish; sprinkle cheese over the top. Bake until the potatoes puff slightly and the cheese is melted, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining nutmeg over the top and serve immediately.

Irish Soda Bread

Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper; set aside. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until it is mixed into the flour. With a fork, lightly beat the buttermilk, egg, and orange zest together in a measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Stir in currants. Transfer the dough onto a well-floured surface; knead a few times to form a round loaf. Place the loaf on the prepared pan; lightly cut an X into the top of the bread with a serrated knife. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 45 to 55 minutes. Cool on a baking rack before cutting. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Fuzzy Leprechaun

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice; shake until blended. If needed, add more orange juice to create a bright-green color. Strain into cocktail glass; garnish with an orange slice and cherry. Yield: one serving.