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In Case You Were Curious…About Corned Beef!
March 17, 2022
- The term “Corned” comes from putting meat in a large crock and covering it with large rock-salt kernels of salt that were referred to as “corns of salt” This preserved the meat.
- The term Corned has been in the Oxford English Dictionary as early as 888 AD.
- The area of Cork, Ireland was a great producer of Corned Beef in the 1600’s until 1825. It was their chief export and sent all over the world, mostly in cans. The British army sustained on cans of Cork’s corned beef during the Napoleonic wars
- Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural dinner was corned beef and cabbage.
- Corned beef is not considered an Irish national dish, and the connection with Saint Patrick’s Day specifically originates as part of Irish-American culture.
- The fresh cuts of corned beef you find at the grocery store are usually the brisket cuts.
- Corned beef hash is a mixture of corned beef, potatoes, and onions all chopped up together and cooked on the stove.
- In the United States, corned beef is often purchased at delis. Perhaps the most famous sandwich made with it is the Reuben sandwich, consisting of corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing on rye bread and then grilled on a flat griddle or cast iron pan…it’s served hot.
- In certain regions, such as in Philadelphia, the Corned Beef Special is a popular offering. It is served cold. It is made by first steaming the corned beef and topping it with coleslaw, and then placing both between rye bread that is coated with Russian Dressing. The Corned Beef Special was first developed by Charles Weber at R&W Deli in Philadelphia in 1965.
- According to historians, while cabbage has long been a traditional food item for the Irish, corned beef became a substitute for the traditional Irish bacon in the late 1800s. Irish immigrants living in New York City's Lower East Side sought an equivalent in taste and texture to their traditional Irish bacon (similar to Canadian bacon), and learned about this cheaper alternative to bacon from their Jewish neighbors.
- Smoking corned beef, usually with the addition of extra spices such as black pepper, produces pastrami.
In Case You Were Curious…About St. Patrick
March 17, 2022
- Why March 17th? No one’s really sure. It’s believed that St. Patrick did die in March 461 A.D. – and perhaps even on the 17th. Beyond that – anything you hear is probably a bit of blarney.
- One common myth about St. Patrick is that he “drove all of the snakes out of Ireland.” As much as that sounds like a Ridley Scott movie, this is unfortunately just a myth. According to National Geographic, it’s true that there are no snakes in Ireland, but there actually never were. Apparently, the frigid waters surrounding the Emerald Isle made it too cold for snakes to arrive there from Britain. It’s believed that when literature mentions St. Patrick getting rid of all of the snakes in Ireland, it’s probably more of a metaphor for ridding the country of its "old, evil, pagan ways.” Because the ancient Celts were Druids, dontcha know…
- How’d the holiday turn into partaaaay central? It’s America’s fault. No, really – we’re responsible for turning St. Patrick's Day into the big party. There's some debate over when the first St. Patrick's Day parade took place, but early celebrations happened in Boston in 1737and New York in 1762. St. Patrick's Day celebrations continued to grow as more and more Irish immigrants came to the U.S., especially after the Irish Potato Famine hit in 1845. For the record (and according to History.com), New York's St. Patrick's Day parade is the world's oldest civilian parade and the largest parade in the U.S. But let’s not leave out Chicago, which has become famous for dyeing the Chicago River green every year, for its St. Patrick's Day celebration.