The food history of Ireland has always interested me. Ask someone list Irish foods and potatoes will almost always be on the list. However, potatoes came to Ireland through the Columbian Exchange. So what was Irish food like before the potato and what was it like after the Potato Famine?
Pre-Columbian Exchange Ireland ate nearly as much dairy as we imagine them eating potatoes. The Irish drank a lot of milk, ate a lot of cheese, and had at least three different forms of curds to choose from. Unsurprisingly the other staple of the Pre-Columbian Irish diet was different forms of grains and oats.
We also can't imagine Irish food without beef, be it corned or stewed. Beef was available in Pre-Columbian Ireland but it was rarity for most people since it was so expensive. Instead the meat of the common man was bacon and fish. Vegetables such as cabbage and onions, and fruits such as blackberries and apples were enjoyed by all.
The arrival of the potato birthed a new culture of food in Ireland. The potato was seemingly perfectly at home in the Irish climate and used less labor and space than grains. The potato became the new backbone of Ireland and had a spot at every dinner table, it was responsible for a population boom and was able to sustain the people with it's high caloric intake.
Ireland relied on the potato for generations and were unprepared when the potato failed them. A nation-wide blight of the potato crop caused the death of over a million Irish and the diaspora of over two million. Only in the hundred years or so have the Irish learned to trust their relationship with food again.
Today Irish food culture is richer than ever. Meats that were once a rarity are now world renowned. Other than their famous potatoes a trip to Ireland would be incomplete without tasting Irish whisky or artisan cheese, the art of which was nearly forgotten until the 1970's when Irish making was revived throughout Ireland.
Dean, Sam. “What the Irish Ate Before Potatoes.” Bon Appetit, Bon Appétit, 11 Mar. 2013, www.bonappetit.com/trends/article/what-the-irish-ate-before-potatoes.
Lemm, Elaine. “Take a Tour of the Food and Cooking of Ireland.” The Spruce Eats, TheSpruceEats, 23 Jan. 2019, www.thespruceeats.com/food-and-cooking-of-the-irish-435483.
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