Bird or game, it’s all about carving against the grain, writes Edythe Preet, Irish Heritage Kitchen chef and Sláinte columnist. An old Irish saying has it that “A dinner is not a dinner at all but only an excuse for one if it does not contain a plate of meat.” And meals starring meat have a long history. From tales of the saints’ lives and heraldic sagas we know that wealth … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Where’s the Beef?
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Sláinte! Land of a Thousand Welcomes
How the tradition of hospitality to strangers has its roots in an ancient law. ℘℘℘ For more than a thousand years Ireland was regulated by the Brehon Laws. Here are a few of my favorite examples. If a person was stung by one of a beekeeper’s bees, the injured party was owed a portion of the hive’s honey. Yum! If a woman’s husband went off wandering and stayed away too long, the … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Land of a Thousand Welcomes
Sláinte! Ireland: It’s the Berries!
If you ever visit Ireland during the month of June, it’s tempting to maximize summer’s daylight hours and ramble until the sun goes down. Not a good idea. In the island’s northern latitude, sunset is a nighttime rather than evening affair. This is especially true in mid-June when the sun doesn’t set on the Emerald Isle until almost 10:00 p.m. and by that time most kitchens are … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Ireland: It’s the Berries!
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The Fast & The Feast
How Ireland perfected the journey from abstinent Lent to the celebratory feast of Easter.
Throughout the history of Western civilization, spring’s arrival was always a time for feasting and gaiety. After months of cold stormy weather, long nights and gloomy days, shoots of new grass would herald the onset of another year’s planting cycle. In pre-Christian Ireland, the spring … [Read more...] about Sláinte!
The Fast & The Feast
Sláinte! Wine: Another Irish Triumph
The legacy of the Celts in Ireland and how, in the absence of grapes, they used their wine making skills to create a honey-wine. Odds are, you’re familiar with the fact that beer, stout and whiskey have been mainstays of Celtic culture for eons. What I’ll bet you don’t know is that the Celts also played a key role in the development of humanity’s fascination with wine. Not … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Wine: Another Irish Triumph