Irish America

Irish America

Food & Drink

Sláinte! The Night of Cakes

By Edythe Preet, Columnist.

November/December 1996. Republished in Winter 2022.

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No Christma-a-as! No Christma-a-as!” Such was the town crier’s chant in the streets of 17th-century Dublin when Ireland felt the hammer blow of Oliver Cromwell’s Puritan iron fist. Garlands of greenery were pulled down and publicly burned. Revelry was forbidden. Priests were imprisoned. But the Irish people found ways to celebrate their most loved holiday despite the … [Read more...] about Sláinte! The Night of Cakes

Sláinte! Feile Na Marbh – the origins of Halloween

By Edythe Preet

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Slainte! Columnist Edythe Preet explore how "Feile Na Marbh "or "Feast of the Dead" became Halloween and includes a recipe for Irish Barm Brack, which is traditionally served in Ireland on this day. That which we know as All Hallows Eve actually began as a harvest festival several millennia ago in Ireland. Though the evening’s popular colors are black and orange, they might as … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Feile Na Marbh – the origins of Halloween

Sláinte: Oysters Galore

By Edythe Preet, Columnist
August / September 2011

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Edythe Preet explores the history of Ireland's favorite bivalve, from Mesolithic times to today's Galways Oyster Festival. Opening an oyster can be a daunting task. Those little critters clamp their shells shut tight as a bank vault and don’t take kindly to being pried open with a sharp blade. Not only that, but wielding an oyster knife is an easy way to slice off a thumb, … [Read more...] about Sláinte: Oysters Galore

A Taste of Ireland

By Sharon Ní Chonchúir, Contributor
June / July 2011

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Ireland's Food Revolution We Irish have had a fraught relationship with food for far too long. Generations were raised to see it as a crime to leave even the tiniest morsel on our plates. Instead of being encouraged to develop a taste for good food, we were told to consider ourselves lucky to have any food at all. Is this a legacy of our past? For centuries, British landlords … [Read more...] about A Taste of Ireland

Sláinte: Dublin, City of Literature

By Edythe Preet, Columnist

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Edythe Preet on the history and influence of Dublin, and James Joyce-centric recipes. When I was young, my father’s oft-repeated favorite riddle was: What is the richest country in the world? The first time he quizzed me, I wracked my brain and offered a few feeble guesses. When he could contain his mirth no longer, with a grin, a twinkle, and a nudge to my ribs he chuckled: … [Read more...] about Sláinte: Dublin, City of Literature