Irish America

Irish America

Slainte

Sláinte! Milk: The Other White Meat

By Edythe Preet

August / September 1999

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Recently, I wandered into a used bookstore and was stopped in my tracks by a volume sitting on a table by the door -- a copy of the first cookbook I ever owned. It wasn't a fancy collection of gourmet recipes, just a child's Golden Book. The publishing date read 1950; I had been 3 years old. A price of $45.00 wits penciled on the flyleaf (about 20 times more than its original … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Milk: The Other White Meat

Sláinte! New Wave Greens: Ireland’s Sea Weeds

By Edythe Preet

January / February 1998

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Seawater and seaweed baths, known as thalassotherapy, are famous for their therapeutic benefits, and have long been popular in Ireland. Greek and Roman records from the first century BC mention herbal medicines and cosmetic preparations made with seaweed. Modern preparations include soaps, lotions, shampoos, conditioners, shower gels and even packets of powdered seaweed that … [Read more...] about Sláinte! New Wave Greens: Ireland’s Sea Weeds

Sláinte! Magic Mushrooms!

By Edythe Preet

June / July 1999

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Of all the world's foods, those musky things known as mushrooms are the strangest. Some can be had free for the taking while others are delicacies that are worth their weight in gold. Of the 4,000 known species, most are inedible, some are tasty morsels, and a few are lethal poisons. Supermarkets stock mushrooms in the produce section, but they're not vegetables. And since they … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Magic Mushrooms!

Sláinte!: The World Is My (Irish) Oyster

By Edythe Preet

September/October 1995

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Though Jonathan Swift is believed by many to have said, "He was a brave man who first dared to eat oysters," the quote predates Dublin's good doctor by about one hundred years, and was most likely first uttered by James I of England (1566-1625) at a royally excessive sixteenth century banquet. But the Irish had discovered the pleasure of eating oysters long before his majesty … [Read more...] about Sláinte!: The World Is My (Irish) Oyster

Sláinte! The Scottish Connection

By Edythe Preet

May/June 1995

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Scattered along Northern Ireland's rugged coast, forty thousand hexagonal columns trail from a stretch of cliffs to the sea. The unique rock formation is known worldwide as The Giant's Causeway. It resulted millions of years ago when a volcanic eruption spewed molten basalt into the air. As seawater slowly cooled the red hot lava, it formed into vertical clusters of mostly … [Read more...] about Sláinte! The Scottish Connection