St. Patrick's Day

[mumweasley7]

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone.  I came across the following 
information from Bridget Haggerty's article entitled "Corned Beef 
and Cabbage - The Feeding of a Myth.  It reminded me so much of our 
Ronald Weasley I wanted to share it with you.

What's the national dish of Ireland? Corned Beef and Cabbage, you 
say? Since March has undoubtedly become "Irish Awareness Month", we 
thought it would be fun to explore the truth behind yet another 
Irish myth.

Our research took us to an informative page on European Cuisine. 
According to the article written by an Irishman, Corned Beef first 
turns up in the Vision of MacConglinne, a 12th-century poem which 
describes Irish food as it was eaten at the time.

The poet tell us that Corned Beef is a delicacy given to a king, in 
an attempt to conjure "the demon of gluttony" out of his belly. This 
delicacy status makes little sense until one understands that beef 
was not a major part of the Irish diet until the last century or so.

Shalimar07

True, cattle were kept from very early times, but it was for their 
milk - not their meat. Said one bemused sixteenth-century traveller 
and historian,"They make seventy-several kinds of food out of milk, 
both sweet and sour, and they love them the best when they're 
sourest."

So, what meat did the Irish eat? History tells us that pork was 
always the favorite. In ancient times, cattle were prized as a 
common medium for barter. The size of one's herd was an indication 
of status, wealth and power -- hence all the stories of tribal 
chieftains and petty kings endlessly rustling one another's cattle.