Comments on: Is Corned Beef Really Irish?

By: Janet Bragg

Janet Bragg — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 16:33:07 +0000

I learned a lot. Great article.

By: Christine Plouvier

Christine Plouvier — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:10:07 +0000

My daughter and son are both head cooks working at a high-end nursing home in Indiana. Corned beef and cabbage is listed on the residents’ menu as New England Boiled Dinner, and it’s not served on St. Patrick’s Day.

I ran across the origin of the dish a few years ago, during research for a novel. Thanks to the writer and all the commentators for corroborating that bit of information.

By: Jack Brown

Jack Brown — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 21:02:26 +0000

Until I migrated go USA I had never seen brisket, corned or plain, in butcher shops.
Corned beef came in tins (cans)from South America and brisket was supplied only to commercial processors.

By: Judy Dengler

Judy Dengler — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 02:32:07 +0000

I don’t believe the article should be called “anti British” at all. What the British did to Ireland is fact not fiction. I found the article, as well as the comments, very enjoyable and informative. Growing up Irish catholic in Chicago we ate a lot of boiled dinners, and St. Patrick’s Day was one of my favorites.

By: Liz Klein

Liz Klein — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:42:30 +0000

We were talking about this subject of corned beef at the table St. Paddy’s day,and I made the comment that corned beef was invented by the Jewish immigrants,because ,I said they liked the taste of ham,but were not allowed to eat it,so they found a way to make beef taste like ham,corned beef is very popular in the Jewish delicatessans.That was only my theory,I think I was partially correct.

By: Steve Golden

Steve Golden — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:11:45 +0000

Corned beef can be found in any Jewish specialty food diner (Deli) anywhere in USA. We were kicked out of UK around 1200, but yo usteal our food.

By: K. Power

K. Power — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:47:11 +0000

You haven’t tasted “REAL” food until you’ve sampled the Irish fare! Especially the milk…and this comment is from a native born American who has been to the Green Isle five (five) times. (My husband is from County Waterford).

By: Cheryl Smith

Cheryl Smith — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:22:20 +0000

Thanks for the enjoy family history lesson.

By: Fred Buonanno

Fred Buonanno — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:56:48 +0000

Ham, usually from pigs was available in Ireland. Cows were saved for milk. The delicatessens changed the ham to cured beef (salted or brined) because of the Jewish none use of pork. Only in America are we politically correct. Tell it like it is.

By: Doug Rodrigues

Doug Rodrigues — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:41:09 +0000

Whatever the origin of corned beef as we know it now, I love corned beef! Slow low temperature simmer for about three hours with carrots and potatos, adding cabbage near the last of the cooking…mummmmm

By: Bill Stack

Bill Stack — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:37:46 +0000

My 100% Irish family always had Ham and cabbage for St. Patricks day.
They always said that was an Irish tradition

By: Moshe Feder

Moshe Feder — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:10:25 +0000

Great article, but you’re mistaken when you write, “The British invented the term “corned beef” in the 17th century to describe the size of the salt crystals used to cure the meat, the size of corn kernels.” As Doug Spurr already pointed out, what we call “corn,” the British call “maize.” But beyond that, the word “corn” has a separate older meaning denoting anything granular. Thus, you could have “corns of sand” in Old English, or later, “corns of gunpowder.”

The “corns of salt” used to preserve the beef were simply “grains of salt.” There’s no need to bring comparisons to the kernels of farinaceous grains into the discussion at all.

By: ROBERT SPRINKLE

ROBERT SPRINKLE — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 21:34:41 +0000

EXCELLENT INFO ON ST PADDYS DAY////MANY THANKS

By: Robt E. B.

Robt E. B. — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 21:15:33 +0000

I think this article, while interesting, is a bit on the creative side. It creates the image that corned beef is some kind of a specialty or delicacy. Corned beef is beef brisket (historically a very low value cut off the beast filled with fat and connective tissue) that is corned (or pickled) in a brine of salt and saltpeter. I love it myself and have “corned” briskets at home over the years.
But just as you wouldn’t go to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin to celebrate his holy day, it’s unlikely you’d get corned beef and cabbage for dinner. As a friend’s sister asked when we visited her in the convent, “How’d you fancy a real Irish meal? Trotters and cabbage.”

By: mike tuohy

mike tuohy — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 19:20:51 +0000

A dish very similar in flavor and presentation , can be found regularly on the family table in Ireland. It is called boiled bacon.It is made from what the butcher would call the collar of the pig, found at the top of the front quarter of the pig. As you would expect , it is a boiled dinner with similar additions such as potatoes and cabbage. Unfortunately, American butchers do not recover the assets of the animal similarly.