March 17, 2015 – ST. PATRICK’S DAY – NATIONAL CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE DAY

                                                   ST.PATRICK’S DAY

What does the color green, parades and March 17th have in common?  Of course, it is St.Patrick’s Day (also known as the Feast of St Patrick).
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated by millions of people across the globe.  People wear the color green, drink green beverages and decorate houses and businesses in shamrocks.  In fact, the wearing of the green is a tradition that dates back to a story written about St. Patrick in 1726.  St. Patrick (c. AD 385–461) is known to have worn shamrocks and green colored clothing.

History of St. Patrick’s Day

The Feast of St. Patrick started in the early 17 century.  The day marks the death of St. Patrick and was chosen as an official christian feast day and is observed by the Catholic Church.  The day is also a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat. It is also widely celebrated by the Irish diaspora around the world, especially in Great Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand.

National Corned Beef and Cabbage Day – March 17

NATIONAL CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE DAY

To “corn” something is simply to preserve it in a salty brine (the term corn refers to the coarse grains of salt used for curing).
Corned beef is a salt-cured beef product.
National Corned Beef and Cabbage Day is observed annually on March 17th.  This seems to be a fitting holiday for St. Patrick’s Day.
In the traditional Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage recipes, salt pork or bacon joint were used instead of corned beef.  Sometime in the mid 1800′s when the Irish immigrated to America, they found that Jewish corned beef was very similar in texture to bacon joint (pork).  It was then that corned beef was used as a replacement for the bacon when preparing corned beef and cabbage meals.    Soon after, Irish-Americans began having Corned Beef and Cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day.
  Corned beef and cabbage remains a popular food in some areas of the United States.
In Ireland today, the serving of corned beef is geared toward tourist consumption.  Most Irish in Ireland do not identify it as native cuisine.

• In the United States, corned beef is often purchased ready to eat in delicatessens.
• Smoking corned beef and adding spice mixes, produces a smoked meats, such as pastrami.
• Corned beef can be found sold in minced forms and in cans.

There are many recipes for corned beef and cabbage in recipe books and on the internet.  Feel free to try one of the following recipes:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/slow-cooker-corned-beef-and-cabbage-recipe.html
http://www.yummly.com/recipes/corned-beef-and-cabbage-with-beer
http://www.yummly.com/recipe/St_-patty_s-corned-beef-and-cabbage-soup-349119?columns=5&position=5%2F45