Irish Food: More Than Just Potatoes

Any time I consider the many aspects of traveling abroad that make it so exciting, food always comes near the top of the list. Although I’m not the world’s most adventurous eater, I always look forward to trying food in the various locales that I visit across the globe. I have to admit that, prior to this trip, when I thought of delectable foreign cuisine, Ireland would not have topped the list. However, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how delicious the food has been since my arrival. In many ways, meals here tend to be quite similar to those in the U.S. in terms of structure, etiquette, etc. Meals tend to be eaten around the same time as they would be in America. Unlike much of Europe, which tends to eat dinner much later (e.g. Spain, where dinner often isn’t eaten until 9, 10, or even later), Irish dinner time tends to coincide with the typical time in America, falling roughly anywhere from around 6-9, often in the earlier part of that range. In fact, I was shocked when I tried to go out to dinner one Sunday night at 8:30 and found that many restaurants were already closed or had at least stopped serving food. Portion sizes also tend to be similar to those found in America, though it’s hard to generalize, since they vary considerably from place to place. I’ve had some meals served that were relatively small by American standards, and others that were far too large for me to eat in one sitting.
The actual food served here is generally nothing too shocking by American standards. The Irish tend to put an emphasis on locally sourced foods, so they rely heavily on foods that can be grown, raised, or caught on the island, such as potato, fish, beef, pork, and even lamb. Since Ireland is an island, there is an abundance of seafood. Fish and chips is a very popular item. I’ve tried multiple kinds of fish, including salmon, cod, and hake, at various restaurants, and have found that most restaurants know how to make this dish quite well, especially those in towns right by the sea that are able to use fresh fish. Another popular dish that I have encountered is the full Irish breakfast. Practically every café in the country seems to serve some variant on this dish. It generally includes egg, toast, sausage, Irish bacon (more similar to ham than American bacon), black pudding (a kind of pudding made with blood, sausage, and oatmeal) and/or white pudding (a kind of oatmeal sausage pudding), as well as a mixture of various other ingredients, which may include any combination of beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, and more.

For the first few days of the trip, when we were in Dublin, I mostly went out to various restaurants and pubs to eat. For the week we stayed at Ring, we ate primarily at the school we were staying at. The food there was delicious, and everything was fresh and made on-site. The highlight of the food there was the fresh scones that were served at every meal. They were a little like American biscuits, but slightly sweet. They were sometimes flavored with cinnamon or filled with fruits like raisins or currants. When covered in butter and jam, they made the perfect addition to any meal, or they could also serve as a great stand-alone snack. Now that I’m back in Dublin, I’ve been trying to cut back on the number of meals eaten out. Instead, I’ve been taking advantage of the kitchen that I have in my apartment, making regular trips to grocery stores like Tesco and cooking my own dinner, typically something simple like spaghetti or pork chops.
No discussion of the gastronomy of Ireland would be complete with mentioning drinks. Beverages, particularly those that are alcoholic, are an important part of Irish culture. Pubs are major social scenes, and Irish people frequently go out for drinks. Ireland is known for many drinks, including beer, apple cider, and whisky. So far, I have toured two distilleries for famous Irish beers, Guinness and Smithwick’s, learning about the history of these drinks as well as the process of how they are brewed. Tomorrow, I am going to go on a similar tour of the Teeling distillery to learn how this Irish whisky is made.
Living in Ireland for this short amount of time has totally changed my perspective on Irish food. I look forward to trying different dishes at even more restaurants throughout Dublin before I leave.