When in Ireland, eat what Irish eat

In our trip to Ireland, I got into fish and chips. And that is more British foodish maybe. But is there other foods what people eat there, or is everything deep-fried? BBC Good Food  has listed ten foods to try while being in Ireland and the list includes stews, puddings and bread. While being in Ireland I did notice lots of different stews and casseroles on the menus. Also it was interesting to notice how much there is lamb in the menu, most of the stews were made from lamb, which is not so common ingredient in Finnish cuisine. Irish cuisine has lots of potatoes also with the lamb.

History of the Irish food

Unlike Finnish food culture, Irish food culture only got potatoes on 1500 century. You are probably thinking “well, what they were eating before that then??”. Irish cuisine was mainly made of fish, goat meat, and honey. Berries, nuts and roots were also commonly eaten. In the Middle Ages Irish people were feeding them selves with milk and grain products and blood sausage (Irlanti.org.)

Lunch at Simon’s place in Dublin

Irish cuisine is very easily eatable, it has not have anything weird. One reason why it is so common in many countries can be because the Irish people are spread all over the world. There is five million people living in Ireland, but there is more outside of Ireland. Some estimate that there is 70 million people with Irish relatives in the world. Most of them living in another English speaking countries (Rantapallo.fi.) That explains why Irish food is so suitable for different cuisines and picky people, like myself.

Own favorites on Irish cuisine

While study tour in Ireland and Northern Ireland, I had a chance of trying out new foods for me and especially I was excited for fish and chips. I have not never tried it before so I did take my chance on that. I tried three different fish and chips in our trip and only one stayed on my mind as the most delicious one. The food was served with chips, fish, tartar sauce and mushed peas.

Lunch at the Nook in Giant’s Causeway

The best place to eat fish and chips is the Nook in Giant’s Causeway. The views are amazing outside and there is even a small terrace to look at the views outside. The restaurant it self was also nice from the inside, lots of room to sit and menu was wide-ranging. The fish and chips in the Nook were best, because even though it is deep-fried, it was still tasting fresh. And while being in Ireland, do not forget drinks! The beers and whiskeys are one of top quality in the world. Most known drinks are Guinness, Jameson,  Magners and Irish Coffee. With these drinks, nobody should be dehydrated while visiting Ireland.

Over all I highly recommend eating in local pub’s. The food is not too different from Finnish cuisine, but it is still experience to try out something new in a new habitat. While eating, you can also enjoy Irish music and just the atmosphere in the city. And no need to even eat, you can just go for a drink to a pub to enjoy the atmosphere. If going to Ireland, the pubs are must see thing.

 

Lotta Syvänen

 

Sources:

All pictures taken by me.

BBC Good Food. Top 10 foods to try in Ireland. URL: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/top-10-foods-try-ireland. Accessed 24.10.2016

Irlanti.org. Ruoka & juoma. URL: http://irlanti.org/ruoka-juoma. Accessed 24.20.2016

Rantapallo.fi. Tiesitkö tämän Irlannista. URL: http://www.rantapallo.fi/kulttuuri-nahtavyydet/tiesitko-taman-irlannista-kymmenen-faktaa/. 24.10.2016