I've been getting a lot of questions from back home about the food in Ireland. I must admit one of my major concerns with this trip was the food. Everyone has heard stories of awful gastronomical goings on in England, Scotland, and Ireland; from the horrors of haggis, to the intimidation factor of blood pudding, it all sounds a bit, well, gross. I, for one, LOVE food and will try pretty much anything once (to be fair, I my personal ethos requires me to try it twice) so knowing that I couldn't turn down a new food, I came in expecting the worst. I have been nothing but surprised and pleased I am happy to report.
Taking a page from Andrew Zimmern (one of my idols), I believe you can tell a lot about a culture and it's past by looking at it's food. Irish food reflects the difficult and tumultuous past that it has survived through. There is a great appreciation for using all of the parts that you can of any given food item, making organ meats and blood common enough to mention. The idea of using what you have to get by is fairly evident in this, as well as in the use of potatoes in most dishes. Meals are also fairly hardy, but simple. For example, a traditional Irish breakfast consists of : Two links of sausage, two bacon strips (thick, meaty bacon), fried eggs, rounds of white and black pudding (made of organ meat, animal fat, spices, a grain, and blood for the black pudding), a grilled tomato, some form of potato, toast, and mushrooms or beans. Its a lot of greasy, filling food. It stems from a time where this one meal would likely have to tide you over until dinner, after a hard day of physical labor and there is nothing extravagant or pretentious about it.
The places serving traditional food will all have a fairly similar menu of staples including; Bangers and mash (Sausages and mashed potatoes), Fish and Chips, Shepard's and Cottage Pie (with lamb and beef respectively), Roast Lamb of some sort, Bacon and Cabbage, and the list goes on. All of these equally as hardy and unpretentious as the last. Soda bread, and other traditional baked goods are just as readily found, often house made or from the bakery next door. One bakery in particular, Griffith's, has been active since the mid 1800's and bakes pretty much anything you can imagine.
Along with all of the tradition, there is a MASSIVE movement of modern and ethnic food in every price range imaginable. Thai, Indian, Chinese, African, Polish, you name it and it is here. The modern restaurants often play with traditional dished, breaking down, or deconstructing them and reimagining the whole get-up. All of the quality local ingredients makes the chef's jobs a little bit easier. Fresh fish, lamb, beef, vegetables the butter is even magnificent on it's own.
Awesome coffee is available almost literally everywhere. The Irish take their coffee seriously, each place serving it is equipped with a beautiful espresso machine. White coffee, basically a cappuccino seems to be the drink of choice, but pretty much anything is available. The sickly sweet "coffees" from back home are a little harder to find though, giving way to drinks that actually taste like coffee. I have grown fond of straight espresso shots, in no small part due to the tiny cups they come it, making me feel like a giant.
There has been one experience that I will not soon forget, and not for good reasons. It is the only food that I have taken a picture of so far, just because it looked really cool, and because I refuse to be one of "those" people who have a photo session of every meal they have ever eaten ever. This was an Open Faced Smoked Salmon Sandwich. As you all know, I am a fan of sushi, so the raw fish bit was no problem. What was a problem. however, was the fact that the meat tastes like a horse smells. Not good eats....
Well the formatting is not being cooperative, but we
