FOOD AND HISTORY

The arrival of the Anglo-Normans in Ireland in 1169 affected both farming and diet in Ireland. Wheat, peas, and beans became staple foods and people began preparing more elaborate dishes.

The development of Irish cuisine was altered greatly by the English conquest of the early 17th century, which introduced a new agro-alimentary system of intensive grain based agriculture. Large areas of land were turned over to cereal and a large portion of the population were confined to more marginal agricultural areas. The rise of a commercial market in grain and meat altered the diet of the native population by redirecting these products abroad as cash crops used to feed the British Empire’s armed forces and cities. Consequently, the potato, after its widespread adoption in the 18th century, became just about the only food the poor could afford (which was the vast majority of the population). In the 1840s, the country’s heavy reliance on potatoes led to the disaster known as the Irish Potato Famine.

By the 21st century, much of Irish cuisine was being revived.Representative traditional Irish dishes include Irish stew (made with lamb, mutton, or beef), bacon and cabbage (with potatoes), boxty (potato pancake), coddle (sausage, bacon, and potato), colcannon (mashed potato, kale or cabbage, and butter), and, in Ulster, the soda farl. Modern Irish Food still uses these traditional ingredients but they are now being cooked by chefs with world influences and are presented in a more modern artistic style. As of 2001 the Irish were consuming more potatoes than most countries in the world.