On March 17th National Corned Beef and Cabbage Day coincides with St. Patrick’s Day in the United States.

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. In the traditional Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage recipes, salt pork or bacon joint was used instead of corned beef.  Sometime in the mid-1800s when the Irish immigrated to America, they found that Jewish corned beef was very similar in texture to bacon joint (pork). As a result, 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 many 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 meat such as pastrami.
• Corned beef can be found sold in minced forms and cans.

HOW TO OBSERVE #CornedBeefAndCabbageDay

Celebrate with one of the traditional dishes in the United States. You can make it yourself. So stay in and have a quiet night of it. Corned Beef, Cabbage, potatoes, green beer and Irish coffee. Irish Skillet is a good option to, and not just on St Patricks Day.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

We make ours in the Crockpot. Layering potatoes and carrots under the beef. Place cabbage on top and add water and spices. Turn on low for about 6 hours.

Use #CornedBeefAndCabbageDay to post on social media.