Corned Feast

Saucyman, How does one corn beef ? – A fairly tall leprechaun

Back in the day, specifically 16th – 17th century days, ‘corn’ was a synonym for granule. To corn meant to cover with coarse salt: Beef, usually brisket, was corned by rubbing the surface with pellets of salt and spices - most notably cloves and bay leaf but additional flavors can also include juniper, tarragon, mustard, nutmeg, garlic, parsley, (no rosemary) and thyme.

Corned Beef & Cabbage is now the iconic St. Patty’s Day dish but the history of Ireland and corned beef is a little more complicated than it was the food of the old country.

In Ireland, from the time corn was used as a verb through the potato famine through the founding of the Irish Republic in 1937 – beef was the provenance of the English lords. For political and economic reasons most Irish beef (along with wheat) was exported to England. Recipes exist for corning pork joints and it is reasonable to assume when the Irish peasantry saw meat it was pork or mutton with the possible exception of Easter and Christmas where a value cut like brisket could have been used as the gentry dined upon choice cuts.

One theory holds that beef was substituted only when the Irish arrived in America. Unable to find or afford the rasher style bacon they had used in a traditional cabbage dish, the new immigrants substituted pastrami, a cheap variety of meat they had learned about from their new Jewish neighbors in lower Manhattan. While it is true that all immigrant food is the ultimate fusion cuisine as familiar techniques and recipes are fashioned from new, local and affordable ingredients, this bit of speculation insists it took the potato blight induced Irish Diaspora to discover the brisket cut.

Besides, while the general Irish population might not have been dining upon beef there was a historic connection to Corned Beef: Ireland, in particular, Cork City produced and exported Corned Beef to England and the States well into the 19th century. The industry was predominant source of beef for the English Military during the Napoleonic wars. With improvements in canning technology, the beef industry shifted from Cork first to England then to South America and New Zealand - where it is still popular in the canned form.

Rather than the traditional dry rub, modern Corned Beef is largely brined - soaked in a water/salt solution usually for about 72 hours then cooked over low heat with spices for an additional 2.5 to 3 hours. Most consumers buy their beef already corned from their meat professionals & this is good news for those who are just now thinking about celebrating their Irish heritage tonight. Corned Beef in the States is consumed almost exclusively around St. Patrick’s Day – Americans will spend an estimated 3.6 billion dollars celebrating the holiday this year. The food is so intensely associated with the day, American Catholics even have received special dispensations to consume the dish during Lent when the holiday falls on a Friday. It is a shame the dish gets reduced to a once a year festival food because like its cousin pastrami, Corned Beef makes a damn good sandwich. Skipping the cabbage, the cut of meat can be served hot like the French pot-au-feu with mustard and boiled root vegetables.