About Irish Food
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When it comes to food, the Irish speak their own language!

"I'll take a Guiness, please". This might be your only grasp of Irish food lingo. The following dictionary of popular food terms from the Emerald Isle may save you some embarrassment at that St. Paddy's Day Supper, or an Irish restaurant, or bed and breakfast featuring Irish dishes.

BANGERS - No, this is not slang for rowdy St. Patrick's Day enthusiasts who aren't being served fast enough at the bar. It is however, slang for sausages. Frequently used as "bangers and mash", i.e. sausage and mashed potatoes.

BARM BRACK - Bracks are actually a whole family of tea breads of varying sorts, but the Barm Brack is a special-occasion fruity yeast bread often made at Halloween or around the first day of spring. Traditionally, little treats were cooked into the bread; a ring, for example, meant whoever received that piece was soon to marry.

BLACK PUDDING - Also called blood sausage, it occupies the fringe of foodisms along with sweetbreads and escargot - foods with seemingly innocuous names that are anything but ordinary. Devotees of Jell-O, cover your ears. Black Pudding is a sausage composed of pig's blood, suet, bread crumbs, and oatmeal. Like other food in this realm, it is an acquired taste

BOXTY - One of the numerous ways the Irish have found to serve the venerable potato. This technique combines mashed potatoes and shredded spuds, baking powder or soda, and flour. The patties, which resemble thick pancakes, are cooked on a griddle and served as a side dish.

CHAMP - There is no arguing with the deliciousness of champ, which is mashed potatoes mixed with green onions and loads of butter.

CHIPS - The nondenominational, multilateran, term used for fries. If Americans took a page out of the Irish lexicon earlier, we never would have had that nasty argument over what to call french fries when so many folks didn't like the French.

COLCANNON - (kuhl-KAN-uhn) - Similar to Champ in that it contains mashed potatoes and onions, but the addition of kale or cabbage lends it the appearance of healthfulness and assuages any guilt that you are really eating just another incarnation of buttery spuds.

CORNED BEEF - First, there is no corn in corned beef so don't embarrass yourself by asking. Corning refers to curing, and corned beef is beef cured or pickled in brine. Second, this most traditional St. Patrick's Day far really isn't Irish at all, but a re-invention of a rural Irish peasant dish by immigrants. While Irish peasants probably used cured bacon in this dish, it is reported that Irish immigrants in New York City learned to use less-expensive cured beef from their Jewish neighbors (think brisket). Corned beef is traditionally served with cabbage.

CRISPS - Because chips are in fact french fries, it stands to reason that crisps are potato chips. But should you becomes confused between crisps and chips, you still will end up with a delicious side dish to your "sandwich". Which, by the way, sandwiches to the Irish are not the overstuffed, mayo delicacies offered in American delicatessens, but bits of buttered bread, usually with something that looks like Canadian bacon wedged inside.

DIGESTIVE BISCUITS - These are not something you take when you have an upset stomach, nor are they a restorative version of the Southern staple. These semi-sweet crackers, like graham crackers, are usually eaten with tea.

IRISH MIST - Carried in some local liquor stores, this liqueur combines whiskey and heather honey for a taste that is so fabulous you'll never want to buy Bailey's again.

PORRIDGE - Irish oatmeal. Unlike American oats, which are usually rolled, the traditional Irish oats are cut into little pieces. Although they take longer to cook than their flat cousins, cut (also called "steel cut") oats have a chewy texture and, some say, preserve more of their original oaty flavor. Usually served with honey and fresh cream.

RASHERS - Not to be confused with bangers, rashers is slang for a serving of meat, such as bacon or ham. Like crisps or chips, any confusion between the two terms will still produce a tasty meal as long as you aren't a vegetarian.

SALAD CREAM - While you are not likely to find salad cream on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, it bears pointing out in case you ever find yours face to face with theis quirky condiment. Unlike anything sold in the United States, salad cream is as common as ketchup in Irish homes and restaurants and is used in much the same way. The ingredients state it is a mix of egg, vinegar, and mustard. It is a sort of funky mayonnaise, but the taste is really without comparison.

SHEPARD'S PIE - A popular, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink casserole, Shepherd's Pie started out as a way to use leftovers from the Sunday roast. Pieces of cooked meat, usually lamb, hence the shepherd, are combined with gravy and whatever vegetables are on hand - peas, onions, carrots, turnips - and topped with what else, mashed potatoes.

SODA BREAD - Everyone has his or her granny's soda-bread recipe tucked away somewhere. This quick bread was a staple of the Irish kitchen, easily made from flour, baking soda, and buttermilk. It comes in brown and white varieties, as well as fancy versions infused with everything from currants and caraway seeds to rosemary and sun-dried tomatoes. Contrary to myth, the cross cut into the top of the loaf is not religious, nor does it release fairies from the dough. It helps the bread cook evenly.

SPOTTED DOG - While many Irish like to bring spotted dog on a picnic, they don't bring their four-legged friedn, at least not as a snack. Spotted Dog is typically the name given to soda bread made with raisins.

TREACLE - (TREE-Kuhl) - While it sounds like something you might give a child with a bad cough, this sticky sweet syrup is similar to American molasses and shows up in everything from treacle bread to treacle pudding.

WHITE PUDDING - American consumers have less to fear from this white pudding than its black counterpart. This sausage contains chicken or pork and more closely resembles the U.S. idea of what a sausage should be, with the exception, perhaps, of those who eat scrapple.