The Suburban Banshee comes to the defense of corned beef-and-cabbage against the Authenticity Police -- and shares the secret history of Irish cowboys! Who knew?
Of course corned beef and cabbage is primarily an American Irish dish. What do you think the Irish were eating in Ireland back in the 1840’s, before they had to immigrate?1. Nothing, once the Great Famine started. The potatoes were all blighted, a lot of other crops got too much rain to thrive, and the price of all other foodstuffs went up drastically.
2. Potatoes and cabbage, before the Great Famine started.
As for me, I skip the CB&C, not because it's Insufficiently Irish but because I just can't stand the stuff. I made the Guinness Beef Stew this year. Yum yum!
As for corned beef and cabbage being reminiscent of Irish cuisine, there is more to the story -- the beef was too expensive for the Irish to eat because it was a major export item. Not many Irish owned cattle, and if they did it was not consumed often by them. Salt pork was the meat of choice.
The idea of associating this meal with St. Patrick's Day is completely American and not held as tradition in Ireland at all.
http://spring-recipes.suite101.com/article.cfm/history_of_corned_beef_cabbage