What’s your favourite Irish Food?
A Little Gem Blog...
Irish Food for Foodies...
From sampling fresh Oysters in Galway Bay to tasting scrumptious cheeses from County Cork, Ireland is one of the most delicious destinations to visit in 2021. With something for every season, visiting Ireland anytime of the year will provide you with a tasty treat you will want to return for. Today Little Gem Tours blog is going to bestow our 10 Favourite Irish dishes and recommend more succulent ideas on the very best restaurants and foodie tours to catch when you visit Ireland.
Psst... These dishes are predominantly for meat eaters so we will be posting a blog specifically for you vegans & vegetarians soon!!
Irish Seafood Chowder
Surrounded on all sides by water, Ireland provides a huge variety of quality seafood not just for the Irish but exported across Europe. Our crystal clear waters have produced the perfect ingredients for a mouth watering seafood chowder. Every corner of Ireland claims to have the best chowder in the country if not the world and the truth is each is delicious in its own ways with slight variations in each establishment. Our favourite seafood restaurant has to be Max’s in Kinsale, County Cork, a must stop when visiting the South on our 7 Day South by West Tour.
Oysters from Galway Bay
With a huge variety of fresh seafood available in Ireland, we think Oysters must get a mention of their own. Listed as one of the best places in the world to eat Oysters, County Galway is the perfect stop to learn more about and taste these homegrown delicacies. The Kelly family from Galway Bay with a 60 year history in farming Oysters now enjoy showing visitors what is involved in the age old craftsmanship in farming these delicious Oysters. Also, visit the Galway Oyster Festival held on the last weekend of September every year and sample these incredibly tasty bites with your favourite wine or a pint of the black stuff.
Kelly Oysters, Kilcolgan, County Galway
Irish Cheese & Yoghurts
Like so many more, cheese is one of Irish people's true favourite foods and with our lush green fields our milk is unbelievably creamy which makes for excellent cheese. In Ireland we have a wide variety of cheese tasting options, from goats cheeses, to sheep cheeses and even buffalo cheese. There are great opportunities to try cheese making tours dotted across the country, you are sure to learn plenty about this high quality Irish ingredient.
Irish Beef & Guinnes Stew
Guinness Beef Stew is the perfect comforting dish on a cold winter's day, and with many cold days during Ireland’s winter period this makes Guinness stew one of the nations favourites and one of the most popular choices of visitors to Ireland. With the Guinness brewery situated in Dublin City, there really is nowhere better in Ireland to sample this mouth-watering dish.
Boxty
Boxty is a uniquely Irish treat for the tastebuds. Originally it hailed from the northwest of the country, boxty is now made and enjoyed countrywide. This Irish potato pancake is made by finely grating potatoes before mixing with buttermilk, flour and eggs before cooking as you would a normal pancake. Once enjoyed by itself, it is served nowadays with a selection of meat and vegetables.
Irish Bacon and Cabbage
This traditional Irish meal is the most popular of them all and has to be the nation’s favourite when it comes to dinner time. The truth is you won’t get a better version of bacon and cabbage outside of the homes in Ireland, it is a difficult meal to get right and it is only with years of practice that makes this iconic dish so special.
Smoked Salmon
Irish smoked salmon often originates from one of two places, it will either be from organic salmon farms off the Irish coast, or it will be wild salmon in season.
Organic salmon from Ireland is among the most environmentally friendly and healthiest salmon farmed in the world. Our low intensity farming techniques lead to the superior quality that can be found in good food stores, farmers markets and smokehouses today.
The Burren Smokehouse, County Clare
Connemara Smokehouse, County Galway
Ummera Smokehouse Tasting & Tours, County Cork
Black Pudding an Irish Breakfast
Black Pudding or blood pudding as it was once called is a great source of protein and its history stretches back to ancient times. Today black pudding is served with all full Irish breakfasts ordered in Ireland and in recent years making black pudding has become an award winning art among Irish butchers, one they have perfected very well. A great place to try black pudding would be in Kelly’s of Newport in County or Clonakilty in County Cork.
Brown Bread & Butter
While you will sample some delicious Irish brown bread when ordering breakfast, with a bowl of soup or with some of the best seafood chowders or stews, there is also another great way to try this even after you return home from your holiday to Ireland. Recipes for Irish brown soda bread are not hard to find on the internet, neither is it difficult to make the bread yourself and the results will be fantastic. Top tip - serve slightly warm with the key ingredient, real Irish butter.
Colcannon
Colcannon is a traditional Irish potato dish mixed with kale or cabbage, butter and milk. If kale or cabbage is not to your liking alternatively you can try spring onion, leeks or chives and all are delicious options. Colcannon meaning “white headed cabbage” is a common dish served in Ireland today and can be tried at many restaurants across the country.
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