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Bacon and cabbage () is a dish traditionally associated with
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
. The dish consists of sliced
back bacon Back bacon is a cut of bacon that includes the pork loin from the back of the pig. It may also include a portion of the pork belly in the same cut. It is much leaner than side bacon made only from the pork belly. Back bacon is derived from the ...
boiled with
cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&n ...
and
potatoes The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern United ...
.
Smoked Smoking is the process of flavoring, browning, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. Meat, fish, and '' lapsang souchong'' tea are often smoked. In Europe, alder is the tra ...
bacon is sometimes used. The dish is served with the bacon sliced, and with some of the boiling juices added. Another common accompaniment to the dish is
white sauce White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, which consists of
flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cul ...
, butter and
milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulat ...
, sometimes with a flavouring of some sort (often
parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, ...
).


Bacon use

The bacon used for the meal can vary somewhat depending on individual preference. Usually a brined "shoulder butt"/"picnic shoulder" is used for the recipe, but other cuts of bacon are sometimes preferred. However, the bacon used is almost always cured. The traditional curing process is a long process which involves storing the bacon in salt, however, in modern times, mass-produced bacon is cured using
brine Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for ...
which is less frequently injected into the meat to speed-up the process. The bacon can also be smoked which adds a depth of flavour which some people prefer. In Ireland, one can also purchase what is known as ''home-cured'' or ''hard-cured'' which is bacon cured over a long period and then stored for another long spell, wrapped in paper. This makes the bacon very salty, hard in texture and yellowish in colour.


History

Historically, this dish was common fare in Irish homes because the ingredients were readily available as many families grew their own vegetables and reared their own pigs. It was considered nourishing and satisfying. The dish continues to be a very common meal in Ireland.


Descendants


Corned beef and cabbage

In the mid-to-late 19th century, Irish immigrants to the United States began substituting
corned beef Corned beef, or salt beef in some of the Commonwealth of Nations, is salt-cured brisket of beef. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt. Sometimes, sugar and spices are added ...
for bacon when making the dish, thereby creating corned beef and cabbage. Like the original, the dish sometimes includes additional vegetables (especially carrots and potatoes); this also gives it a certain similarity to the
New England boiled dinner A New England boiled dinner is a traditional New England meal, consisting of corned beef with cabbage and one or more root vegetables, such as potatoes, rutabagas, parsnips, carrots, turnips, or onions. The leftovers are traditionally diced and f ...
, which almost invariably contains a mixture of root vegetables along with boiled meat and cabbage. Corned beef and cabbage remains a popular food in some areas of the United States, and is often the dish of choice on St. Patrick's Day.


Jiggs dinner

On the island of
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
, where the Irish and the English made up a large proportion of the founding settlers, this, and the similar English boiled beef gave rise to a boiled dinner featuring
salted beef Corned beef, or salt beef in some of the Commonwealth of Nations, is salt-cured brisket of beef. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt. Sometimes, sugar and spices are added ...
called Jiggs dinner."Jiggs Dinner"
Parks Canada.


See also

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List of cabbage dishes This is a list of cabbage dishes and foods. Cabbage (''Brassica oleracea'' or variants) is a leafy green or purple biennial plant, grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. Cabbage heads generally range from , and can be g ...
*
List of Irish dishes This is a list of dishes found in Ireland. Irish cuisine is a style of cooking originating from Ireland, developed or adapted by Irish people. It evolved from centuries of social and political change, and in the 20th and 21st century has more inter ...
*
Cassoeula __NOTOC__ ''Cassoeula'' (), sometimes Italianized as ''cassola'', ''cazzuola'' or ''cazzola'' (Western Lombard word for " trowel", etymologically unrelated), or ''bottaggio'' (probably derived from the French word ) is a typical winter dish popula ...
*
Stegt flæsk ''Stegt flæsk'' () is a dish from Denmark consisting of fried pork belly and generally served with potatoes and parsley sauce (''persillesovs''). The dish is sometimes translated as 'pork strips' or 'crisp fried pork slices'.Andrew Stone, Caro ...
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacon And Cabbage Irish cuisine Bacon dishes Cabbage dishes Food combinations Saint Patrick's Day food Irish meat dishes