Mar 20th, 2024 Wednesday Sunny
It was St. Patrick’s Day last Sunday. A day associated with green, clover, parade/partying, and hearty food like corned beef.
I am by no means connected with any Irish heritage. However, I find it fascinating to celebrate special holidays from other cultures – it seems a great opportunity to learn about another culture, and to taste some good food 🙂
It is no surprise that important holidays in most cultures are linked to some type of traditional food, often more elaborate and time-consuming than their day-to-day dishes. After all, during old times when resources were more scarce, the bountiful food on a particular day itself is a source of joy, and people seized the chance to indulge in food that they normally could not afford (at least not on a regular basis), making it something to look forward to. Holidays with religious underpinnings also tend to feature foods that require lots of effort, and the practice of putting time into the food preparation shows one’s devotion. The result, of course, would be scrumptious and shared among people.
St. Patrick’s Day usually overlaps with spring break of the university, a hard-to-come-by gap to travel, so my husband and I rarely got to spend the day at home. This year, spring break occurs much later, and St. Patrick’s Day happens to be a Sunday.
“Let’s do corned beef!” my husband suggested, apparently excited at the thought.
Unfortunately, beef brisket, the cut that used to be inexpensive and budge-friendly, has become increasingly luxurious, partly due to the roaring price of beef in general, and partly due to its relative unpopularity (most people buying beef prefer steak). While its unit price is comparable to that of steak, the quantity needed is higher (smaller roasts are not as tasty, if you can even find them in the store), so the final price is steep.
Thanks to our foresight, we bought a corned beef roast on sale last year, at a price that seemed a little too much at the time but perfectly reasonable in today’s market. My husband took it out of the freezer and thawed it in the refrigerator for two days.
Remembering that he had once enjoyed “super juicy” corned beef at a friend’s house (I was sick and could not join them), my husband decided to replicate the recipe – adding a layer of apricot jam on top of the roast before letting it simmer in the slower cooker for eight hours. Big chunks of potatoes and randomly sliced cabbages were added to the bath in the last hour or so.
The enticing aroma of spices and beef permeated our house, tempting our two kitties to check on the slow cooker multiple times, despite our attempt to discourage and remove them every single time. Luckily they could not figure out how to open a lid (nor were they able to lift the weight, I think – though never underestimate the capability of a cat).
Finally, after brewing my anticipation for the whole day, my husband declared that dinner was ready. We sat down at the table and took a bite – tender and beefy, rich yet not spicy, and the cabbages having soaked up the juice were bursting with flavors and melted in our mouth – yummy!
This is our way of participating in the spirit of St. Patrick’s day 🙂