Irish Food and Cuisine

                 When you go to Ireland and Northern Ireland, the first thing you will notice is that the culture is definitely food oriented. Almost as soon as you walk into someone’s house, they offer you a cup of tea and something to eat. It makes you feel very welcome as you nibble on a chocolate bar and sip a nice cup of hot tea.

 Not only is the food here very tasty, but it is always fresh because it is produced locally. I’ve been making a conscious effort to go out running as often as possible in an effort to balance out all my excessive eating. (I’m seriously worried that I will gain 20 pounds in the next few months.) There is such a variety of food choices, ranging from traditional Irish meals, pub grub, fast food, to ordering Chinese and Indian takeaway. 

            Traditional Irish food includes: stew, shepherd’s pie, cottage pie, lamb, bangers and mash, steak and kidney pie, sausage rolls, breakfast “fry”, blood pudding (made from pigs blood, barley and seasoning) and champ (mashed potatoes, scallions, butter and milk).

Bread is really popular and there are quite a few different types. Soda bread is a yeast free bread that is bought in “farls” rather than loaves. Potato bread, as the name suggests is made of mostly potato and a small amount of wheat.  Wheaten bread is made with whole wheat grains. I love bread — give me a pan loaf, farl or slice any day!

Everyday breakfast foods are similar to American breakfast foods. Cereal, pancakes, waffles, eggs and toast are all popular. My favorite breakfast food is a healthier option called Weetabix, which is a whole grain cereal, mixed with milk and warmed up. Although on the weekends I love when my Uncle makes a big “fry” for breakfast. In all seriousness, it is possibly my favorite food. A fry consists of sausages, bacon, eggs, soda bread and potato bread – all topped with HP brown sauce (which is something similar to A1 sauce in America.)

When heading out for fast food or a quick dinner on the weekends, most people eat fish and chips, chicken curry or stop by KFC, McDonalds or Burger King. I’ve noticed that anything American is really popular here. I find it amusing that TGI Friday’s is always busy because it’s considered the “go-to” for American food. Although, compared to how pizza in America is pretty much a staple, in Ireland pizza is eaten only once in a while!

Nando’s is an extremely popular Portuguese restaurant here in the UK and Ireland. It focuses on chicken recipes and different spices and levels of hotness. I went for dinner with my cousin last week and ordered a medium spicy chicken pita with spicy rice. I have to say, although the portion size is disappointing, I understand why it is such a successful and popular place to go and eat. The food was delicious! 

            Sunday dinner is an important weekly occurrence that is an ingrained part of the Irish culture. It usually is served earlier than normal dinner during the week, around 4-5pm. This big dinner usually consists of chicken, turkey or ham with mashed potatoes, stuffing, carrots, broccoli (or whatever type of vegetables you fancy) and gravy. I think it is a nice way for families to come together and enjoy a meal each week, especially with how hectic weekdays can be with school and work. Sunday dinners are usually home cooked, but are also served in restaurants and pubs (and are just as tasty!) 

            I saved the best for last. Don’t worry, I didn’t forget to mention the desserts and treats! Chocolate is my absolute weakness and my favorite chocolate bars are Bounty, Milky Bars, Toffee Crisps, Tunnocks Tea Cakes, Lion Bars, Mint Aero and I’m constantly trying new ones. The milk chocolate is to die for, and no offense to Milton Hershey but in my opinion, nothing beats Cadbury’s. The wide selection of chocolate bars in shops is actually unreal. Other popular desserts include: trifle (jello, with whipped cream and custard), cream buns, swiss rolls, shortbread cookies, German biscuits and more, usually served with tea, coffee or Irish coffee (coffee with whiskey and cream).     

            Sometimes it can gets a bit confusing when talking about food in Ireland. Although the Irish speak English, at times it can seem like a different language because of the accent and the fact that they call things different names than American-English. Here are just a few examples… the Irish call French fries, chips, but when Americans say chips, they mean potato chips, which the Irish call ‘crisps’. Ketchup is red sauce; Sprite is lemonade; a biscuit is a cookie; sambo is the Irish vernacular for sandwich… and the list goes on!

           Each day brings an opportunity to sample an Irish dish and treat your taste buds to something delicious! Just remember, everything in moderation. 😉 

What’s the Craic?

So here’s the craic, I started off this blog two months ago feeling ambitious enough to think I’d be posting multiple blogs per week, and now I’m finding it almost impossible to find any time to write about my experiences so far. And then when I do sit down to write, I have a mental block about what to talk about because there is so much going on! My apologies. I’m trying to handle all the nitty gritty work that comes with moving to another country, as well as enjoy every minute of this huge change in my life… but I’m realizing more and more that it was a GREAT decision.

Everyday I’m surrounded by the people in Belfast who are speaking English, but at times it can seem like another language. There are so many slang words and the heavy Northern Irish accent can be a challenge to understand at times. In my opinion, the Northern Irish accent is hilarious and almost sing-songy due to the vocal inflection. I’m pretty used to hearing the accent because my parents are from Belfast and have an accent, but since I’ve been back I’ve realized how people from all over NI have accents that differ slightly depending on where they come from.

The common phrase, “What’s the craic?” is used as a greeting and is an equivalent to “what’s up?” In Irish, “craic” literally means “news”. It is important to note that over here, “craic” in no way refers to drugs! Way back when Ireland was struggling for independence, the prisoners used to speak as much as possible in Irish (Gaelic) to avoid being overheard and understand by the guards. When communicating messages and news from the “outside”, prisoners would ask “what’s the craic?” which is where the phrase came from. Craic can also be used to describe a good time or a bit of fun. My friends from Ireland will describe a night out as “great craic”.

There are a lot of other funny words that the Irish use. Some of my favorites include “nicking”, which means to steal; “wee buns”, which means easy or simple; “mates”, which means friends; “cuppa”, which means a cup of tea; and “wee”, which means small or little, but can be used to describe just about anything. Seriously, the word “wee” is used not as an adjective to describe the size of an item or person, but is often used as a term of endearment.

If I think it’s hard sometimes tuning my ear to the Irish accent, I can’t imagine what it’s like for someone who doesn’t speak English as their native tongue like some of my international friends I met during university. Many immigrants come to Northern Ireland and Ireland because they are such friendly and welcoming places but I imagine it must be . My German friends have told me that my American accent is very easy to understand because I speak much clearer and slower than the Irish. My friends from France have also agreed that the Irish accent is difficult to understand at times, mostly because of the rapidness of speech.

Not only do I have to pay attention to the Irish accent and speedy way of talking, but when writing my CV and emailing possible employers, I keep forgetting that British-English and American-English words sound the same but are spelled differently. Like “check” and “cheque”; “color” and “colour”; “defense” and “defence”; “splendor” and “splendour”; “favorite” and “favourite”; “center” and “centre” and lots more.

Like everything, it just takes a little time to get my mind adjusted and soon I’ll be used to all the lingo!

Cheers mates! 😉

Contents may have shifted during flight

This time last week I was just taking off from Philadelphia International Airport for a six and a half hour flight to Dublin, Ireland. During the flight I was overwhelmed with a combination of excitement and nervousness as it really sunk in that I was beginning the first day of the rest of my life. Okay, that sounds a bit cheesy… but really, I’m moving to Northern Ireland and I’m not sure what the next few pages in my life are going to say.

My airport experience was smooth (apart from the crew ripping the pocket off the front of one of my suitcases) and relatively painless. I got rid of my suitcase and only had to pay a $100 overweight baggage fee. (I don’t normally pack enough to get an overweight fine but hey, I’m moving countries so cut me some slack!) Just before going through security was emotional saying goodbye to my dad. Hopefully I’ll see him before Christmas. When I got in line for security there were a lot of older ladies who were giggling about being exempt from the x-ray scanner because of their age. I was wearing easy clothes to make sure I caused no problems going through the metal detector. I think leggings and a comfy t-shirt are a girl’s best friend when traveling.

After I got my shoes and sweater back on and my laptop bag zipped up, I stopped off to buy a large bottle of water in Hudson News before heading to find my gate. When I arrived to gate A22 there were only about 12 other people milling around. I found a seat that offered a great view of the sunset and planes coming and going. I settled in my seat to relax and wait till boarding time. I was engrossed reading “Game of Thrones” and an hour later looked up to see that the entire gate had filled up completely.

The air hostesses started making announcements and told us that they’d be boarding the plane twenty minutes earlier than scheduled. I was well pleased with that news. They began calling zones which just ensued in organized chaos as everyone began to line up even though their zone hadn’t been called yet. By the time my zone was called most people were already hovering around the line.

When I got to the front of the line and was showing my boarding pass and passport I accidentally knocked over my carry on suitcase right into the male flight attendant’s shin. He pretended to squeal in pain and give me a hard time about it. I was so embarrassed and apologized profusely but that just made him start cracking jokes about it to the enjoyment of all the passengers around me.

Cringing from that episode, I speed walked onto the plane and did my best not to knock anything else over. I tossed my suitcase into the overhead compartment and got into my seat and pulled out my Cosmo magazine, ipod and exchanged pleasantries with my seatmate. As I sat in my small window seat looking at the crew rush around loading last minute cases and cargo under the plane, I know I had a big silly smile on my face.

The captain announced that we had a full flight and that we were number 8 on the tarmac waiting to be cleared for take off. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as there is always a delay somewhere in the airport procedure. Not even a minute later the captain came on the loud speaker again and laughed as he told us: “Actually we’re number one in line for take off, so here we go.”

I got to see one last look at the Philly skyline as we flew into the night sky and it was bizarre knowing that it was the last time I’ll see it for a while.

I landed in Dublin at 9am the next morning after a night of no sleep and did not feel tired at all. Looking out the tiny window of the plane at the landscape I saw the trademark patchwork of green fields with cows and sheep that were so small they just looked like dots! As we got closer to the airport and lower to the ground, I could see Dublin city and the rows upon rows of houses. I was thinking about all the people going about their daily business and it made it made me realize that this truly is the beginning of my new life in Ireland!

 

The weather was overcast but the cooler temperatures were a welcome relief from the disgustingly, sticky humid weather back in Philly that I’ve been dealing with all summer.

Weather forecast: Today it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day and the temperature reached 21 degrees Celcius. Over the past week the weather has been nice enough to simply wear  t-shirts, jeans and flats.

My mom and sister moved back a month before me, so my mom was able to pick me up from the arrivals hall and it was so great to see her again. We got in the car and drove up to Belfast to pick up my sister from school. I have to admit it was funny driving on the left side of the road and whizzing around the roundabouts. The drive from Dublin to Belfast (which is the capital of Northern Ireland) only takes about an hour and a half.

At the top of the agenda for my first Saturday morning home was a delicious Irish “fry” for breakfast. In all seriousness, it is possibly my favorite food. A fry consists of sausages, bacon, eggs, soda bread and potato bread – all topped with HP brown sauce (which is something similar to A1 sauce in America.)

It’s strange to think that a week and a half ago I was sitting in my family room with one of my best friends talking over a cup of tea about all the crazy things going on in our lives. And now here I am in my aunt’s house in Northern Ireland 3,000 miles away from Philly. It’s weird to think that I’m now on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

The start of this week has been busy with searching for a house and job interviews in Belfast. On Thursday I’ve got a trip planned to Dublin for a week with my friend from Germany. We can’t wait to shop and catch up over plenty of drinks. 🙂 Cheerio for now!