As Irish-American Heritage Month coincides with St Patrick’s Day, classic dishes are seeing renewed interest, with Irish stew taking center stage in kitchens across the U.S.
Irish stew, a hearty classic, is the most searched dish ahead of St Patrick’s Day by Irish-Americans(Image: Getty Images)
With the arrival of St Patrick’s Day, many people—especially Irish Americans—are turning online to find or rediscover traditional Irish dishes to recreate for the holiday.
While consuming pints of Guinness is to be expected in honor of St Patrick’s Day, the month of March (which is also coincidentally Irish-American Heritage Month) brings the need to whip up classic Irish fare. And if you thought Irish soda bread is the most popular recipe, you may be wrong.
A data survey from HelloFresh reveals that the most popular Irish dish consumers are looking up in the U.S. is an unexpected one: Irish stew. This recipe alone has almost 50,000 searches, according to HelloFresh’s research gathered from Google Keyword Planner.
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Ahead of St Patrick’s Day, searches for ‘St Patrick’s Day food ideas’ and ‘traditional Irish food have drastically surged by over 5,000% in the last 30 days, and Irish stew takes the No. 1 spot with 49,500 searches, according to a HelloFresh press release.
Following closely behind are coddle, an Irish soup that traditionally was made to use up leftovers—and often features potatoes and sausage—and colcannon, which is a creamy Irish mashed potato recipe that incorporates cabbage and scallions. Both dishes, which are tied for second place in HelloFresh’s ranking, boast 40,500 Google searches.
Ahead of St Patrick’s Day, many Irish-Americans’ top recipe research resulted in Irish stew, according to HelloFresh’s data
Michelle Doll Olson, Head Chef & Senior Culinary Development Manager at HelloFresh, commented on the company’s findings: “Although it’s not one of the most popular cuisines, Irish food is great comfort food, it’s particularly warming, perfect for a cool winter’s day.”
“St Patrick’s Day is a favorite holiday for a reason – the food and atmosphere create a celebration that shouldn’t be missed, even if you’re participating at home.”
Doll Olson recommended Irish-Americans—and fellow St Patrick’s Day revelers—to “Try your hand at making a traditional Irish Stew with a side of colcannon for dinner to try to get in the spirit.”
“These winter warmers are surprisingly easy to make and involve subtle flavours to make the most from relatively simple ingredients.”
She ended off by stating, “Not only does Irish food taste great but it gives you a lovely warm, cozy feeling, ideal for the time of year.”
What exactly is Irish stew?
Historically a rustic, frugal meal, Irish stew is a hearty, comforting dish traditionally made by slow-cooking lamb or mutton in water with potatoes, onions and at times, carrots or pearl barley.
While lamb and mutton are the preferred meats for this recipe (due to their stronger flavor), that’s no longer the only appropriate protein. According to Simply Recipes, since many Irish-Americans eat more beef than lamb, modern variations are now made with beef.
While traditionally made with lamb or mutton, Irish-Americans are putting a spin on Irish stew by using beef
Once all the ingredients are gathered and prepared, the meat, vegetables, root vegetables and herbs—and sometimes, a pinch of Guinness extra stout—all that’s left is to let them simmer until the meat is tender and the broth is flavorful and rich.
Given the historical significance and how deliciously nostalgic Irish stew is, it’s not surprising that it ranked so high in HelloFresh’s Google Keyword Planner research.
Dining and Cooking