How the Irish got beefed up

Coffee break 1

QUESTION What is the origin of corned beef? How is it made? THE term corned beef dates from 1621 and comes from the soaking or brining process where the beef is placed in a seasoned liquid with corns, or large grains of salt.

The actual process is much older and has been known in Europe from at least the 11th century, when the Irish started salting beef and pork. They de-boned the meat and soaked it in brine for several days, curing or pickling it.

The earliest reference to this provision can be found (several times) in the 12th century Irish text, Aislinge Meic Con Glinne, The Vision Of MacConglinne, which is a wellspring for scholars interested in medieval humour, monasticism, visions and food:

‘And he called for juicy old bacon, and tender pickled beef, and full- fleshed wether, and honey in the comb, and English salt on a beautiful polished dish of white silver, along.’

By the mid-1500s, Irish salt beef was travelling around the world. The French used it as a cheap, high-protein, durable food for slaves in the sugar colonies of the Caribbean. Corned beef was also popular in colonial America as an economical and effective way to preserve meat.

From the late 17th century until the 1830s, the beef-curing industry was Cork’s most lucrative industry, with exports to Britain, Europe, America, Newfoundland and the West Indies.

Niall O’Sullivan, Cork. QUESTION What is the largest theatre cast ever assembled? FURTHER to the earlier answer, at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, held in Caergybi (Holyhead), Ynys Mon (Anglesey) in 1927, a Welsh translation of Ibsen’s The Pretenders was staged.

It was produced by Theodore Komisarjevsky and had a cast of 200, attracting an audience of 10,000.