Did You Know? Irish food and drink facts

10 facts about Irish food and drink to whet your appetites and tickle your interest…

1.

Did you know that Irish Coffee was apparently invented in the early 1950s by Joe Sheridan, a bartender at the Shannon Airport? It became famous thanks to US travel writer Stanton Delaplane. After tasting it in Shannon, Delaplane persuaded the then owner of the Buena Vista Café in San Francisco, Jack Koeppler, to start serving it at his bar. Over 50 years later, on November 10, 2008, the San Francisco Café set a Guinness World record for making the largest Irish Coffee on the planet. The cocktail was made in a three-foot, 15-gallon glass, and contained a case of Tullamore Dew whiskey.

2.

Did you know that many of the large rocks, that the best west of Ireland mussels can be found, were put there by farmers harvesting mussels? More rocks usually meant a wealthier farmer, as he had more donkey power to get them there.

3.

Did you know that Bewley’s famous café on Grafton Street serves over 17,000 people per week? That makes it Ireland’s busiest café!

4.

Did you know that Queen Elizabeth I, is believed to have been so fond of Irish whiskey, to have barrels transported to London on a regular basis.

5.

Did you know that potatoes belong to the same family of plants as chilli peppers, tomatoes, tobacco, eggplants and petunias but, that they are not related to the sweet potato. And did you know that although the spud may have a special place in the Irish kitchen, that the Incan people of Peru were growing them as far back as 200 BC. They were first brought to Britain and Ireland in the late 1500s and weren’t immediately popular either. Many people resisted their culinary charms as they weren’t mentioned in the Bible.

6.

Did you know that in the region of 275-million litres of Irish milk. from over 35,000 cows, across 1,400 farms, are used to make the number one liqueur brand in the world - Baileys Irish Cream.

7.

Did you know that traditionally the first pancake to be tossed on Pancake Tuesday was by the eldest unmarried daughter of the household. If she managed to flip it successfully, she’d be married within the year. If she dropped it, she had another year of freedom to enjoy.

8.

Did you know that the potato was the first food to be grown in space. That was back in 1995 when it was transported there on board the space shuttle Columbia.

9.

Did you know that the cross on Irish soda bread was traditionally put there to ward off the devil or to allow the fairies out of the bread. Of course, other people believe it was put there so that it will easily break into quarters when it is baked.

10

Did you know that Arthur Guinness had such faith in his brewing business when he started back in 1759 that he took a lease on St. James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin for 9,000 years, at £45 per year.