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Nollaig Shona Duit! Christmas In Ireland

19/11/2012

9 Comments

 
Click HERE for the recipes
Christmas Food in Ireland
Let's start the Six Christmases with a very obvious one for me here: an Irish Christmas! (see the Six Christmases project explained here.)
I met with my Irish friend Faela a little while back and asked her about the way her and her family spend Christmas, and about the many food delights they will have.
She usually spends Christmas with her husband (and now cute little baby boy) at her parents' house an hour from Dublin.
On Christmas Eve, the last of the shopping is done and everybody stops somewhere for a drink. Then, back home, they all have another drink with some homemade brown bread with smoked salmon on top, a drizzle of lemon juice and a sprinkle of chopped spring onions. Her mother will also have made a delicious beef and Guinness casserole the day before to have on Christmas Eve (I believe that this year's hot dish will be a lovely seafood chowder).
After the meal, they all go to the pub for a little while and then head to midnight mass.

On Christmas morning, some freshly baked cranberry muffins are popped out of the oven and served with a cup of coffee. Everybody has to wait until they each have a muffin and a hot drink before sitting by the Christmas tree and open the presents. (Faela's mother makes the muffins batter the day before so it just needs to be spooned in the cases and baked.)
Afterwards, they have a breakfast of scrambled eggs with smoked salmon served on toast or bagels, accompanied by a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.
Then, it is time to get the food ready for the big Christmas dinner.
As an appetiser, Faela's family eats some more smoked salmon on homemade brown bread and drinks a glass of Prosecco or a Gin and Tonic.
For starter, they have foie gras on toast (brought back all the way from the South of France for the occasion) and for those who do not like eating foie gras, there are also prawns served with chilli and garlic.
For the main part of the meal, they eat turkey (stuffed with a bread, onion and sage stuffing), Christmas ham (that will have been boiled the night before), accompanied by side dishes of potato croquettes, Brussels sprouts, carrots and parsnips (roasted with honey, or mashed), sausage meat stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce and gravy.
Then, they wait several hours before dessert.
For dessert, they will eat the traditional plum pudding (made mid-October) - served with brandy butter and cream - and Christmas cake. They also have a pavlova and mince pies (Faela told me she likes opening the top of the mince pies, add some brandy butter in it and put the top back, it sounds delicious!).
The wines they drink at dinner time are all French and come from the Languedoc region in the South of France.

After dinner and desserts, they all rest and spend time together. Around midnight or 1am that night, they all go and get the leftovers to make some huge Christmas sandwiches (let me tell you they sound absolutely fantastic!).

On St Stephen's Day (26th December), Faela and her brother like to use the leftovers to make themselves a second Christmas dinner; sometimes, they also make a pasta dish with the leftovers too.
And the day after, they will all enjoy a delicious turkey soup made using the bones for the broth.

After my interview with Faela, I was really starving and dreaming of a beautiful Irish Christmas dinner. I am spending Christmas in Ireland this year, and from the sound of it, I should prepare my stomach for many extraordinary delights.

I used two of the recipes that Faela gave me and tweaked them a bit to share with you. So keep scrolling down and you will find two recipes: sausage meat stuffing and stuffed potatoes, and cranberry and white chocolate mini Christmas muffins.

Sausage Meat, Mashed Potatoes, Onion and Sage Stuffing and Stuffed Potatoes Recipe
Click HERE for the recipes
Cranberry and White Chocolate Mini Christmas Muffins Recipe
9 Comments
The Dublin Diary link
19/11/2012 09:15:27

That really got me in the mood to do some Christmas planning! I'm looking forward to reading about the next five Christmases!

I'm always amazed how most Irish homes all do something similar for Christmas but all have their own little different special things!

Thank you :)

Reply
Yolène link
19/11/2012 10:06:49

You are very welcome! The next five Christmases are very exciting as well (and organising all that is making me very hungry :) ).
I am amazed to read about dishes that from one to another are found in lots of different countries.

Reply
french foodie in dublin link
19/11/2012 09:42:56

Super ce post! Ca me donne faim, j'ai passé 6 Noels en Irlande, maintenant il est temps de tous les passer en France :)

Reply
Yolène link
19/11/2012 10:08:38

Merci K.! Ah oui, il est temps quand même :)

Reply
Jessica
19/11/2012 14:40:59

That was a lovely piece to read. I am spending my Christmas in Brazil for the first time and I like to think of all the lovely foods and traditions that they keep back home in Ireland. I am interested to read about the other five countries.

Reply
Yolène link
20/11/2012 02:14:12

Thank you Jessica! Now it's funny you are saying you will spend Christmas in Brazil... then I really recommend you keep reading for the next Christmases ;)

Reply
Cuisine Genie link
19/11/2012 20:00:22

Ohhhh Yolène! This post is making me miss home so much! Fabulous post with great recipes and I want to gobble up that little gingerbread man with the Irish flag ;-)

Reply
Yolène link
20/11/2012 02:16:05

Thanks L.! I will make sure I have some little gingerbread men for you when you come to Ireland for Christmas :)

Reply
Super beta prostate link
7/8/2013 05:02:31

Thank you for introducing the Ireland dishes and these are very special and very much apt for Christmas. The ingredients are very simple and the preparation also, I will definitely try this on the coming Christmas. Good luck and keep sharing.

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    Hello! I’m Yolene, a French blogger based in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
    Welcome to my blog Crème de Citron. This is where I share lifestyle, travel and food stories.

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