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Not Without My Passport

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How Ireland Taught Me to Respect the Potato

December 4, 2013 by Helen

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ireland potato famine, irish food, potatoes

Visit Ireland, and you may never see, touch or eat a potato the same way again.

Predictably, I found the tuber abundant on menus across the country, from village pubs to fine-dining establishments. But, as scrumptious as my favourite potato dishes are, by my fourth day in Ireland I was craving alternative carbs: rice, pasta… anything. There’s only so much mashed potato a food lover like myself can get excited about, you know? It’s overkill, to be honest.

But the tragedy is that the potato precipitated a pivotal event in Ireland’s history that did, in fact, kill.

The History

Brought to the country from South America in the 16th century, the humble spud was a blessing for the poor. It’s inexpensive, filling, easy to grow and store, and a source of essential nutrients. By the 18th century, it had become the dominant—if not only—food source for rural families.

But when a fungus-like disease struck the potato crops, making them inedible, the consequences were devastating. Ireland became an abyss of human misery. The death toll was staggering: During the Great Famine from 1846 to 1850-52 (the final year varies by source), over one million people died from starvation or disease.

“I saw the dying, the living, and the dead, lying indiscriminately upon the same floor,” reported James Mahoney, an artist from Cork.

But there was one place that, inconceivably, became a source of nourishment. Kilmainham Gaol stands as a sombre reminder of Ireland’s dark and turbulent past. A Dublin jail and now must-visit museum, it provided some relief to desperate women and children who, on the edge of starvation, would steal loaves of bread in the hopes of imprisonment and, therefore, access to shelter and meagre food rations.

potato famine ireland, kilmainham gaol

The eerie hallways of Kilmainham Gaol.

But if life outside was hell, Kilmainham Gaol was a purgatory. With five to six inmates confined to a cell designed for one, it was squalid and overpopulated. For those who couldn’t be squeezed in, there was nowhere else to sleep but on the dingy floors of the dark corridors.

At least another million of Ireland’s population emigrated, many to North America, to escape the famine. But for those who braved the seas, the “coffin ships”, as the name suggests, were wretched prisons in themselves. Thousands perished during the one- to three-month journey across the Atlantic.

In the face of disease at every turn, a skin-and-bone population withering away and dead children left on the side of the road by parents too weak to bury them, do such choices seem like choices at all?

By the end of the famine, it’s estimated that the population of Ireland fell by 25 percent.

But the legacy left by the crisis wasn’t just demographic. So significant was the potato famine in changing the country’s sociopolitical, cultural and linguistic landscape that it’s now an intrinsic aspect of folk legend—for both the native Irish and the diaspora.

famine memorial dublin, the great famine

The famine memorial in Dublin.

irish famine memorial, dublin

Today

When it comes to travel, it’s been my long-held belief that food is essential to our understanding of the cultures we wish to explore. While I admit it didn’t take long for my taste buds to experience potato fatigue in Ireland, by the end of my visit, I learned to embrace them—and I  returned home with a new perspective on a seemingly simple food that, in reality, is rich in symbolic meaning. In the Irish memory, the potato has been both a blessing and deadly curse. And, while the country has healed, it hasn’t forgotten.

Today, the Irish aren’t as dependent on the humble spud as they once were, but it still persists as a dominant staple in their diet. Two dishes are worthy of mention.

Champ, the name for creamy mashed potato mixed with green onion, is a traditional comfort food and prevalent across the country.

irish champ, traditional irish food

But I’m especially grateful for the introduction to what has become one of my favourite potato dishes: boxty. I had these pillowy potato dumplings with cubed corned beef, proudly served by The Boxty House, at a travel media event. While I didn’t pay their Dublin restaurant a visit, you can be sure that I’ll make it my first stop if I return. If you want to sample all three types of boxty (baked, boiled and fried), look—and eat—no further.

boxty, irish foods, ireland potato

Boxty with corned beef from the Boxty House, Dublin.

Mashed, boiled, baked, fried, roasted—the Irish kitchen has reinvented the beloved tuber in a myriad of ways. So integral it is to Ireland’s national identity that it’s now honoured and celebrated each year on National Potato Day.

So the next time you fluff that baked potato with your fork, you may want to consider what it signifies to others elsewhere. It represents the struggles—and strength—of an entire nation. And it certainly deserves more respect than I gave it all these years.

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Comments

  1. Joe @ Cosmic Smudge says

    December 4, 2013 at 11:08 am

    Great post. Love the way you tied, food, history and travel together. When I went to Dublin, I was struck by 1) how fast the locals walked 2) how good the Guinness tasted 3) the prevalence of oil in the fish dishes I had

    • Helen Suk says

      December 5, 2013 at 10:04 am

      Thanks, Joe. Glad you liked it. Hmm… I didn’t taste much oil in the fish (and I did eat a lot of seafood). I’m not sure when you were in Dublin but I’ve been told a lot has changed in the Irish culinary scene over the last several years.

  2. Goretti says

    December 4, 2013 at 4:40 pm

    My mouth is watering for boxty with cubed corned beef 😛 I almost want to go to Ireland right away to get that dish, but unfortunately we have other travel plans for the coming year… so instead…Where can I find an authentic recipe?

    • Helen Suk says

      December 5, 2013 at 10:15 am

      Good question! I have the answer from potato expert and the man behind The Boxty House himself, Pádraic Óg Gallagher. Check out his YouTube video on how to make boiled boxty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFbDYVJx6fs&feature=c4-feed-u&app=desktop

  3. ETC says

    December 5, 2013 at 3:47 am

    Wish you would have researched ” The Famine” a little more. There wasn’t a famine in the same way there were and are famines in Africa and other developing countries. Ireland back in the 1800’s had plenty of food sources other than potatoes, all of which was shipped out by ruthless English landlords back to England.

    • Helen Suk says

      December 5, 2013 at 9:58 am

      I appreciate you pointing this out. I’m well aware that the potato famine was an anomaly, and I did consider getting into the political, social and economic factors (e.g., government negligence and landlord greed) that exacerbated the crisis – but they are not the focus of this post. There is plenty of literature available about the extent to which the famine was/wasn’t a natural disaster – but there’s no denying the central role the potato blight played in precipitating the catastrophe.

  4. Aimee @ Tefl Adventures says

    December 5, 2013 at 9:04 am

    Three of my favorite things! Food, history, and travel! There are so many recipes for boxty it’s unreal. But every Irish person can tell you the “right” way to make it, and it’s usually delicious!

    • Helen Suk says

      December 5, 2013 at 10:19 am

      And I am more than happy to sample every type 😉 Thanks for stopping by, Aimee.

  5. islandmomma says

    December 7, 2013 at 4:24 pm

    Congratulations on an excellent post. I was in Ireland early Fall and totally fell in love. I’d read a lot about the famine as prep (even though I’d heard a lot about it over the years, being English). I know the commentor who pointed out that there is so much more to this story is totally correct, but I also appreciate that this is a blog post and not a book or a thesis. I thought you summed up the relevant points really well to fit in with your theme. I think blogging is a difficult field in this respect, we don’t want to read screeds, but to hopefully pique the reader’s interest to read further. I thought this was just great.

    • Helen Suk says

      December 10, 2013 at 11:24 am

      Thank you for your kind words! I do appreciate the many factors that contributed to the famine but did want to focus on the actual potato. I’m glad you found it of interest.

  6. jessicawray says

    December 8, 2013 at 6:11 am

    I never really gave a thought to Irish food, but this has convinced me otherwise. It sounds pretty delightful 🙂

    • Helen Suk says

      December 10, 2013 at 11:27 am

      Ireland really surprised me when it came to food – a post on this is coming soon. Thanks for stopping by!

  7. The Caffeinated Day Tripper says

    December 17, 2013 at 10:54 pm

    We make champ and colcannon all the time in my home but now I’m desperate to try boxty! And I think you did a lovely job covering the basics of the famine and keeping it relevant to your post. We’re all entirely capable of researching more if we want to. ;P

    • Helen Suk says

      December 18, 2013 at 1:09 pm

      Thanks for weighing in and stopping by!

About Helen

Helen Suk

Travel writer. Photographer. Always curious. I search the world for beauty and inspiration while sharing valuable tips to help you plan your next trip.

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