While St Patrick’s day celebration is basically about eating corned beef and cabbage and drinking some
green beer or Guinness, I think it's also a good time to reflect on the fact that many of us with Germanic background
also have some Celtic blood in us. They were fascinating people. Raise your hand if you’ve had your DNA done and you have some Irish in your DNA as well as your Germanic.
For a previous Dinner I combined the Irish-American tradition of corned beef and cabbage with a tradional Northern German winter dish Grünkohl Essen and combined them to make a really cool St Patrick's day meal
Maybe some of our Ancestors
According to experts on the subject the Celtic people were a blend of different ethnicities that originated
around the Hallstadt / Salzburg area of Austria then spread out all over Europe.
German Celtic Costumes During the Munich St Patrick's Day Parade
Entrance to the salt mines in Hallsttadt Austria
They are often referred to as barbaric but they were very civilized in many ways, they cultivated crops and very likely invented ham, because 2 reasons, they loved their pork and the Halstatt/Salzburg area is on a salt mine which believe it or not was often hard to obtain. Wars were fought over salt. So they could salt the hams and cure them. Records show that they even exported their cured hams to the Roman empire.
Here is a recipe for Celtic Ham
According to an Italian recipe of the mid-second century BC, hams had to be covered with salt and steeped in their own brine for seventeen days, dried for two, rubbed over with oil and vinegar, and them smoked for a further two days. It is likely that Celtic Britons followed similar practices, barring the oil and vinegar dressing."
About Grünkohl or Kale
One Food The Irish and Germans have in common is cabbage and kale.
If there is one area that celebrates kale and cabbage it is Northern Germany.
Kale is so well celebrated in Germany that they offer "Cabbage Tours" in German Kohlfahrt, an unfortunate comparison is often mistaken. Theres are fun tours that often start from your hotel and you walk in the chilly weather and there are drinking games and a ball tossing game similar to bowling, and lots of designated stops where you drink different kinds of Schnapps to warm you up!
They have their wagon of goodies for the Kohlfahrt tour!
John King one of our food historians wrote and talked about the German influence on Corned Beef and Cabbage. I thought it was interesting enough to share.
The popularity of Corned Beef and Cabbage in the United States is due most likely with the German Jews that migrated to the US. In Ireland you would generally make a Bacon Joint and cabbage, which is a cut of pork that isn't like our bacon at all but more like Canadian bacon. This cut was hard to find outside of Ireland. The corned beef brisket was a close second that they could find in the neighborhood New York delis, and the German Jewish owners made all the time, since they didn't use pork.
So if you make this on the 17th of March. Realize that some German went into it !
Grünkohlessen
(a traditional Northern German Kale Dish)
and part of my St. Patrick's Day Dinner
I know this doesn't look pretty but I urge you to try this. Kale is easy to find even washed and trimmed Kale
like I found for this dish. The Northern German's long simmer Kale with smoked meats, and stock and then
it is thickened slightly to make a creamy tender side dish, I used oatmeal in this recipe.
Salzkartoffeln are a popular way of doing potatoes in Germany. It is also an important part of the Grünkohlessen traditional dish. A popular way to finish the potatoes is to brown and glaze them in butter sauce that we sprinkle a little sugar on as well
A recipe book and short biography of my Grandmother Emma Block. Her recipes, culture and cooking styles that were brought over from Germany. How they evolved when she came to America in the early 1900s and settled in Portland, Oregon on the west coast of the United States. Over 100 recipes
This is the German Goodies Newsletter, that you are at right now.
The Tasty Bites Newsletter is like a Blog througout the week of what I am doing at the Kitchen Project Kitchen,
If you like what I am doing with the the historical background of the dishes then you can get more of that with dishes from all over the world.
Bread Village is located on the East Coast.
Christopher ships out affordable bread from Germany.
Karin Elliot born and raised in Germany
is a chef and wonderful friend giving me encouragement through the years here and donated her recipes for our newsletter. She also does wonderful volunteer work like providing meals for school children in need in Tuscon, Arizona.
Many German-Americans and German immigrants are interested in Native American items from books and movies to jewelry and arts and craft supplies. Karin will take care of you personally with her online store Native Rainbows
German Music
The Kohlfahrt Song
The Heideboys
Grünkohllied
Klaus and Klaus
Josef Hassing at the kale festival in Bocholt
Especially when it is crisp cold outside, there is nothing more delicious than a hearty vitamin-rich cabbage. Kale is therefore now in high season on the winter fields of the Gertrudenhof and comes freshly harvested in the farmer's market from the Gertrudenhof every day, despite freezing cold.
Many tips and tricks for the delicious winter vegetables and the recipe for the delicious kale lasagne reveals Peter Zens in the current vegetable tip at Center TV and all to read as always on www.gertrudenhof.info
.jpg)
