Corned Beef - Cultural Associations

Cultural Associations

In North America corned beef dishes are associated with traditional Irish cuisine. However there is considerable debate about the association of corned beef with Ireland. Mark Kurlansky, in his book Salt, states that the Irish produced a salted beef around the Middle Ages that was the "forerunner of what today is known as Irish corned beef" and in the seventeenth century the English named the Irish salted beef, corned beef. Some say it was not until the wave of 18th century Irish immigration to the United States that much of the ethnic Irish first began to consume corned beef dishes seen today. The popularity of corned beef over bacon to the immigrated Irish was likely due to corned beef in their native land being considered a luxury product, while it was cheaply and readily available in America. In Ireland today, the serving of corned beef is geared toward tourist consumption and most Irish in Ireland do not identify the ingredient as native cuisine.

The Jewish population produced similar koshered cured beef product made from the brisket which the Irish immigrants purchased as corned beef from Jewish butchers. This was likely facilitated by the close cultural interactions and collaboration of these two immigrant cultures.