Ireland

You’re not going to find fancy dishes in Ireland, but you will discover finely crafted meals made with local ingredients. Some of the world’s most tender and flavorful lamb comes from the Irish countryside, while the sea provides fresh, delicious seafood such as Dublin Bay Prawns. The southern counties of Cork and Limerick offer everything from grains to strawberries, and award-winning dairy products. Oysters inspire festivals where they are served with Guinness, which is brewed at St. James Gate, Dublin. Speaking of beverages, the Irish beat out every other nation by drinking more tea per capita. Being the home of Guinness makes it easy to understand why beer is another favorite, as are the Irish whiskies, Jameson’s and Bushmills.

Popular Irish dishes are hearty. Much like a cooked English breakfast, a Full Irish Breakfast, called an Ulster Fry in Northern Ireland, is delicious and filling. It consists of eggs, rashers (bacon), bangers (sausage), baked fresh tomatoes, fresh mushrooms, white pudding, black pudding, fresh fruit, brown bread, or toast, or scones, with a bit of butter and marmalade. Expect fried potato farl (bread) up north. Other traditional specialties: Irish stew; bacon and cabbage; boxty, a potato pancake; and Dublin Coddle, boiled pork sausages. Soda bread is a mainstay and handmade cheese and dairy items hold world renown.—Denise Shoukas

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