We love St. Patty's Day at Madfish. We love it so much that every year we make a whole bunch of Corned Beef and Cabbage... and just about every year we sell out. We'll start serving the American version of the Irish specialty, complete with potatoes and carrots, at 11:00am... and we'll keep serving it 'til the pot is empty.
So, what's the deal with Corned Beef and Cabbage anyways? It's technically not even an Irish dish... it really comes from New England, where the Irish first settled in the US. In Ireland, the closest thing to 'Corned Beef and Cabbage' is 'Bacon and Cabbage', with a bacon similar to Canadian bacon or salty ham. When the Irish immigrated to America, they began using corned beef instead of pork. Somewhere along the way, Americans adopted this meal as the traditional meal for St. Patrick's Day... since, you know, St. Patrick's Day is an Irish holiday and all.
Speaking of St. Patty's being an Irish holiday, let's talk a little about it's history. In Ireland, Paddy's Day (as they call it) is an annual feast day celebrating St. Patrick, who is one of the patron saints of Ireland. Though Paddy's Day has been a religious holiday in Ireland for centuries, it didn't become a public holiday until 1903, and is now recognized as a national holiday. Those lucky Irish get to take a day off to drink and eat and celebrate!
Wearing green and shamrocks has been a tradition since the 17th century... evidently St. Patrick used the shamrock to teach people about the Holy Trinity. "The wearing of the green" actually means to wear a shamrock on your clothing. Just remember, whatever you do... don't wear a 4-leaf clover. They aren't Irish and it doesn't make the Irish happy when you get 4-leaf clovers and 3-leaf shamrocks confused. Trust me... I know from experience.
In the US, St. Patty's day is kind of a big deal, whether you are Irish or not. I think it's mostly because people like the excuse to drink green beer and dress in head to toe green. In all seriousness, though... the Irish Society of Boston held the first St. Patrick's Day parade in the United States in 1737. New York's first celebration was in 1766, where the parades were meant to be statements about the unfair treatment of Irish immigrants. Numerous cities in America now hold parades and find different ways to celebrate the holiday. Chicago (see picture above) dyes the river green, as does Indianapolis. Savannah dyes all of it's fountains in the downtown parks green, and Seattle and many other cities paint their traffic stripes green along parade routes.We don't dye any waterways green in Sarasota, but we do dye the beer green at Madfish! Come and join us for a day of corned beef, green beer and shamrock-wearin' fun!
