As American as Corned Beef and Cabbage!
Corned Beef & Cabbage
Are you planning to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th) with the ole Irish standard of corned beef and cabbage? Think again! No, not whether to serve corned beef and cabbage but the fact that it’s not an true Irish standard!
To be more precise it is the ole Irish/American standard. If you were to get on a plane and travel to the land of leprechauns to celebrate a wee bit o’ Irish, lo and behold, you wouldn’t find any corned beef with your cabbage. For holidays and celebrations, what you would find would be a meat called Gammon. This is a delicious cured bacon joint that they cut into ham-like steaks.
Gammon Steaks
When Irish Americans came to this country in the mid-1800’s, they could not find this kind of bacon. They discovered though, that the corned beef being made by their Jewish neighbors in the now infamous NY deli, had a similar texture and was an inexpensive alternative. Thus, the corned beef and cabbage meal gained the same Americanization as the fortune cookie and spaghetti and meatballs. (That’s right, but that’s another show!)
Corned beef is made from beef brisket, which is cured for several days in a salt and herb solution. This is where the term ‘corned’ comes from. In the old English language, ‘corns’ referred to the grains of salt used in brining the meat. Since this process takes many days, today we usually purchase our beef brisket already cured. It’s just waiting for us to finish the cooking process by boiling it in some water for several hours and serving it with steamed cabbage and root vegetables. Boiled potatoes add a nice Irish touch.
But before we can start, we need to find the best price on corned beef and cabbage. A smart shopper knows to look for the deals that come aound this time of year. To give you an idea of the price spread on these products, I scanned this week’s local prices. Here is what I found:
Safeway $1.79/lb.
Lucky $1.50/lb.
PW Market $2.19/lb.
Savemart $2.37/lb. (Shensen)
Cabbage
Safeway $0.29/lb.
Lucky $0.39/lb.
PW Market $0.25/lb.
Savemart $0.39/lb.
So, is it worth a few minutes to plan your shopping trip to save $2 – $4 on your grocery bill? Smart eating begins with smart shopping. Visit SmartShopIt.com to help you quickly find the best prices. If you’re already at the store, it’s not too late. Access us on your moblie browser at http://m.smartshopit.com.
We hope you enjoy your St. Patrick’s day celebration. While you’re at it, help dispel the myths that corned beef can be found in Dublin and that St. Patrick banished all the snakes from Ireland! For us, a great plate of corned beef and cabbage is like finding that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!
SmartShopit Price Guide – Shensen Corned Beef Brisket (3.5 lb. package)
Smart Buy Range – $2.37 – $3.29/lb.
Average Price – $3.96/lb.
High Price – $4.75/lb.
(Visit our main site and become a free member at SmartShopIt.com to save time and money grocery shopping. Create shopping lists, see product price and nutrition information. Get free coupons and compare products. Also accessible via your mobile web device at http://m.SmartShopIt.com)
Filed under: Fruits & Vegetables, Meat
