Northern Irish cuisine facts for kids
Northern Irish cuisine is all about the yummy food and cooking traditions from Northern Ireland. It has its own special dishes. But it also shares a lot with food from Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
A Taste of History
Northern Ireland's food story began with simple meals. For many years, farming families mainly ate bread and potatoes. There weren't many different ingredients available. Also, not many people moved to Northern Ireland from other countries. This meant the food stayed quite simple and didn't get many new ideas from around the world.
But things have changed a lot in recent times! Now, there are many more places to eat. You can find lots of great gastropubs and restaurants. Northern Ireland even has two restaurants with special Michelin stars. These places often use local ingredients to make traditional dishes.
Northern Irish food even got famous in 2018. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited Belfast. They enjoyed Irish stew and sausage with champ for lunch.
Delicious Dishes and Foods
Ardglass Potted Herring
Ardglass potted herring is a special fish dish. You can find it in butcher shops and fish stores. It's herring fish soaked in vinegar. Then it's rolled with a bay leaf and baked with breadcrumbs.
Tasty Breads
Potato Bread
Potato bread is a flat bread. It's made with potatoes, flour, and buttermilk. People cook it on a griddle, which is a flat cooking surface.
Soda Bread
Soda bread is one of Northern Ireland's famous griddle breads. You can eat it right away. Or you can cook it in an Ulster fry until it's golden. Sometimes people eat it with butter and homemade jam. It also tastes great with smoked salmon or bacon.
Soda bread is soft, thick, and fluffy. It was first baked in Ireland in the 1800s. Local people used baking soda to make the dough rise. It's often served with an Ulster fry.
Wheaten Bread
Wheaten bread is a brown bread. It's made with whole wheat flour. Like soda bread, it also uses baking soda to rise. Wheaten bread is often a bit sweet. This is different from the savory white soda bread.
Fifteens Cake
Fifteens is a soft cake baked in a tray. It gets its name because it uses fifteen of each main ingredient. These ingredients are marshmallows, digestive biscuits, and cherries.
Boxty Potato Cake
Boxty is a weighty, starchy potato cake. You'll find it mostly in County Fermanagh. It's made with half cooked mashed potatoes and half raw grated potato. The most common type is boiled boxty. This is a large round loaf. It's boiled for several hours, then sliced and fried. People often eat it with bacon.
Champ Potatoes
Champ is a simple and tasty potato dish. It's made by mashing potatoes with milk. Then, chopped spring onions are added to give it flavor.
Hearty Vegetable Soup
There's a special vegetable soup made all over Ulster. It uses carrots, celery, thin leeks, and parsley. It's made thicker with red lentils and barley. You can often buy packets of these six ingredients together. They are called "soup veg."
Dulse Seaweed
Dulse is a type of seaweed. People eat it as a snack food. Fishermen originally collected it to earn extra money. They did this when there weren't many fish to catch.
Pasties
Pasties are made from a mix of sausage meat, onions, and mashed potato. They are shaped like a burger. They are spiced with black pepper. You can often order them battered from most chip shops.
The Famous Ulster Fry
The most famous traditional dish in Northern Ireland is the Ulster fry. It's Northern Ireland's version of a cooked breakfast. What makes it special are the griddle breads. These are soda bread and potato bread. They are fried until they are crisp and golden. Sometimes, small pancakes are also included.
The dish also has bacon, sausages, and an egg. Nowadays, it often includes tomato and sometimes mushrooms. It is usually served with tea and toast. For breakfast, people in Northern Ireland also enjoy porridge. It's made with rolled oats, milk or water, and a pinch of salt or sugar. On weekends, some add cream and brown sugar for a treat. A few even add a dash of whiskey!
Yellow Man Candy
Yellowman is a crunchy golden candy. It looks a bit like honeycomb. You can mostly find it at fairs and markets.
Vegetable Roll
Another special Northern Irish food is vegetable roll. These are slices of peppery minced beef. They are flavored with fresh leek, tomato, and onion.
Popular Drinks
Famous Northern Ireland Chefs
- Jenny Bristow
- Michael Deane
- Noel McMeel
- Robbie Millar
- Paul Rankin
- Clare Smyth
