Ireland’s food is based on meat, potatoes and dairy products- definitely not low on calories, but so tasty that it doesn’t matter anyway! Potatoes, in fact, are the staple food in Ireland - they’re consumed at virtually every meal, in some form or the other - mashed with butter and onions (a dish known as colcannon); as potato cakes or as boxty, grated potatoes fried in bacon fat. Meat - lamb, beef and mutton, game and fish - are also a part of daily diet, and are generally supplemented with bread - including potato bread (obviously! What would Irish food be without the humble potato?). Bread, in its many forms, is usually excellent, and Irish bakers turn out delicious cakes, scones and biscuits too.

Vegetables tend to be conspicuous by their absence, and that probably accounts for the fact that the Irish have amongst the highest incidences of heart disease in West Europe. Mushrooms, tomatoes, cabbage and of course, potato, are about the only non-meat foods you’ll find on dining tables, and then too not very often.

The Irish are good brewers, and both whisky (Irish whiskies rank among the best in the world) and beer - particularly Guinness and porter - are brewed all over the country. A mug of frothy beer is almost mandatory with every meal - many wouldn’t dream of eating a morsel without something to wash it down with!