Land of Milk & Honey: The Story of Traditional Irish Food & Drink

by Brid Mahon

Land of Milk and Honey gives an authoritative account of Irish foods through the centuries and their special associations with wakes, weddings, and the calendar feasts of the year. Included are chapters on all of the foods of Ireland with vivid accounts of their historical uses and preparations. With frequent references to literature and folklore, Brid Mahon charts the fascinating culinary history of Ireland.

Genres: Ireland, Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1991

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok, we know that the Irish are famed for their hospitality, and that there was a potato famine in the 19th century. Every chapter touched briefly on some other type of food, but then circled back to the above statments. Sooo dull. Don't waste your time.

[Liam Wurtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely a Liam type book that is so cute I want to eat it. Judging the book by its cover (or moreso overall production qualities) I am delighted to have found this gem, now out of print and more or less unavailable online. The story of how I got it is a good one, too. The cover features a sepiatone "harvest scene near Carrickmacross in 1937." The font, typesetting, the fact that the right header on every single page has the subtitle of the book and not the chapter name - all delightful. Love the source list at the end of each chapter. Mercier Press has outdone itself.

The book is pretty great too.

[Deirdre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not terribly deep or detailed, then again it's 150 pages about the history of Irish food and drink, a few pages of recipes and an index with bibliography, so it's a good starting point for the topic but not a complete history of Irish food and drink. There's a lot of information in here about the changes in Irish food over time, though it was written in 1991, so it misses on the changes wrought by the Celtic Tiger on the Irish palette. Then again it's more about the pre-twentieth century food habits of Ireland.

It's interesting and not a bad springboard for further study

One of the interesting tidbits is about the Feast of St Martin, on the 11th of November, p 143 "no wheel of any kind should be turned on Martinmas, be it millwheel, spinning-wheel or cartweel - not even the heel of a stocking should be turned, which meant that no woman should knit on this day." Knitters would understand that strange compulsion to get the heel done once you start into it!

Worth reading for general information, not terribly deep.

[John Maxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Regardless of the brevity I quite enjoyed this book. Yes, the author touches lightly on several topics. For me this inspired me to pursue books that explored these topics further. Would absolutely recommend to others and I have many times!