A Day in the Life

Have some Humble pie.

What even is American food? I have found there is no easy answers. To take a long historical view, perhaps a better starting place is the fact that the all-American apple pie isn’t actually native to the United States. It came, along with the apples themselves, from England. No wonder the only definition I can come up with is a paradox: American food is foreign food until it isn’t.

Photo by: Kylie Truncelitto

What springs to mind when I think of American cuisine are the holy trinity of comfort food: Fries, Burgers and Chicken. Having visited the United states a number of times, I would conclude that this gross generalisation is largely true. Being an active person, I had the intention of eating relatively clean on my trips there. I’m sure those who have been there will empathise with me when I say that eating healthy over there was really difficult. The sheer economics of food prices meant I was often opting for a $1 Cheeseburger instead of a $15 chicken salad at a restaurant. The frequency in which you passed a Starbucks, donut shop or fast food restaurant found you drifting in and out of them for the convenience of quenching your thirst with sugar-loaded drink or satisfying that sweet or salty craving.

MaryAnn on the other hand was shocked when she assumed this was my only perception of American food culture. She comes from Arizona, quite close to the Mexican border, so her regional foods are influenced quite heavily by the Southern American countries and Mexico. She explained the significance of burritos, quesadillas, chimichangas as exciting foods from her region. She laughed, hysterically, when I asked, “So kinda like Boojum yeah?”

Photo by: MaryAnn Witt

So maybe there is more than meets the eye. Unfortunately this blog wasn’t funded by a millionaire, so the cash wasn’t there to take me on a food trip around the great United States, so I can only go by my own experiences. A bit like my sports article, I would suggest: Don’t give in to the hype. Yes, I have eaten great meals in America and many more inspired by the tastes of the nation. There will always be a time and place for a Big Mac or Mac and Cheese dinner. Always. But I’d ask that we are conscious and grateful for how good we have it here. Not in every country can you fill a fridge full of fruit and veg for half the price of a takeaway. We have dedicated quality butchers all over the country, with guaranteed meat sourcing direct from local farmers. We don’t appreciate it for sure. Our traditional dishes may be more bland or less exciting than other dishes but the food movement is well and truly here, driven by the quality of produce we can obtain.

A certain home run?

I consider myself a sports junkie, a fan of almost any code or discipline under the athletic umbrella. I admire the skill, athletic prowess, mental strength and teamwork that blends together to create a magnificent spectacle almost all of the time. American sports, in particular, promise so much. Packaged as unmissable shows of raw power, finesse and ingenuity all in one, I am often left dissatisfied by the result.

Photo by: MaryAnn Witt

In Ireland, we have quite a unique relationship with our sport. The GAA was a foundation peace of our revolution, sports are played for communities by homegrown players and athletes wear their club, county or provincial colours with pride because they are representing their family and friends from their own localities. In America, a much different approach is taken. Sports are mainly played for the individual, representing teams run by multi millionaire owners, not for the people of the city they are representing. Money talks, and the celebrities of America’s games listen. Many of America’s favourite athletes carry some external baggage, whether its a domestic abuse case, drug scandal or a broken relationship with a previous team.

Sports in America promise so much. Many times I have interrupted my sleep schedule to catch a crucial basketball playoff game or an enticing American football clash. And more often than not, I am left unsatisfied. The marketing and social media is justified for merely the flashes of physical prowess and skill, not for the entire game at all. There is more previewing, reviewing, replaying and analysing than actual playing. Never mind the advertisements.

Photo by: MaryAnn Witt

In Ireland we get a better bang for our buck. Fast games in open spaces, where the ball is in play a lot. Team culture and passion is emphasised over stardom and celebrity. Analysis is done in a direct and simple manner in short windows. Overall, it is a more enjoyable experience for this avid sports viewer.

So I will recommend; don’t get caught up in the hype and false promises. Yes, you will amazing highlights on your Intsagram feeds, and they will blow you away. That IS the reason I follow those sports, to be in awe of their skill and swagger. From the clothes that they wear to the enjoyment on their faces when they pull off yet another amazing Top 10 play. But on my Sunday afternoons, I am putting on the Sunday game or a 6 nations clash against one of our Celtic foes, because I know what I’ll get, and I know its for me.

Hurling, Football, and Rugby oh my!

While the world of sports is not particularly something I would say I know a bunch or care a bunch about, but living in Ireland sports is a huge part of the culture. The Irish really care about their sports, and I have learned to care about them too.

So here is the basic run down. You have three main sports that are played here. There is hurling, rugby, and their version of football. Hurling and football are both part of the GAA, or the Gaelic Athletic Association. The GAA is a non-profit organization that is volunteer based. I think this is one of the two biggest differences between the American sports world and the Irish.

In the states, all of our sports have a professional league. There is the NBA, MLB, NFL, and so on and so forth. When we teach our kids to play sports we cling to the hope that they will be good enough to go pro because, let’s be honest, the money professional sports players in the US make is enough to support a nice lifestyle for anyone three times over. It is so much less about the love of the game and so much more focused on money and getting noticed by recruiters. In the GAA, money is not the point of playing. The point of playing is for the love of the sport and the pride in one’s homeland.

Photo by: Diarmuid Greene

The one sport in Ireland that does have to ability to go pro is rugby. The way rugby is set up is that there are five amateur leagues across the country, and if you are good enough to go higher than the amateurs there are four professional teams. In Limerick where I am living, the professional team is Munster. One thing I find interesting about the system of rugby is that for the most part players play for the professional team closest to where they are from. The players do not hold out for higher paying contracts, there is no draft, and players are not traded between teams like they are cattle. It really is kind of cool.

While the structure and heart behind the sports here in Ireland are different than what it is back home, there is one main thing sports in the US and Ireland have in common and that is that they bring people together. Early on in the semester my American friends and I went into the city and sat in a pub to watch the Munster rugby game. The environment was so friendly and full of excitement just like I was in a sports bar back home watching Sunday night football. Whether it is American sports or Irish, cheering on the local sports team is an awesome way to connect with others and have some mighty craic!

Dining with the Irish

The months before I left the United States to embark on my five month long Irish adventure, what I was most excited to experience was the traditional cuisine. I am a foodie through and through, so getting to chow down on food that is different than what I am used to is a dream. I expected amazing dishes with deep exotic flavors, lots of potatoes, and ignorantly I thought corned beef and cabbage was a real Irish meal. For all you Americans out there whose moms made that meal every year on St. Patrick’s day, it’s a lie that is not an Irish thing. In fact, I do not think that Irish food is all it is cracked up to be at all.

Photo by: MaryAnn Witt

Towards the beginning of my Irish adventure I found myself in a small town just outside of Cork. The town is called Kinsale, and it is the most charming little place I have been to here. While I was there I walked into a pub for dinner and had the pleasure of meeting Daragh, a kind old Irish man that had been working in the pub for thirty five years. I asked him what the best Irish dish was to order from their menu and this sparked up a wonderful conversation about what Irish food really is versus the expectations Americans have of the cuisine.

Daragh told me that what he considers to be Irish dishes would be beef and Guinness stew, shepherd’s pie, and fish and chips. After being here for a while, I think I would agree. These are dishes that you can find in pretty much any pub around the country. They are comfort food as we would describe it in the states and have amazing flavor, but these are also dishes you mainly see in restaurants. The food that the Irish eat on a day to day basis is another story.

Photo by: Bill Johnston

Learning how to grocery shop in Ireland has been a struggle to say the least. I was honestly surprised at how hard it was to find items that I cook with on a normal basis back home in Phoenix. For example, chili powder, not a thing here. In fact most cooking essentials for me that add flavor to food is not easy to find. I have found that day to day food in Ireland is pretty bland and flavorless. The Irish can not handle spicy and I am pretty sure if they ate Mexican food in my hometown they would need a glass of milk to stomach the spice.

Food is a love language for me. I love to eat, I love to experience new food, and even more than that I love to share food with the people in my life I care about. Eating my way through Ireland has been a fun way to get to know the people around me and learn what it means to live an Irish lifestyle.

Entertaining the Irish

Before coming to live in Ireland, if I were to have been asked what Irish entertainment was like I probably would have thought of traditional Irish dancers in fancy outfits and three old Irish men playing Irish tunes in a dusty old pub. As for television shows and movies, well I wouldn’t think they produced much content at all. While some of that is accurate, I have learned that there is so much more to Irish entertainment than I ever would have thought.

When it comes to music, there is a lot more variation in the music produced here than I would have thought. Traditional music is still played in a lot of pubs, but that’s not what most young Irish people have blasting in the their headphones on a day to day basis. Hanging out with the Irish I have been exposed to many different bands and artists that came out of Ireland. One of these bands is called The Wolfe Tones. This band plays “rebel tunes,” or songs about the revolution. One song that I was shown is called “Come Out Ye Black & Tans.” This song talks about the British invading Dublin. The music itself reminds me of American folk music with its hard hitting beat and acoustic instruments. When you hear this kind of music it is pretty clear it is Irish through both the lyrics and the heavy accent of the lead singer.

Along with music another form of entertainment I have been exposed to while in Ireland is Irish podcasts. The two that I have been instructed to listen to are comedy podcasts, The 2 Johnnies and The Blindboy Podcast, which is by a member of the Rubberbandits, an Irish musical group. The 2 Johnnies is a great comedy podcast produced by two men named Johnny from Tipperary. Essentially, they post a new podcast each week and talk about pretty much anything and everything. It is slightly raunchy, super funny, and all around great craic. (Craic is a word used for fun in Ireland for all you confused Americans out there, they are not talking about the crystallized form of cocaine. Don’t worry I was super confused at first too.)

Finally I want to talk about classic Irish movies. I had no idea that Irish films were even a thing until it was pointed out to me. To try and educate myself I watched one of the Irish classics, The Wind that Shakes the Barley. This movie was so much more than I expected to be honest. I thought a classic Irish film would have a pretty low production quality and a plot that was interesting but not mind blowing. Well, I was wrong. This movie had pretty great production quality and the story line was everything I could have asked for. I laughed, I cried, and most importantly I learned so much about Irish history and what life was like during the War of Independence and what lead to the Civil War as well. Based on this movie, Irish film can definitely hold its own compared to Hollywood.

That’s showbiz, baby.

The Americans have done their ‘darndest’ to spread their ideas and culture globally, infiltrating, what we would call, proud nations and subcultures. When looking at American entertainment through an Irish persons’ lense, I was struck at how normalised it has become on our island. From Hollywood films, to pop stars topping our charts, to social media influencers and podcasters, it really feels like we’ve become part of the global 51st state, the Westernised world. In fairness, one has to admire the American entertainment industry. As icons, its their natural charisma and character is something that we are all drawn towards. As entertainers, they are really second to none.

Whether we like it or not, our fondest memories in front of our TVs and cinema screens are down to their doing. Our beloved childhood movies The Lion King, Toy Story, Tarazan, to name just a few, are American written and voiced. Recent blockbusters, The Wolf of Wall Street, Inception, Shutter Island (yes I am a Leo-maniac), which captivated millions worldwide, were American starred and captured in state-of-the-art studios on American soil. There is no doubting they are the standards leaders globally. While Irish film holds a special place in our hearts, and is continuously finding it’s feet, the powerhouse that is Hollywood remains unchallenged, despite our adoration of home grown film and TV.

American stars have dominated our charts for years, with simple, catchy, relatable songs. Even though these songs are not my cup of tea, on the date of this blog post, Irelands’ Top 20 features Ariana Grande multiple times, The Chainsmokers (all of their songs are indistinguishable from one another) , and Ava Max the ‘Sweet but Psycho’ girl. These are the songs being pumped through our radio systems, targeting the younger generation of Ireland; to which they have responded, with views, likes and streams. We all can appreciate the classics, the spectrum covering American rock, pop and hip-hop; Fleetwood Mac, Madonna and Eminem, the stars that represent these genres. Has the well ran dry? Are there more of these icons in wait of flourishing?

A small part of each of us has been lost to American pop culture. The rise in social media has meant that we’ve lost our unique Irish perspective on things. The majority of us have been painted with the same brush, with Millennial paint. It is where Ireland has fought back against conformist oppression is where our true beauty lies. Irish entertainment is unique and should be appreciated accordingly. Our music and dance once took over the world through Riverdance. Our modern music scene is spreading by the day, with new bands and groups popping up every few months. Our comedians are some of the best in the world, and our chat, charisma and craic is made for TV and radio.

So yes, the American entertainment industry is dominant in nearly all aspects and deserves its place for its history and consistency throughout the decades. They have mastered the formula for pop culture. But our niche is still there and is being tapped more frequently by both artists and consumers. There is plenty more to come.