National Corned Beef and Cabbage Day Date in the current year: March 17, 2024

Corned beef is a salt-cured product. The term “corn” is derived from the name for coarse grains of rock salt and refers to treating meat with salt and preserving it in a salty brine. The original Irish dish consists of bacon and cabbage because back in the day, pork was widely available to low-income Irish families, since they raised their own pigs, whereas beef was an expensive delicacy that only a select few could afford.

Irish immigrants who arrived in America in the mid-19th century substituted corned beef for bacon because in the United States, the situation was the opposite: pork was relatively expensive, while corned beef was sold by Jewish butchers at an affordable price. This is how bacon and cabbage transformed into corned beef and cabbage and became associated with St. Patrick's Day celebrations in the United States.

To make corned beef and cabbage, meat is boiled with cabbage and sometimes other vegetables (potatoes, carrots or onions) and sliced before serving.