Dáithí Mac Giolla wrote:
Dont forget to pack an Aran Sweater and tweed cap as well, so to blend in with the locals.
Joking, folks...joking!
Dress like The Clancy Brothers and you'll be spotted as a foreigner from a mile away! That said, I do have a tweed cap that I bought in Donegal that is so perfect for keeping the rain off my glasses (I HATE umbrellas!) that I wear it in Ireland anyway. You don't argue with perfection in design!
Breandán wrote:
"Bacon" in Ireland is more like a slab of ham. If you want crispy bacon, make sure you ask for "rashers".
"Black pudding" is blood sausage. "White pudding" is an oatmeal and pork fat sausage similar to black pudding but without the blood. (Flesh of the oldest male relative is optional.)
(I suspect Redwolf will be back with some tips on how to survive there as a vegetarian, right Red?
)
I have to admit that I tend to not eat as a vegetarian much when traveling overseas (unless I'm, say, on a cruise ship, where I'd tend to take most of my meals on board). To my mind, cuisine is so much a part of a country's culture, I feel like I'm missing something vital if I put that kind of artificial barrier between myself and the experience. Also, most of my ethical problems with meat aren't an issue in mostly pastoral Ireland. So when I'm there, I pretty much eat whatever's on-offer, enjoy it immensely (sometimes it's nice to be able to relax a bit and not worry about what you're eating or not eating, you know?), and fall back into my usual California-veg lifestyle while I'm home. I do, however, draw the line at black and white pudding (which pleased the other students in my house in Gleann Fhinne, as it just meant more for them!)
I'll admit I was more hard-line about it when I was younger, and if I lived in Ireland, I would almost certainly fall back into veg mode, if for no other reason than it's what I'm used to after so many years, but any more I'm much more flexible in my dining style while traveling.
And make no mistake...if you're a foodie, you'll be excited by the outstanding cuisine that's evolving in Ireland, based around elevated traditional foods and locally sourced products. I had dinner one night in a wonderful restaurant called "Yellow Pepper" in Letterkenny that I highly recommend to anyone visiting Donegal (if you're a veg, you'll want to skip what I had: the best grass-fed beef burger of my entire life, with Irish cheese and bacon! They do have an appealing vegetarian section on the menu, though, so you're covered either way). It would not be out of place in my favorite culinary city, San Francisco. I was impressed that the menu told you where every single thing was sourced, right down to the dock in Killybegs where they get their salmon! There were three of us there that night: One Irish person and two Americans, and all three of us enjoyed ourselves immensely!
All that said, it is possible to eat well as a vegetarian in Ireland (I can't speak for vegans, never having been one). For one thing, Irish dairy products are some of the best in the world, and the bread products aren't far behind (Brown soda bread right off the shelf in the supermarket! Yum!). Fresh produce is widely available, though more expensive than in the U.S. Most of the restaurants I ate in had at least one vegetarian option, and you can almost always get a good cheese sandwich in a pub.
If you have serious food restrictions, you may want to choose self-catering accommodations as much as possible and, if you're staying in a rural area, arrange a trip to a larger town to stock up on provisions. Supermarkets such as Super-Valu carry pretty much anything you could find in the U.S., as well as many products you can't find anywhere else. You can also often find natural foods stores in larger cities, which can be good places for vegans to stock up on such things as non-dairy milk. And if you're gluten-free, you'll be happy to know that Ireland, with its high proportion of people with celiac disease (I once read that there are more people with celiac in Ireland than in any other country in Europe!), has jumped enthusiastically on the gluten-free bandwagon.
And you never know what you'll find in a small country shop! My first time in Donegal, in 2008, I found a big box of small, but extremely tasty, local potatoes and some locally produced eggs in a shop about the size of a largish phone booth! Good bread and dairy products are everywhere, so while you may not have the same variety as you might have at home, it is possible to eat, and eat well, as a vegetarian in Ireland.
One thing you may miss is peanut butter. It is available, but Irish people don't seem to like it very much, so what's available tends to come in small jars and be kind of "meh" in the taste department. You can have all the peanut butter you want at home...may as well give it a miss here.
If you're staying in a B&B or doing a family homestay (such as what Oideas Gael arranges in Gleann Fhinne), they can generally accommodate special diets with advance notice.
A note for the wine drinkers in the house...buy European. You can get excellent Spanish and Italian wines in Ireland, and they tend to be pretty good deals.
A cultural note: If you're offered a cup of tea and a biscuit or two when visiting people, generally speaking, it would be considered rather rude to refuse, unless you have a health-related reason. Leave the game of "No, no...it's too much trouble!" "Ah gwan...it's just a wee drop!" to the people who grew up playing it!
One thing I did note when ordering sandwiches in pubs and smaller restaurants in Ireland (and this may not be universal) is that, unless otherwise noted on the menu, you get exactly what you ask for. So, for example, if you just ask for a cheese sandwich, you get cheese on bread. If you want lettuce, tomato, or mayonnaise, they'll be happy to oblige, but you may have to specify that. In the States we're accustomed to all sandwiches coming with some base of filler ingredients in addition to whatever the main filling is, and having to specify what, if anything, we want left off...I found the opposite to be true in many places in Ireland.
Oh, and do be aware that some things may have the same name as foods you're used to, but be different in execution. For example, cheesecake in Ireland is more of a fresh-cheese/chiffon pie, usually with fruit...very tasty, but different from the New York-style cheesecake we usually have here in the U.S. If you know ahead of time what you're ordering, you can enjoy it for what it is, instead of being disappointed that it isn't what you thought.
One other note (not food-related, but something you ingest nonetheless), which is not specific to Ireland, but is something anyone who travels overseas should be aware of is that the over-the-counter medications you may rely on may not be available, or may only be available with a prescription. For example diphenhydramine ("sleepy formula" Benedryl) is very difficult to find (I'm not sure if it's available by prescription, or if you just have to ask a pharmacist for it...I have a strong enough need for it that I always travel with my own supply). You can buy something called "Benedryl" easily enough, but it's going to be made from one of the non-drowsy antihistimines, which often don't work well on people who have a lot of (or very severe) allergies. Most people who travel internationally are aware (or certainly should be aware!) that you need to travel with enough of your prescription medications to see you through, as well as copies of your prescriptions in case your meds are lost, but we don't always think about things that we're used to just picking up without a prescription in Safeway or Walgreens. Bottom line...if you're really going to need it, don't just assume you'll be able to find it. Bring it with you.
Redwolf
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