How come

mariaalice

Probably a bit nutty however, when I was out walking a wood near me yesterday I came across huge a cob nut tree( there are kind of hazel nut ) now in the autumn there will be a massive amount of nuts on it ready to eat, it got me thinking how come we don't have a hazel nut growing industry or a tradition of eating and cooking with cob nuts in Ireland, and then I was thinking how come we don't have massive orchards of apples, pears, and plum and associated cuisine and culture in Ireland( I know a small amount of apples are grown commercially in Waterford and Armagh and that cider is made in Ireland but it is small scale ) We could have had a much more diverse cuisine in Ireland but we never developed it.

nicowa

I'd go with "historically". Historically, orchards and fruit grove would have been owned by the landlords - so we'd have had nothing to do with them. Even still I don't think the landlords had them in any great numbers.

Historically, free grown nuts would have been "poor fair". So when we got own land back we moved on.

There has never been a cultural push (supported by the govt) to reclaim this food.

That's my thinking on it anyway. Could be wrong.

kneemos

Probably because they can be got cheaper elsewhere or the chicken and egg scenario ie no market no growers,plus everything is geared towards the traditional crops.

AnonoBoy

Something something I'll show you my cob nut.... heh heh heh.

Maximus Alexander

I see what you mean, I've always thought it was weird that Ireland doesn't have much in the way of traditional cuisine, bar the stew which isn't up to much. The old meat and potatoes would leave you thinking our ancestors didn't have much in the way of imagination.

In fairness though, they were probably too focused on trying not to starve to death.

Makes me wonder if Ireland has a culinary history that we know nothing about because it was lost during the tough times during the last couple of hundred years.

kneemos

The lead in time would take many years waiting for these things to grow,given the demand and high prices of wheat I don't see any farmer switching to Hazelnuts.

BeerWolf

mariaalice wrote: »

... when I was out walking a wood...

Why were you walking a piece of wood - You're not Johnny 2x4 by chance are you? :pac:

mariaalice

Then on bad land we could have developed a dairy goat industry and developed a goats cheese eating cuisine, I think it might be that from the time of the tua de danann cattle = wealth and stuck with that even in places with bad land we stuck with the mantra of ...I am keeping cattle even thought it a daily battle on bogey stony acres.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

We had a population of poor subsistence farmers, most lived off potatoes and little else. Our population went from 8 million to 2.5 million people during a time when many modern national cuisines were being developed.

We can blame the English in the main for why we only have stew as a national dish.

topper75

Hazlenuts were gathered by our ancestors here as an important protein source that would keep through the winter.

Money talks. If I have a beef or dairy herd on my land, I ain't changing that for apples/pears/nuts unless I can make more money at it.

How the Europeans have a more diverse range of dairy produce though is a mystery. The Irish have first class dairy inputs from cattle and sheep (goats ought to be more common on rough ground). Yet the consumer here rarely looks beyond cheddar/milk/butter.
Which comes first in breaking the inertia - change in producer offerings or change in consumer demand?

mariaalice

I am going back up to collect the cob nuts in the autumn and I am going to roast them and make a nut butter out of them if you can do that with then, sweet chestnut trees grown in Ireland as well and they are very tasty when roasted and could have been a good food source in Ireland.

Apparently walnut trees grow in Ireland as well although I have never seen one in Ireland.

galah

On that topic, how come we don't grow our own veg such as mange tout or sugar snap peas etc here, but import those from countries like Zimbabwe? I mean, tropical fruit that doesn't grow here I understand, but things like mange tout or even beans do grow here easily, yet you can't find local produce in the supermarkets.

kneemos

The Dutch reackon they could feed Europe if they had Ireland.
Don't see why we haven't got more intensive farming.

Maximus Alexander

kneemos wrote: »

The Dutch reackon they could feed Europe if they had Ireland.
Don't see why we haven't got more intensive farming.

I, for one, welcome our new Dutch overlords.

--LOS--

Because we're obsessed with animal agriculture and that's the sad truth!

Tons of hazlenut trees in the fields at home, always collected them and ate them growing up.

NordieSteve

I think Ireland really should invest more into this. With food awareness at an all time high and people watching what they eat, there's a serious market there to be tapped.