Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, March 16, 2019

9

FOOD & DRINK

Mountain Views-News Saturday, March 16, 2019 


TABLE FOR TWO by Peter Dills

thechefknows@yahoo.com


Who was St. Patrick? While images of St. Patrick usually depict him driving the 
snakes out of Ireland, the Emerald Isle’s patron saint is better known as the man 
who converted Ireland to Christianity in the 5th century. Born in Britain, St. 
Patrick was smuggled into Ireland by British pirates who sold him into slavery. 
After six years Patrick escaped Ireland and returned to his home country, but 
was then was overcome by a miracle of sorts that had him return to Ireland to 
preach the gospel and build Christ’s church. Though St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 
marks the anniversary of his death, it is a day of celebrating Irish culture and the 
celebration of “Ireland’s Apostle.” 

I can’t remember the last Irish wine I tasted but that is of little concern as the 
country of Ireland is ruled by beer. A good Irishman has a personality as large 
as the earth, so it should not astonish anyone of visual power that Irish beer is 
discovered most every place known to the sun. Guinness has been around for 
over 300 years, but believe it or not, as my honest Irish friends say, Budweiser is as 
popular as leprechauns and gold. In terms of preparing your Guinness for service, 
I recommend acquiring it at room temperature and placing it in the refrigerator 
before you are ready to drink. The instructions to preparing your beer are found, 
in typical Irish style, on the side of the can, and if you observe this Guinness gospel 
you’ll notice a significant difference in the flavor of your brown can of happiness. 
Two hours in the refrigerator is ideal for drinking. For the perfect experience, I prefer to pour the beer into a clean 
un-chilled glass over a spoon. Even though Guinness is brunette brown, the calories and the alcohol content are 
relatively low (and even less than Coors or Budweiser) - a celebratory beer to drink on St. Patrick’s Day, and you 
won’t be too bloated by the festivities. If you have never tasted Guinness before, imagine unsweetened chocolate 
with a hint of roasted flavor at the margins.

Guinness was founded in Dublin in 1759, and first brewed by Arthur Guinness. Mr. Guinness started by brewing 
Dublin ale but soon diversified into ‘porter’ — so-called because of its popularity with market porters. Guinness 
boasts breweries in 51 countries and Guinness stout is sold in 150 countries across the globe, with 10 million 
glasses of stout being enjoyed each and every day. I will bet my pot of gold, St. Patrick’s Day sees Ireland taking care 
of that number all by themselves.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day 

Tune into Dining with Dills on FM 105 Sunday at 8 AM 


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