Pasta likely to be national dish, research shows

IRELAND’S national dish is more likely to be pasta rather than corned beef and cabbage, research has revealed.

It found about 20% of people cook pasta regularly and there is a one-in-five chance it will be served at a dinner party. Steak and stir fries are also popular meals, with more than 10% of people saying they often cooked these two dishes. The research also confirmed that Ireland is a nation of meat eaters with a mere 0.3% regularly cooking vegetarian meals.

One in 10 people admitted they were awful cooks, 25% believed they were good cooks, while more than a third classed themselves as mediocre.

The research by kitchen appliance manufacturer Belling also found that 58% of people are happy to invite friends and family over for dinner.

The best dinner hosts are in Limerick, where about 80% feel comfortable about inviting people around for a meal.

However, in Dublin and Limerick guests are more likely to get a takeaway rather than a home-cooked meal — up to a quarter admitted they would rather dial than cook.

Ideal dinner guests are actor Colin Farrell and RTÉ presenter Miriam O’Callaghan — 30% of women wanted to cook for Colin, while 15% of men wanted to get busy in the kitchen for Miriam.

One in 10 women said they would like to cook a meal for RTÉ’s Liveline host Joe Duffy but singer Daniel O’Donnell is way down the pecking order — a mere 6% wanted to cook for the Donegal man.

And while 50% of women think men are becoming more accomplished in the kitchen, 24% would not let them prepare a meal.

Fear of food poisoning was the main reason women would not let their men cook. Other reasons given were that meals cooked by men were too predictable and they were more likely to burn everything in the process.

While 30% of people used their hob every day, 19% admitted to using it just once a week. The oven is less popular than the hob with 25% using it two to three times a week and a mere 19% using it daily.

Alarmingly, less than one in four knew what temperature to cook beef at and a little more than 10% knew how to cook pork.

About 300 people over the age of 18 were involved in the survey carried out in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Portlaoise and Waterford.

Food critic Paolo Tullio said he was not surprised pasta was now the country’s most popular dish as it could be casually thrown together or dressed up for home entertaining.

And while home entertaining was not as popular as he expected, he was confident that would change in the future as people became more confident and adventurous in the kitchen.