Historian reveals the fifth-century diet fit for a saint

SAINT Patrick might not have had it easy when he was shipped to Ireland as a slave, but at least the food was not bad.

Food and culinary historian Regina Sexton of University College Cork has been able to recreate the diet available in fifth-century Ireland.

“It is safe to say that obesity was not a problem in those days and the fare was seasonal, wholesome and modest by today’s standards,” said Ms Sexton.

“The importance of fat in the diet was different then. Lard and drippings, and butter were highly prized and valued so people did not eat a lot of it,” she said.

The young saint-in-the-making would have consumed lots of dairy products and cereals. And a treat in those days would have been an oatcake with honey and maybe some nuts.

“I know the potato is billed as St Patrick’s food but it was not even in Europe when he was around. It does not come into its own in Ireland until the 16th century,” she said.

“What we are looking at is the pre-potato diet and the carbohydrate that they had then was predominately oats. Wheat was regarded as a luxury crop.”

Ms Sexton said the Irish diet would have included hen and goose eggs, apples and seaweed. And a popular garnish would have been watercress and wild garlic.

“This was neither a throw-away nor a take-away society and people took good care to preserve and conserve for future use,” said Ms Sexton.

Ireland’s patron saint also played a leading role in helping Ms Sexton discover his diet.

“With the coming of Christianity, monastic settlements encouraged learning and record keeping and those records have come down to us.

“Ironically, much of the food available then is what we call health food now and comes at a premium price,” said Ms Sexton.

So it is little wonder then that even after his daring escape from Ireland, Patrick returned to become the island’s patron saint.

He did it for the good of his health!