The green Island of Ireland has for centuries produced high quality food for Irish people. This food has been appreciated by distant onlookers for years; there is no need to admire these products from afar any more as they begin to emerge in our local stores and online around the U.S. Here is IrishCentral’s examples of high quality Irish food and drink products currently on the rise in the US.
 
1. Irish Burren Smokehouse Salmon

@RoisinTweats Burren Smoked Salmon Parcels! #irishfood pic.twitter.com/ex5ch4YSCv

— Birgitta Curtin (@BurrenSalmon) January 30, 2016

The Burren Smokehouse, a family-run business set up over twenty years ago by Birgitta & Peter Curtin is famous for its high quality organic and premium oak smoked Irish salmon. Located close to the worlds famous Burren in Co. Clare on the west coast of Ireland. Burren Smokehouse is renowned worldwide for their incredibly high quality salmon, which is smoked to perfection over oak shavings, for a mild, delicate flavor and melt in the mouth texture.

Burren Smokehouse has won various awards including “the great taste awards”, reinforcing their positioning as a premium high quality salmon. “Ireland is the source of some of the finest salmon in the world. We are now giving American consumers the opportunity to taste the great flavour of Burren Smokehouses artisanal oak smoked salmon” states Susan Weldon, US brand ambassador for Burren Smokehouse. “We are currently available in Dean & Deluca stores nationwide, or online at www.foodireland.com.”

Burren Smokehouse salmon is a perfect complement to a semi-soft cheese, why not try it with Kerrygolds Cashel Blue cheese, for more recipes ideas go online to www.burrensmokehouse.ie.


2. Kerrygold Cashel Blue Cheese

Try Kerrygold Blue Cashel in SVillage store 3-6 today. pic.twitter.com/SKz5EWXQ7l

— Weaver Street Market (@WeaverStreet) November 15, 2015

Developed in 1984, Cashel Blue is Ireland’s original artisan blue cheese and is the creation of the husband and wife team of Jane and Louis Grubb. The cheese is made entirely by hand on the Grubb family farm near Cashel in County Tipperary, Ireland. This acclaimed cheese won gold at the World Cheese Awards in 2006 and 2010.

Like all Kerrygold dairy products, only milk from cows that graze on Ireland’s luxuriant pastures is used, and no artificial growth hormones are allowed. The majority of the milk used to make Cashel Blue comes from the pedigreed Friesian dairy herd on the farm. Cashel Blue is semi-soft and a volumptuously creamy cheese. It has a round, full flavor and slight blue tang. This cheese ages beautifully and the flavors become more pronounced over time.

Kerrygold Cashel Blue is perfect in a salad, on its own or introduced into a tasty dish. For more information on Kerrygold Cashel Blue, please visit www.kerrygoldusa.com or for further recipe ideas, please visit www.cashelbue.com.

3. Molly’s Irish Cream Liqueur

Originating from the small town of Bailiesboro in Cavan, Ireland and inspired by the mythical Irish muse at the heart of countless Celtic poems and songs, Molly’s Irish cream will be sure to warm your senses.

As winner of the gold medal award from the beverage testing institute, Molly’s is truly a delicious blend of fresh Irish dairy cream and the finest aged spirits. With a smooth, gentle and yet wonderfully intricate character, Molly’s enhances those moments shared with friends and family. Click here for more info on Molly's. 

4. Cú Chulainn Irish Whiskey

Cú Chulainn, named after Ireland's greatest mythological hero and distilled by the global award winning Cooley distillery in Ireland, produces an incredibly smooth Irish whiskey.  With a pleasant floral sweet oaky aroma and a complex fresh sweet vanilla taste, you are left with soft oak and lingering sweet malt finish as the elegance of the taste softens.

Matured for a minimum of four years in American bourbon oak casks, the result is this exceptionally smooth Irish whiskey which is full of character, full of integrity and fully inspired by the legend that is Cú Chulainn.

Esteemed by whiskey drinkers, this Irish whiskey can also be enjoyed as an aperitif, alongside a meal or as an after dinner drink due to its smooth elegant finish. Learn more about the Cooley Distillery, purchased this year by Jim Beam - exciting things are in store. 

5. Cooleeney Cheese

Tasting Cooleeney, Gortnamona & Dunbarra @GreenacresWine Be sure to pop in and try some! pic.twitter.com/OSdhzrGPbO

— Cooleeney Farm (@CooleeneyFarm) March 13, 2015

Breda Maher and her husband Jim began making cheese in 1986 on their beautiful farm in Thurles, Co. Tipperary. All the milk used comes from the Maher’s own herd of 200 pedigree Friesians which the family have built up over generations. Daru, which is a semi-hard, pasteurized cow’s milk cheese, is known for its robust and earthy hints of cellar and mushrooms. Gleann Oir is also a semi-hard cheese with a distinctive chalky texture. Gleann Oir is made with goat’s milk and has a very different taste and appearance to cheeses developed from cow’s milk. Both cheeses are a welcome presence on cheese boards and a great complementing ingredient in a variety of recipes.  You can find a range of Irish cheeses in Dean & Deluca and Murrays Cheese ~ which also provides mail order to many states outside NY, for more information please visit www.irishfarmsteadcheese.com.

6. Flahavan’s


Flahavan’s Oatmeal is Ireland's leading oatmeal brand, established in 1785. The sixth generation family-owned company is Ireland’s oldest privately owned business and truly is the porridge that Ireland has grown up with. This delicious oatmeal is now available in the U.S. and can be purchased in most major U.S. retailers. Available in three varieties, Steel Cut, Quick Cook Steal Cut and Rolled Oats there is an oat for everyone. It can be purchased at many major US supermarkets, including Walmart and Wegman's.

7. Lily O’ Briens


Lily O'Brien's Chocolates started life as the brainchild of Mary Ann O'Brien who, having recovered from a debilitating illness in the early 1990s, she discovered her true passion for all things chocolate.

Embarking on a journey of discovery, Mary Ann honed her chocolate-making skills working with world-class chefs and chocolatiers in both South Africa and Europe before starting her own mini enterprise from her Co. Kildare kitchen in 1992.  With little more than two saucepans, a wooden spoon and her then toddler, Lily, who acted as production manager!

Mary Ann began to create high quality chocolate recipes for friends and family. Not satisfied with the scale of her enterprise, she soon expanded in the hope of positioning excellent Irish chocolate on the world map. Naming the company after her daughter Lily seemed like the most natural thing to do at the time and since then Lily O'Brien's chocolates have established itself as one of Ireland's best-loved chocolatiers. View the company's website here. 


8. O’ Hara’s Craft Beer

Seamus & Kay O'Hara began making O'Hara's range of craft beers in 1996, in Bagenalstown, County Carlow, Ireland. Their business began as a quest to make flavorsome brews as there was little choice offered by the large beer companies that dominated the market. O'Hara's were one of the first craft beers to kick off the micro-brewing revolution in Ireland. O'Hara's range includes a full bodied stout and a traditional Irish red ale and can be enjoyed in a host of bars across New York City. The range is also available in selected retailers and a number of U.S. states.

Seamus O’ Hara, the brewery founder, is passionate about quality: “We have gone back to basics and brew our beers as they used to be brewed – with natural ingredients and no artificial additives. We believe this leads to a superior quality product with robust body, taste, flavor and aroma.” More info here. 

*Originally published in 2011.