New England Boiled Dinner

Boiled dinners are simple dishes that have been a staple of New England's cuisine for a long time. It consists of corned beef and root vegetables such as carrots, onions, celery, turnips, and cabbage, cooked together in boiling water until tender.

From preparation to presentation, everything is as simple as it can be, and there is no gravy nor condiments to accompany the meat and vegetables. Its origins are unclear, but the existence of the dish has been noted by historians since the 1660s.

In the times before refrigeration, boiled dinner was a kind of a survival strategy, and because the cuts of meat needed to be cooked for a long time, one could do other things while the dish was cooking. Despite being easy, inexpensive and nutritious, New England boiled dinner has fallen slightly out of favor today, but there is one day of the year when the dish is wildly popular throughout the state, especially in the Irish community - March 17th, known as St. Patrick's Day.