Although cheesecake isn’t a traditional Irish food, none of the traditional Irish desserts pop out at us. So we like to celebrate St. Pat’s with these Green With Envy Cheesecake Bars or this Irish Coffee Cheesecake with Irish whiskey.

But if you’re more inclined to click than bake, consider these cheesecakes from Harry & David.

A cream cheese-based New York style cheesecake recipe, these cheesecakes have a chocolate cookie crust and are covered with dark chocolate mint ganache and festive green swirls with a shamrock adorning the center of the cake.

Send them to friends, and they will indeed feel the luck of the Irish.

Each cheesecake is 5.5 inches in diameter—enough for sensibly small pieces for four people, a large piece for two, or a very big piece for a superfan. Get yours at HarryandDavid.com. The pair of cheesecakes is $29.95.

You can add a St. Patrick’s Day theme to any frosted cake.

Here’s a recipe for Irish Cream Liqueur Cheesecake—so yummy!
 
By the way, March 6 is White Chocolate Cheesecake Day, which you could make for St. Pat’s with green kiwi sauce instead of the raspberry sauce in the recipe.

Here are more of our favorite cheesecake recipes.
  

Functional foods are a hot topic.

The first functional food we remember, long before the term existed, was Tropicana Orange Juice fortified with calcium and vitamin D. We quickly understood the benefit:

Just by eating a particular food that had been fortified, we’d get a more nutrition. And maybe that would offset some of the empty carbs in all the snacks we ate. It’s so American: the promise of health without having to do more than eat.

We’ve been noticing more and more functional foods coming onto the market. Some are truly enhanced, and others just hyping what’s always been there to make the product seem new and better.

(Think back to the low-carb craze, when bottles of olive oil were labeled “Carb-Free!” Oils and other fats contain zero carbs. Never have, never will.)
 
 
WHAT ARE FUNCTIONAL FOODS?

Functional foods and beverages are everyday foods enhanced (fortified) with supplemental nutrition. The goal is to provide a health benefit beyond normal satiation and nutrition.

It’s not a question of the type of food. Naturally good-for-you brown rice can be functionally enhanced with flaxseed, for example; but so can chocolate chip cookies.

There are actually two kinds of functional foods. Today’s tip is about the second category, modified foods:

 
Selecting products that have been nutritionally enhanced is a painless way to add more nutrients to your diet. Alas, no one has yet invented functional french fries; but before you pluck your usual brand of whatever from the store shelf, look around and see if there’s something more nutritious to try.

Here are two we tried recently, and decided to keep them as part of our regular shopping list:

Snack bars. If you snack on any type of bar, consider those that pack more protein. A Nature Valley Greek Yogurt Protein Bar contains 10g of protein; Cascadian Farm organic protein bars have 9g per serving. The USDA recommends .37 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day. This means at least 48 grams of protein for a woman who weighs 130 pounds. It’s easy to compare nutrition labels and switch when you find a product with, say, 20% more protein.

Rice. RiceSelect’s Royal Blend with Chia (photo above) combines the company’s Texmati light brown rice and whole wheat orzo with chia seed, a superfood*. Packed with omega 3s, protein and fiber, the chia in one serving provides 18% of the recommended daily intake for calcium, plus manganese, phosphorus and protein. Serve it with chicken, fish or tofu and you’ve got a tasty, complete heart-healthy meal.
 
 
WATCH OUT FOR HYPE

Do a label-to-label comparison to differentiate reality from hype. In the boxed macaroni and cheese category, Horizon’s Super Mac exclaims 12g protein per serving! on the box front. Annie’s, which makes no special protein claims, has 10g per serving; Kraft has 11g.

You may already be enjoying these functional foods:

 
 
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ENHANCED & FORTIFIED

Both terms mean that nutrients have been added to make the food more nutritious. But there’s a difference:

 
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*What’s a superfood? There is no government definition, but a superfood is a natural food source that is highly concentrated with a complex supply of quality nutrients. Bee pollen is the most famous superfoods, incredibly dense with thousands of phytonutrients (plant nutrients) including enzymes, bioflavonoids, phytosterols and carotenoids, free amino acids, Omega 3 essential fatty acids, naturally chelated minerals and whole vitamin complexes. The açaí berry is considered a superfood because of its extremely high level of anthocyanins (an antioxidant), vitamins A and C and omega 6 and 9 essential fatty acids, fiber and amino acids. Others include blueberries, dark chocolate, goji berries, green tea, pomegranate, soy and yumberry. According to a 2007 report from Datamonitor, “Superfood & Drinks: Consumer Attitudes to Nutrient Rich Products,” the superfood food and beverage market is expected to double by 2011 as consumers are paying more attention to diet and nutrition and increasingly seeking food and drinks with additional health-promoting benefits.
  

Of course, there are plenty of Irish-made cheeses available, and we love them all. But you can’t beat Basiron Pesto Verde for bringing on the green.

Basiron Pesto Verde (green pesto), a Gouda-style cheese, is made from pasteurized cow’s milk and vegetarian rennet. Your local cheesemonger may carry it; or you can get it online.

The flavor is of classic, creamy Gouda-style cheese blended with basil-garlic pesto. A beautifully balanced (and extremely addictive) nibbling cheese, Pesto Rosso can also strut its stuff at Christmas or any occasion requiring a “wow.”

Basiron Pesto Verde is one of a group of fine cheeses made by The cheese is made by Veldhuyzen Kaas, a family business founded in 1884. The Basiron line includes

Here’s all you need to know about Gouda cheese, named after the town of Gouda, in the South Holland region of The Netherlands.

How Do You Pronounce Gouda?

Most Americans pronounce it “GOO-duh.” But the Dutch might not understand your request. The name of this cheese is pronounced variously as “GAOW-duh” or “HOW-duh” (with the Dutch guttural “ch” sound).
 
 
WHAT IF YOU CAN’T FIND GREEN GOUDA?

Just get a log of fresh goat cheese and roll it in snipped fresh herbs until it’s totally coated.

Some people would like a bottle of Irish whiskey for St. Patrick’s Day.

Others would rather have chocolate. And there’s one box of chocolates that’s perfect for St. Patrick’s Day.

Inspired by the Emerald Isle, Kohler’s Emerald chocolates are a beautiful box of chocolates with “green”-flavored ganaches*, enveloped in milk chocolate.

All of the chocolates are emerald-shaped shells in milk or semisweet chocolate, painted† in different shades of green.

Each flavor—Absinthe, Green Tea, Lime and Mint—has a different design.

†The “paint” is colored cocoa butter.

 
ABOUT KOHLER CHOCOLATES

Kohler, known for fine porcelain fixtures and The American Club resort in Kohler, Wisconsin, was seriously considering purchasing a chocolate company to provide guests with fine confections. But CEO & Chairman, Herbert V. Kohler, Jr., loved chocolate caramel turtles, and couldn’t find a company that made the perfect turtle.

So he challenged the chefs at his resort to create a better turtle. After much testing, a recipe emerged that met Mr. Kohler’s standards for flavor, texture and appearance. This morsel evolved into the signature Terrapins that launched Kohler Original Recipe Chocolates in 2007.

WHO WAS ST. PATRICK?

A figure shrouded in myth, the man who became the Apostle of Ireland was born in England, around 385 C.E. to a prominent Christian family. He was captured by pirates at age 16, brought to Ireland and sold into slavery.

His master, Milchu, was a high priest of Druidism, a Pagan sect that ruled religious influence over Ireland at the time. The enslaved young man worked as a shepherd, and during that time was called to Christianity.

He escaped after six years, returned to his family and entered the priesthood, returning to Ireland as a missionary. As he converted Druids to Christianity, his teachings combined Irish pagan beliefs with Christian sacrament; he is credited with devising the Celtic Cross.

After a lifetime spent converting of Ireland to Christianity—founding monasteries, organizing Ireland into dioceses and so forth—Patrick died circa 461.

His birthday is not known, but St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17th, which falls during the Christian season of Lent. A religious holiday in Ireland, it has been celebrated for more than 1,000 years with a church service in the morning and a traditional dinner cabbage and Irish bacon.

Corned beef is actually an American contribution to the holiday. Immigrant Irish learned how to make corned beef from their immigrant Jewish neighbors.

[1] A bologna sandwich, long a cold-cut standard. American bologna evolved from Italian mortadella. See the *footnote below (photo © Francesdo Di Bartolo | iStock).

[2] Precooked, smoked, or cured sausages are considered cold cuts. Here’s how to put together a Vesperplatte, a German charcuterie board. This one contains Landjäger (left); Dauerwurst, a type of salami (right); truffled pâté (left) and Griebenschmalz, rendered pork fat mixed with cracklings (center) (photo © Dirndl Kitchen).

[3] Building a sandwich. Cold cuts are an American favorite—but not a nutritionist’s (Pixabay Photo CC0).

[4] Possibly America’s favorite use of cold cuts: the hero (a.k.a. grinder, submarine, torpedo sandwich (photo ).

[5] A tasting of prosciutto crudo (dry-cured ham, prosciutto cotto (cooked ham), and mortadella (pork sausage containing cubes of pork fat).

March 3rd is National Cold Cuts Day, an American holiday.

Why American? The word is an Americanism dating back to 1940-45 according to the Random House Dictionary.

The term refers specifically to precooked or cured meat, often in loaf or sausage form, that are sliced and served cold on sandwiches or on party trays.

They are cooked, cured, smoked, or otherwise preserved meats that are served cold or at room temperature, typically thin-sliced for sandwiches and platters.

These include salami, bologna, ham, liverwurst, Italian salume, mortadella, turkey roll, roast beef, salami, and other cured and processed meats.

Cold cuts are also known as deli meats, lunch meats, luncheon meats, sandwich meats and in the U.K., as cold meats, cooked meats and sliced meats.

Below:

> The history of cold cuts.

> Cold cuts by country.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The year’s 28+ sandwich holidays.

> The year’s 24 pork holidays.

> Pork cuts: a photo glossary of pork cuts and terms.

> Types of charcuterie: a photo glossary of classic charcuterie.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF COLD CUTS

Ancient times. For most of human history, millennia before the concept of “cold cuts” emerged, preserving meat before refrigeration was essential. While roasts could be eaten over several days, longer-term options were needed. Cultures developed:

 
Cured hams and sausages, smoked meats, and dried meats like jerky were the result.

Now, fast-forward to…

Medieval to early modern Europe: From the Middle Ages onward, France developed the technique of charcuterie, a specialized craft of preparing pork products made by specialized pork butchers called charcutiers.

The result: cooked, cured, or smoked meat products from bacon and hams to pâtés, sausages, and terrines. Many of which were meant to be eaten cold, a convenience food. See the different cold cuts by country, below.

Cold cuts have long been a workman’s lunch: A man went off for the day with sliced bread, sliced meat and cheese. But it didn’t stay a working-class food.

18th–19th centuries: With urbanization came the rise of delicatessens, to provide ready-to-eat food for city dwellers. The modern concept of “cold cuts”—sliced meats sold to order—grew with city life. Delicatessens also sold prepared foods, including cured/smoked meats, cheeses, and breads.

19th-20th centuries: In the U.S., waves of European immigrants helped to popularize deli-style meats, particularly German sausages (wurst) and ham, Italian salami and mortadella, and Jewish/Eastern European pastrami and corned beef. German bologna became a mainstream sandwich filling.

Late 19th century: In the U.K., tea rooms began to serve cold cut tea sandwiches in addition to butter and cucumber of watercress, cream cheese, egg salad and ham salad [source].

Late 19th–20th centuries: In the U.S. and elsewhere, mechanical refrigeration and mass production made cold cuts a mainstream staple: Refrigeration enabled safer storage and wider distribution.

Industrial meat processing scaled the production of the category called “luncheon meats.” Uniform loaves like bologna and later, prepackaged sliced meats, made cold cuts affordable and convenient.

Mid–20th century: By mid-20th century, cold-cut sandwiches had become a standard lunch food. Cold were ubiquitous in groceries, in vacuum packs everywhere and sliced to order (as in the old days) at supermarket meat and deli counters.

The down side is that highly processed sliced meats (reformed, emulsified, or injected products designed for consistent texture and shelf life) turned out to be unhealthy—not just from high sodium levels, but links to cancer and heart disease. Most cold cuts are higher in fat, nitrates, sodium, and preservatives. In fact, the prepackaged/presliced kind can have even more sodium and preservatives, as the larger exposed surface of the slice requires stronger preservatives.

21st century: To produce better-for-you products, the modern artisan salume movement began to take shape in the U.S. in the late 1990s and accelerated rapidly throughout the 2000s, with a significant renaissance occurring in the last 10 to 15 years.

Depending on one’s palate and pocketbook, both mass-produced and artisan meats are enjoyed by many Americans, in a sandwich or on a party platter. They’re easy lunch and party fare.

Alas, even with the artisan foods, cold cuts are not a nutritionist’s dream. Cold cuts and cured meats have too much, i.e. unhealthy, sodium [sodium].

Cold cuts are essentially the American, everyday term for the meats that form the foundation of charcuterie, although modern American charcuterie boards often replace artisanal cured meats with deli-style cold cuts. But let’s return to the foundation of the original “cold cuts,” made long before America existed.

 
Other regions had (and have) less extensive, but equally tasty, offerings. Some examples:

 
Home-cooked “cold cuts”: At home, it was common to roast a large cut of meat, then slice and eat the leftovers cold for later meals. This practice is an ancestor of the “cold cuts” concept.
 
 

[6] Cold cuts platter, waiting for the wine and beer (photo © DeLallo).

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*What Americans call bologna traces back to Italian mortadella, made since at least the 14th century in Bologna, Italy. Italian immigrants brought mortadella to America, where it was eventually simplified and mass-produced in the late 19th century. The differences between traditional Italian mortadella and American supermarket bologna are significant in terms of texture, ingredients, and flavor:

Visible Fat and Additions: Mortadella contains large, visible cubes of high-quality pork neck fat (called lardons) and often whole green pistachios or black peppercorns. Bologna is a completely smooth, uniform “emulsified” meat. All fat and meat are ground together into a fine paste (batter) so that no individual chunks are visible.

Meat Composition: In Italy, Mortadella Bologna PGI (Protected Geographical Indication, a legal EU designation) must be made of 100% pork by law (there is also generic mortadella in Italy, without the PGI). It uses finely ground lean pork mixed with the cubes of fat. Bologna has no standards. It can be a blend of pork, beef, chicken, or turkey.

Spicing and Flavor: Mortadella has a complex yet delicate, aromatic floral and spice profile that usually includes myrtle berries, nutmeg, coriander, and cloves. Bologna is typically seasoned with salt, pepper, celery seed, and often coriander and garlic. The flavor is simpler and more “savory-sweet.” Bologna can have a distinct tang or smokiness that is not present in mortadella.

Production Method: The meat for mortadella is ground into a very fine paste using large industrial mortars (hence the name) and then slow-cooked in large ovens for hours, sometimes days, to reach a specific internal temperature. Bologna, while also cooked, it is often produced much faster and frequently includes liquid smoke (or is smoked during the cooking process) to give it a characteristic “American deli” flavor.

Why isn’t American bologna called mortadella? By the early 20th century, the bologna mass-produced in America was no longer the same product as Italian mortadella, which was made by smaller American-based producers of Italian foods, as well as imported. At some point, some producer sought a different name to differentiate the American product, and the hometown of mortadella—Bologna, Italy—provided an answer. Ironically, the mortadella from Bologna, Italy is a protected, premium regional product with PGI status, while American bologna named after that town is an inexpensive sandwich meat.

Over time, bologna (pronounced buh-LOW-nya) became pronounced “baloney.” For word nerds: When a foreign word is brought into English and the original spelling is kept, the pronunciation often changes to fit English mouth-movements or phonetics. This is how buh-low-nya became buh-low-nee. Another example is colonel, pronounced “kernel” due to historical influence from the Spanish “coronel.” When the spelling doesn’t clearly match the sound, linguists refer to it as orthographic opacity.
 

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