For an unfamiliar but tasty Irish food dish, try boxty, which is made from criss-crossed layers of thin strips of grated potato. Although some authorities describe it as a kind of potato pancake, it isn't really a pancake it all; to American eyes, it more resembles loose hash browns.

For authentic Irish food, you'll need a list of herbs and spices that, while sometimes not often used in American cooking, can be found in almost any market. They include: allspice, watercress, mace, chives, chervil, nutmeg, parsley, and thyme.

If you happen to be eating Irish food in either Ireland, don’t expect to have to tip your waiter. In almost all cases the tip (somewhere between 10% and 15%) is added to the bill automatically -- and so is a value-added tax that may be up to 17.5% of the food cost.