Bacon and cabbage

Bacon and cabbage is a dish traditionally associated with Ireland. The dish consists of sliced back bacon boiled with cabbage and potatoes. Smoked bacon is sometimes used. The dish is served with the bacon sliced, and with some of the boiling juices added. Another common accompaniment to the dish is white sauce, which consists of flour, butter and milk, sometimes with a flavouring of some sort (often parsley). The bacon used for the meal can vary somewhat depending on individual preference. Usually a brined "shoulder butt"/"picnic shoulder" is used for the recipe, but other cuts of bacon are sometimes preferred. However, the bacon used is almost always cured. The traditional curing process is a long process which involves storing the bacon in salt, however, in modern times, mass-produced bacon is cured using brine which is less frequently injected into the meat to speed-up the process. The bacon can also be smoked which adds a depth of flavour which some people prefer. In Ireland, one can also purchase what is known as home-cured or hard-cured which is bacon cured over a long period and then stored for another long spell, wrapped in paper. This makes the bacon very salty, hard in texture and yellowish in colour.

Source: Wikipedia