(slideshow) Irish Christmas traditions

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Spiced beef

For centuries, seasoning beef with salt and spices was the only way to preserved this important source of protein during winter months. That’s where the Irish Christmas tradition of “spicing the beef” came from. Women and children would gather in the kitchen to prepare meat loaves and season them with sugar, spices and berries. Today, the tradition has turned into one of the country’s favorite dishes: spiced beef, which is especially popular with the people of Cork, in south-west Ireland.

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