(Photo via amazon.com)

“The American Plate: A Culinary History in 100 Bites" by Libby O'Connell

If you grew up with an Irish grandfather like I did, you were probably fed a lot of corned beef and cabbage when you were a kid. Or maybe it was potato latkes on Hanukkah, or if you’re Mexican-American, maybe it was posole and tamales at Christmas.

There are a lot of food traditions in America that are connected to our immigrant roots. But where did these traditions come from? And just how traditional are they?

St. Patrick’s Day is Friday, and we wanted to know more about these food traditions, so I called food historian Libby O’Connell to talk more about this.

She’s the author of “The American Plate: A Culinary History in 100 Bites,” and I started by asking her about corned beef and cabbage … is it really an “Irish” food?