 Food and cuisine in Ireland takes its influence from the crops grown and animals farmed in the island 's temperate climate and from the social and political circumstances of Irish history . For example , whilst from the Middle Ages until the arrival of the potato in the 16th century the dominant feature of the Irish economy was the herding of cattle , the number of cattle a person owned was equated to their social standing . Thus herders would avoid <unk> a milk @-@ producing cow . 
