Corned beef. My mother only made the meal once per year, sometime during St. Patrick's Day week, but our family loved it and relied on the Irish in us to keep the tradition her mother started alive.

FIt was our St. Patrick's Day celebration, as it was for a lot of families.

What I didn't know then was that the whole corned beef and cabbage tradition (which our mother spared us from) actually is an Irish-American tradition.

"It's not an Irish tradition," said Michael Quinlin, president of the Boston Irish Tourism Association, which is running its annual Gaelic Gourmet celebration through Monday. The event showcases Irish cuisine by inviting chefs from Ireland, Northern Ireland and Canada to Boston for a week of St. Patrick's Day dinners and activities.

"It's something that got developed here over the last 30 or 40 years. It's like the green beer syndrome. It's worked its way into the consciousness of people. But if you will look at it in a slightly different way, you will experience a wider possibility for eating out on St. Patrick's Day." While gourmet food isn't usually something associated with Ireland, Quinlin said that's changing.

"Cuisine in Ireland has undergone a revolution over the last 15 years," he said. "A whole generation of chefs have been trained off the continent, in France and Switzerland, and there's a whole new appreciation for food. That, coupled with the fact that Ireland has reached new prosperity means there's a lot of discretionary spending on cuisine for the first time."

Boston's Gaelic Gourmet Week, which runs through Monday, is meant to take the new realities of Irish cuisine and introduce them here.

The program, which is run with help from the state's Office of Travel and Tourism and Canada's Consulate General in Boston, boasts a busy schedule of events this weekend.

"Ireland is enjoying a culinary renaissance, and March is the perfect month to convey this exciting trend to the American public," said Joe Byrne, executive vice president, United States and Canada, Tourism Ireland. "We want Americans who are thinking about an Irish vacation this year to know they can expect excellent cuisine."

"(Irish) cuisine was a little bit staid and it just wasn't that inventive," Byrne explained. "It was a little bit bland. They ate a lot of boiled food and regular fare. What's happened is that they've been experimenting with new techniques and there's a movement back to local produce, very similar to what you find in Massachusetts."

Quinlin said popular techniques now include infusing different flavors together, including Asian and French cuisine, and French and Italian.

He said the food revolution has opened up a love of seafood in Ireland, especially salmon.

"The world is shrinking and Ireland is prosperous," Quinlin said. "They're taking in different kinds of culinary traditions and they're fusing it with traditional fare and presenting it in new and inventive ways."

BITA's culinary week in Boston was developed in 2005 as a way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in a "more stylish, sophisticated way." Quinlin said initial reaction was an expected resistance to venturing from Irish-American traditions, like corned beef and green beer. "Now that (people) have sort of conceptualized doing something different, they're finding out it's a great idea," he said.

REBECCA KEISTER can be reached at 508-236-0336 or at rkeister@thesunchronicle.com.

Gaelic Gourmet weekend events

Today:

Irish chefs appear at a reception at the Massachusetts Statehouse hosted by the Irish Consulate General in Boston.

Friday:

Chef Sean Coucet presents a display of Canadian cooking from the province of Nova Scotia at the Skywalk Observatory Restaurant.

The 3rd annual Gaelic Gourmet Gala at Hotel Commonwealth, including wine and whiskey tasting and live jazz, and featuring 13 chefs at cooking stations.

Saturday:

Irish and American chefs offer authentic Irish breakfasts at Eastern Standard Restaurant.

Sunday:

Chef Paul McKnight from Belfast and Jurys Boston Hotel Executive Chef James Tierney offer an Irish feast at the hotel.

For more information, visit BITA's Web site at www.irishmassachusetts.com.