Corned beef is somewhat mysterious. Take the odd name. Clearly there's no corn in corned beef.

Then, too, corned beef comes in two distinct forms. One kind arrives in oddly shaped cans - narrower at one end and with their own special key. The other kind is sold in large pieces in plastic packages. Is this the same stuff as the corned beef in cans? They differ in appearance, taste and texture, but if they are different, why the same name?

With St. Patrick's Day coming up next Thursday, it's a good time to delve into the mysteries of corned beef, since it's the meal of the day for Irish Americans - and for those us who want to share the fun of the holiday.

But here's another mystery. Ask any native-born Irish person what they eat in Ireland on the day they honor their country's patron saint, and almost certainly they will tell you either ham or boiled bacon - possibly Irish stew. So why does corned beef reign on Irish tables in this country? And why is it that many New Englanders, especially of the older generation, call the typical St. Patrick's meal of corned beef with root vegetables and cabbage a New England Boiled Dinner?

Mystery #1

To sort these matters out, let's deal with each mystery in turn. First, the question of the adjective "corned." The word comes from the oldest meaning of corn - a small grain. "Corn" retains this meaning in England, where it means any kind of grain, though most likely wheat.

The Puritans who came to Massachusetts in the 17th century brought this meaning of corn with them. When they discovered maize, they noted its grains - corns to them - and then named it after the people who ate it: Indian corn.

Nowadays we just call it corn, but that term doesn't work quite so well in England, where all grains are corn, so there it's called sweetcorn if humans are going to eat it, and maize if it's for animals. Other things are called corn too, like peppercorns. After all, they are grains, though not of a cereal plant.

The salt used for preserving meat came in grain-sized crystals so they could also be covered by the catchall term "corn." Preserving meats in salt was essential in the days before refrigeration. So beef preserved by salting was called corned beef to distinguish it from fresh beef.

Ireland's famed emerald pastures made it a perfect spot for raising cattle, and by the 18th century, the country had many businesses making corned beef. The city of Cork in particular did a huge trade making and shipping corned beef for the British navy and for the colonies.

In 1776, for example, Cork exported 109,052 barrels of salt beef to the British Empire, Europe and America.ﾠ Wealthy families also made corned beef for their private use. In "The Hidden Ireland" Daniel Corkery writes of the Martin family, who killed a bullock once a month and salted any of it that they didn't eat right away.

Families who didn't have the wherewithal to kill a bullock a month had beef on holidays such as Halloween, Easter and, of course, St. Patrick's Day. Mostly it would be corned beef because urban markets preferred to stock it since there was less risk of it spoiling.

Over the years corned beef became less popular in Ireland. One reason may be that so much of it was sold to Britain and its colonies that it was associated with British rule and therefore rejected. Another is that in the 19th-century competition from cattle ranches in South America may have ruined the Irish corned beef industry.

Then, too, the Irish have a special fondness for pork products, so ham, always a potent rival to corned beef, eventually won out.

Today in Ireland, corned beef may appear on menus designed to appeal to tourists, but few people consider it a national dish. In America, however, corned beef was widely available in the 19th century when Irish immigrants arrived. It was vital for westward pioneers and to sailing ships embarking on long voyages.

In New England, too, hard winters that prevented travel to the store made a supply of corned beef a useful standby - hence the old-timey boiled dinners. When Irish immigrants arrived, American corned beef was a reminder of the festive dishes of home, so while he Irish in Ireland switched to ham, Irish Americans preserved their old custom.

Mystery # 2

Now what about the corned beef that comes in cans? The beef manufacturing countries are Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, all of whom raise huge herds of cattle. When canning was developed in the early 19th century, corned beef was one of its success stories because it enabled vast supplies of beef to be easily transported from South America to the northern hemisphere.

It was cheap too - so cheap that in Britain it became a popular working-class dish. And in both world wars, cans of corned beef, called bully beef, and crackers were the main field rations of the Army.

Corned beef sliced straight from the can remains quite a popular sandwich filling in Britain. The other kind of corned beef is known as salt beef there, and is mostly only available in Jewish butchers and delis. So though canned corned beef tastes - to me at least - very different from the corned beef eaten on St. Patrick's Day and in New England's boiled dinners, it is actually the same thing. Possibly it's less salty because the canning process preserves the meat and so salt is less necessary for that purpose. Canning also changes the texture in a way that some people find attractive.

With St. Patrick's Day upon us, and the supermarkets fluttering with green reminders, corned beef will be on many shopping lists. It's worth remembering it at other times of the year too. A large piece makes a change from a roast when you are serving a group of people, and leftovers make excellent breakfast or lunch dishes such as corned beef hash or, more unusually, a corned beef strata. The recipe for these is below, along with an Irish recipe for corned beef with a parsnip mash, a variation on the traditional corned beef and cabbage.

While a large piece of corned beef usually provides leftovers for hash, if you don't have them, remember that the pantry staple - a can of corned beef - can be used instead.

CORNED BEEF WITH PARSNIP MASH

The familiar boiled dinner served on St.

Patrick's Day is corned beef, simmered with root vegetables such as carrots, rutabaga, parsnips and potatoes, with chunks of cabbage added about half an hour before the end of cooking. This recipe drops some of the vegetables and focuses instead on a parsnip and potato mash with a tangy Irish mustard-and-cider sauce to accompany the beef. Of course, cabbage could be added as usual to fill the need for something green.

3-4 pound piece brisket corned beef

1 carrot

2 celery sticks

2 leeks

1 teaspoon peppercorns

11/2 cups hard cider

ﾠ

For the parsnip mash:ﾠ

1 pound potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 pound parsnips, peeled and chopped

2/3 cup half-and-half

About 1 tablespoon butter

3 tablespoons chopped white and tender green parts of scallions

Salt and black pepper

For the mustard sauce:

1/2 stick butter

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1/2 cup hard cider

1/2 cup cooking liquid from the corned beef

a dash of cream

2 tablespoons chopped scallions

ﾠ

Place the corned beef in a large saucepan. Add the chopped vegetables, peppercorns, 11/2 cups cider and enough water to cover the meat. Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 40 minutes per pound or until the meat is tender. Leave in the liquid until ready to serve.ﾠ

While the meat is cooking, place the potatoes and parsnips in a large pot. Cover with water.

Season, bring to the boil, then simmer until both parsnips and potatoes are cooked. Drain well, then mash really well with the milk, cream and butter. Whip in the scallions and season well.

Keep warm.

To make the sauce, melt the butter, stir in flour. Cook for a minute or two. Add mustard and whisk in the cooking liquid and cider. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the cream and scallions and taste for seasoning. Serve the corned beef sliced with the parsnip mash, sauce and buttery cabbage.

CORNED BEEF STRATA

This could be either an easy supper dish or something for a weekend brunch.

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 cup finely chopped red or green bell pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped onion or scallions

1/2 cup grated carrot

2 tablespoons butter

8 slices white or brown bread, crusts trimmed and bread cut in half diagonally

1 (12-ounce) can corned beef, coarsely chopped

1 cup shredded, sharp Cheddar cheese

11/2 cups milk

3 large eggs, beaten

white or black pepper

In a skillet, saute the celery, bell pepper, onion and carrot in butter until tender.

In a 2-quart baking dish, layer 4 slices bread and 1/2 of the corned beef. Spoon the vegetable mixture on top. Cover with the remaining corned beef, top with the remaining 4 slices of bread, and then sprinkle with the Cheddar.

In a bowl, beat the milk and eggs until thoroughly blended. Season well with black or white pepper. (Salt will not be necessary as both the cheese and the corned beef already have it.)

Gently pour the egg mixture over the bread. Turn the oven to 350 degrees. Let the dish rest for 15-20 minutes, so the bread soaks up the liquid, then bake in the preheated oven 40 minutes or until golden brown.

RED FLANNEL HASH

If you want to make this the next day, be sure to have beets as an accompaniment to your St.

Patrick's Day dinner. If you have no leftover corned beef, use a can of corned beef instead.

1 -2 tablespoons oil

1 onion, finely chopped

3 cups coarsely chopped cooked potatoes

2 cups finely chopped boiled corned beef

11/2 cups chopped cooked beets

1-2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

4 tablespoons chopped, fresh parsley

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9-inch pie dish or another shallow baking dish of similar capacity.

In a frying pan, heat the oil over moderate heat, add the onion and let it cook, without browning, for 3-4 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the potatoes, corned beef and beets. Sprinkle with the Worcestershire sauce, half the chopped parsley, and the salt and pepper. (You may not need much salt as the meat and the cooked potatoes are already salted.)

Lightly beat the egg with the milk and stir it into the mixture. Tip into the prepared pan and press down a little to compact it. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the surface is lightly browned. Serve as a main dish with vegetables or with poached eggs.

CORNED BEEF FRITTERS

This recipe is a curiosity. It was produced in Britain during the Second World War, when food was rationed and housewives were encouraged to make a little go a long way. In this case half a can of corned beef was designed to produce four servings. That means each person would receive just 11/2 ounces of meat.

Nowadays, you can, of course, be more lavish and add more meat, and the mere "pinch" of herbs could be interpreted more generously, as could the "teaspoon of grated onion" and the "tablespoon of fat." This recipe comes from a collection of war recipes edited by Marguerite Patten, "We'll Eat Again" (London, Hamlyn, 1985).

2 ounces (1/2 cup) self-rising flour

pinch salt

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup milk or milk and water mixed

pinch mixed dried herbs

1 teaspoon grated onion

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

6 ounces corned beef, finely flaked

1 ounce (about 1 tablespoon) fat

Blend the flour with the salt, egg and milk. Beat until you have a smooth batter, then add the herbs, onion, parsley and corned beef. Melt the fat in the frying pan and when really hot drop in spoonfuls of the batter mixture. Fry quickly on either side until crisp and brown.