A no frill side that’s more than what’s visible to the eye? Check out this Colcannon recipe that will make sense when tried!
Colcannon, although, it may sound like something to do with cannons, it’s just a simple Irish potato mash with cabbage or kale. The word itself is derived from the Irish pronunciation of the “cál ceannann meaning” “white headed cabbage”.
Since colcannon is based on mashed potatoes, the main ingredients like butter, milk and potatoes are obviously the same. Cabbage or kale is added to the mash with additional ingredients, welcomed to shake the white-ish monotony of the dish up a bit.
Scallion, leek, onion, chives, or seaweed in the form of laverbread are widely used additions that are able to add some love on the side.
Over the years, various customers took root in the Irish community based on colcannon. Hiding something like a thimble, three penny or six penny as a prize for the lucky one to find in the Halloween colcannon was widely practiced with more ingenious items, like a stick ,suggesting bad marriage or rag for indicating a life of poverty.
It was also customary to offer a spoonful of colcannon for the fairies at the foot of the hawthorn. Before anyone would wonder why on Earth would anyone offer something to fairies while they are the ones normally do the things, Irish fairies aren’t the cutie creatures that take teeth and leave money in exchange.
Irish folklore pushed fairies a bit to the dark side, more precisely underground where they are a continuous source of mischief and nuance for the people of the upper world. They were especially vicious during harvest time when people were constantly kidnapped and taken to the fairy world to work on secret projects, instead of the fields where manpower were needed the most.
Luckily, with the advance of mechanization working on the field got much easier which, apparently, was enough to reduce the number of kidnappings by fairies to zero or fairy sightings in general.
It may be worth to note that a similar dish “champ” also exists that swaps cabbage with scallion which can be confusing if we make colcannon with scallion but since no fairy has ever complained about it so why should we.
Ingredients
- 2 lb / 1000g Potato
- 1 bunch / 250g Kale or cabbage
- 3 bunches / 50g Chives or green onion
- 1 teaspoon / 5g Salt
- Optional
- ½ cup / 100g Sour cream
- 2 tablespoons / 30g Butter
How to make Colcannon
- Peel then dice potatoes.
- Submerge potatoes in a pot of water. Put the lid on, bring it to boil then reduce heat to simmer.
- The potatoes are ready when soft and easy to pierce them through.
- Drain the water then let them cool a bit allowing the rest of the water evaporate.
- Meanwhile, the potatoes are cooking and cooling, prep the greens. Chop the cabbage or kale and the chives or green onion if used. Kale looks better on pictures but while it’s a personal preference, cabbage tastes better.
- Cook or even better steam the greens until they collapse, about 5 minutes for kale. Cabbage needs some more time.
- Mash the potatoes then mix in salt, sour cream and / or butter.
- Mix in the cooked / steamed cabbage or kale, chives or green onion.
Enjoy!
F.A.Q.
What is colcannon made of?
Colcannon is made of potatoes and green leafy vegetables. Cabbage is widely used but kale is also a popular option. Butter and milk is also added as it is the case with potato mash.
What is the difference between champ and colcannon?
Champ and Colcannon are basically the same mashed potatoes with the slight difference, Champ only has sliced green onions while Colcannon is based on cabbage and can include green onions.
What does colcannon taste like?
Colcannon is mashed potato and cabbage or kale so based on the simplicity of its ingredients, it can’t really diverge into the extremes. It mostly tastes like mash potato with an occasional piece of cabbage every now and then.
Colcannon Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lb Potato
- 1 bunch Kale or cabbage
- 3 bunches Chives or green onion
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- Optional
- ½ cup Sour cream
- 2 tablespoons Butter
Instructions
- Peel then dice potatoes.
- Submerge potatoes in a pot of water. Put the lid on, bring it to boil then reduce heat to simmer.
- The potatoes are ready when soft and easy to pierce them through.
- Drain the water then let them cool a bit allowing the rest of the water evaporate.
- Meanwhile, the potatoes are cooking and cooling, prep the greens. Chop the cabbage or kale and the chives or green onion if used. Kale looks better on pictures but while it’s a personal preference, cabbage tastes better.
- Cook or even better steam the greens until they collapse, about 5 minutes for kale. Cabbage needs some more time.
- Mash the potatoes then mix in salt, sour cream and / or butter.
- Mix in the cooked / steamed cabbage or kale, chives or green onion.
Notes
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