Colcannon

Irish mashed potato and cabbage: the most comforting dish in the Celtic world

Origin: Ireland

From the journey of Cabbage.

Colcannon is as Irish as the Atlantic rain, a buttery mass of mashed potato stirred through with softened cabbage or kale, finished with enough butter and cream to make a doctor wince. Its name comes from the Irish cál ceannann, meaning 'white-headed cabbage' (cál = cabbage; ceannann = white-headed). The dish is ancient in concept, the marriage of leafy brassicas with starchy roots goes back at least to the Iron Age Celtic tradition, long before the potato arrived from the Americas in the 16th century. In its pre-potato form, mashed turnips, parsnips, or barley porridge would have been the starchy base. The post-Columbian potato version, which became standard from the 17th century onward, is the dish we know today. Colcannon is deeply embedded in Irish seasonal ritual: it is the traditional dish of Samhain (Halloween), when a gold ring, a coin, a rag, and a thimble were hidden inside and served as fortune-telling tokens. To find the ring was to marry within the year; the coin promised wealth; the thimble, a spinster's life. The song 'The Skillet Pot' (better known as 'Colcannon') remains one of Ireland's most beloved folk songs, its longing for 'lovely golden colcannon, made from lovely pickled cream' a measure of how deeply the dish has embedded itself in Irish emotional life.

Ingredients

Base

  • 1 kg floury potatoes (Maris Piper, Rooster, or King Edward), peeled and cut into chunks

Greens

  • 350 g green cabbage or kale, finely shredded (kale gives a more traditional flavour; savoy cabbage is the most common modern version)

Aromatics

  • 6 spring onions (scallions), white and green parts, finely sliced

Dairy

  • 150 ml whole milk or single cream, warmed
  • 100 g butter, plus extra to serve

Seasoning

  • 1 tsp salt, plus more for the cooking water
  • 0.5 tsp white or black pepper

Method

  1. Cook the potatoes in well-salted boiling water for 20–25 minutes until completely tender when pierced with a knife. Drain thoroughly and leave to steam-dry in the colander for 2 minutes.
  2. While the potatoes cook, melt 25g of the butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the shredded cabbage or kale and a pinch of salt. Stir and cook for 5–6 minutes until wilted and just beginning to turn tender. Add the spring onions in the last minute. Remove from heat.
  3. Return the drained potatoes to the pot. Add the warm milk or cream and the remaining butter. Mash thoroughly until completely smooth and fluffy. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Fold the wilted cabbage and spring onions through the mash until evenly combined. Taste and adjust seasoning.
  5. Serve in a warm bowl with a generous well of butter melted in the centre. Traditionally eaten with a spoon, working from the outside in, dipping each mouthful into the butter pool.

Notes

The great colcannon debate: cabbage or kale? Traditional recipes varied by region: kale (cál) is older and was the original, while savoy or green cabbage became more common in the 20th century. Kale produces a more intensely flavoured, slightly more rustic colcannon; cabbage a softer, sweeter one. Both are correct. Some recipes add a rasher of bacon fried alongside the cabbage; this is a later addition but a very fine one. Colcannon reheats beautifully in a pan with a little butter.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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