Colcannon Recipe {The PERFECT Irish Mashed Potatoes} (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between colcannon and Champ potatoes? ›

What's the Difference Between Champ and Colcannon? Champ and colcannon are both favorite Irish mashed potato dishes. They're very similar, though champ recipes tend to feature spring onions (scallions) alone, while colcannon adds cabbage, kale, or leeks.

Colcannon is an Irish dish that's made of mashed potatoes, shredded cabbage or kale, green onions and tons of butter and whole milk. Sometimes crumbled bacon is added for an extra-succulent, salty flavor.

Gordon Ramsay's mashed potatoes are known for their richness and flavor. He typically adds butter, heavy cream, and sometimes crème fraîche to his mashed potatoes for a creamy and indulgent texture. Additionally, he often incorporates roasted garlic or chives for extra flavor.

Rooster potatoes are the best potatoes for making a great mash. After peeling your potatoes, chop your spuds into an even dice to ensure that they cook at the same pace. Lumpy potatoes are often the result of your potatoes being cooked too fast.

Colcannon is mashed potatoes and chopped cabbage and usually chopped ham or bacon. Bubble and squeak is mashed leftover potatoes and chopped cabbage mixed up and fried as single round cake, and then sliced and served usually at breakfast.

The best potatoes for mashed potatoes are a starchy varieties like russet, Idaho or Yukon gold. Starchy potatoes are best for mashed potatoes because they have a fluffy, almost airy texture that breaks down easily.

Overworking the Potatoes When Mashing or Whipping Them

Regardless of the technique, remember not to overwork the potatoes. Starch is released when potatoes are mashed, smashed, or whipped, and, if too much starch is released, the potatoes are gummy and unappealing.

As you all know, baking powder is a leavener, and that will help our creation – the baking powder reacts with the heat of the potatoes and the acid in the milk to create small air bubbles in the mash. And that's how you make the fluffiest mashed potatoes ever.

Whereas most home cooks will use a pinch of butter, a couple of shakes of salt, and a bit of milk, steakhouse chefs aren't afraid to go all out with the dairy. There's no room for 2% or even whole milk in their mashed potatoes — the thinness of plain milk just isn't creamy enough to cut it. And creaminess is key!

Waxy potatoes, such as peewee potatoes, fingerlings, and red potatoes, hold their shape when boiled, making them great for roasting or tossing into a potato salad—not so much for mash, where they'll turn into bitsy, unappetizing pieces.

What is the most popular Irish potato? ›

The Rooster has quickly become the most popular fresh ware potato variety in Ireland, accounting for almost 6 in 10 potatoes grown and sold in Ireland.

The classic white potato originates from the South Americas and made its way to Ireland via Europe! Nevertheless, we love them in all shapes, sizes and forms. Boiled, roasted, mashed, turned into Champ with milk, butter and spring onions, or fried into Boxty.

Champ is popular in Ulster, whilst colcannon is more so in the other three provinces of Ireland. It was customary to make champ with the first new potatoes harvested. The word champ has also been adopted into the popular Hiberno-English phrases, to be "as thick as champ", meaning to be stupid, ill-tempered or sullen.

Mashed potato or mashed potatoes (American, Canadian and Australian English), colloquially known as mash (British English), is a dish made by mashing boiled or steamed potatoes, usually with added milk, butter, salt and pepper.

Colcannon and Champ

Champ: Native to Northern Ireland, Champ looks similar to Colcannon. It differs though, in that it's made with scallions (or spring onions) and creamy mashed potatoes. Champ is great on its own, served steaming hot with extra butter. It's also the perfect side dish for good-quality sausages.

Colcannon is a mixture of cooked and shredded cabbage and mashed potatoes. The word colcannon is derived from the Gaelic term cal ceannann, which means "white-headed cabbage" — the vegetable most commonly mixed with potatoes in this dish.