Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

colcannon

 
Dictionary: col·can·non   (kŏl-kăn'ən) pronunciation
Home > Library > Literature & Language > Dictionary
n.
An Irish dish of mashed potatoes and cabbage, seasoned with butter.

[Irish Gaelic cál ceannan : cál, cabbage (from Old Irish , from Latin caulis) + ceannan, white-headed (ceann, head , from Old Irish cenn + fionn, white , from Old Irish find).]


Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Recipe: Colcannon
Top
Home > Library > Food & Cooking > Recipes

Recipe origin: Ireland

This potato and cabbage dish is traditionally served on Halloween with a ring or lucky charm hidden in the center.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound kale (or green leafy cabbage)
  • 1 pound potatoes
  • 6 scallions (or small bunch of chives)
  • ⅔ cup milk (or half-and-half)
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 to 8 Tablespoons butter, melted

Procedure

  1. Remove the tough stalk from the kale or cabbage and shred the leaves finely.
  2. Put about 1 inch of water in a saucepan large enough to hold the kale, and add a teaspoon of salt.
  3. Heat the salted water until it boils, and add the kale. Cook, covered for 10 to 20 minutes until the kale is very tender. Drain well.
  4. Scrub the potatoes and place them in a saucepan, unpeeled. Add water to cover.
  5. Heat the water to boiling, and cook the potatoes until tender (about 25 minutes).
  6. Drain, peel, and return to the pan over low heat to evaporate any moisture (This will take just a minute or so).
  7. Mash the potatoes while warm until they are smooth.
  8. Chop scallions and simmer in the milk or cream for about 5 minutes.
  9. Gradually add this liquid to the potatoes, beating well to give a soft, fluffy texture.
  10. Beat in the kale or cabbage along with the salt and pepper.
  11. Heat thoroughly over low heat and serve in bowls. Make an indentation in the center and pour in some melted butter.
Food and Nutrition: colcannon
Top
Home > Library > Food & Cooking > Food and Nutrition

1. Irish; potato mashed with kale or cabbage, often fried (see also bubble and squeak).

2. Scottish; cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and turnips mashed together.

Food Lover's Companion: colcannon
Top
Home > Library > Food & Cooking > Food Lover's Companion

[kuhl-KAN-uhn] A delicious Irish peasant dish of milk- and butter-moistened mashed potatoes mixed with finely chopped cooked onions and kale or cabbage. See also champ.

Wikipedia: Colcannon
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Search Wiktionary Look up Colcannon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
A large pot of freshly made Colcannon
Colcannon recipe on a bag of potatoes: click on thumbnail to read

Colcannon (Irish: cál ceannann, meaning "white headed cabbage") is a traditional Irish dish made from mashed potatoes, kale or cabbage, butter, salt, and pepper. It can contain other ingredients such as milk, cream, leeks, onions, chives, garlic, boiled ham or Irish bacon. At one time it was a cheap, year-round staple food.[1]

An old Irish Halloween tradition was to serve colcannon with prizes of small coins concealed in it, as the English do with Christmas pudding. This is still done today and small amounts of money are placed in the potato.[2]

It is similar to the modern version of the English dish, bubble and squeak. In Atlantic Canada (especially Nova Scotia and Newfoundland), a local version of the dish is popular among those raised in rural communities. Brought to the provinces by Irish and Scottish settlers, the recipe consists of potatoes, milk, butter, diced carrots and turnip mashed together. This gives it a distinct orange and white colour (as opposed to the green of the Irish version). Some also add onions, garlic and even chopped up bacon. It is routinely served during large holiday meals like Christmas, New Years Eve, Robbie Burns night and Canadian Thanksgiving.

The Dutch also have a dish that is similar called stamppot boerenkool,[3] made from potatoes and kale mashed together with milk, butter, salt, and pepper, and often served or cooked with a large sausage. A condiment of pickled pearl onions is common.

The Welsh "cawl cennin", pronounced vaguely like colcannon, means "leek soup", literally "broth (of) leeks", but this is just a coincidence of forms.[4] The full etymology goes back to Irish cál ceannfhionn (shortened to cál ceannann), literally "cabbage head-white", as indicated above.[5] Welsh cawl also can mean cabbage, however the usual word is bresych. Irish cál ceannfhionn would be Welsh bresychen benwen.

Similar dishes

References

  1. ^ Irwin, Florence (1986). The Cookin' Woman: Irish Country Recipes (out of print). Blackstaff. ISBN 0-85640-373-3. 
  2. ^ "Irish culture & customs". http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/2Kitch/rPotatoes.html. Retrieved 2007-12-11. 
  3. ^ Bates, Johann (2000). Let's Go Dutch (out of print). Centax Distribution. p. 84. ISBN 0919845541. 
  4. ^ Evans, H. Meurig (1980). Y Geiradur Mawr. Gwasg Gomer. 
  5. ^ Sammon, Paddy (2002). Greenspeak. Town House. ISBN 1860591442. 
v • d • e
Traditional Irish dishes

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Recipe. Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World. Copyright © 2002 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food and Nutrition. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2005 by A. E. Bender and D. A. Bender. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food Lover's Companion. Food Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2001 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Colcannon".  Read more