Ingredients
1 no ingredients
Directions
(from IRISH TRADITIONAL FOOD, Theodora Fitzgibbon:)
"This is traditionally eaten in Ireland at Hallowe'en. Until quite
recently this was a fast day, when no meat was eaten. The name is
from *cal ceann fhionn* -- white-headed cabbage. Colcannon should
correctly be made with chopped kale (a member of the cabbage family)
but it is also made with white cabbage; an interesting version is
the Irish Folklore Commission's, which gives it as mashed potatoes
mixed with onions, butter,and a boiled white cabbage in the center.
Colcannon at Hallowe'en used to contain a plain gold ring, a
sixpence, a thimble or button: finding the ring meant marriage within
the year for the person who found it, the sixpence meant wealth, the
thimble spinsterhood and the button bachelorhood."
(from THE POOLBEG BOOK OF IRISH TRADITIONAL FOOD:)
"For a dish that is not widely eaten or served today, colcannon
remains remarkably widely known. Maybe the song about colcannon is
better known than the dish. If you say "colcannon" in a crowded room,
the chances are that half the room will break into one version of the
song and the other into a completely different version. Like the
recipe itself, there are two versions commonly known.
Did you ever eat colcannon Did you ever eat colcannon when
'twas made with yellow cream when 'twas made with thickened
cream And the kale and praties
blended And the greens and scallions
blended Like the picture in a
dream? Like the picture in a dream? Did you ever take a forkful Did
you ever scoop a hole on top And dip it in the lake
To hold the melting cake Of heather-flavored butter Of
clover-flavored butter That your mother used to make? Which your
mother used to make?
Oh, you did, yes you did! Did you ever eat and eat,
afraid So did he and so did I,
: You'd let the ring go past, And the more I think about
it And some old married sprissman Sure, the more I want to cry. Would
get it at the last?
God be with the happy times
When trouble we had not,
And our mothers made colcannon
In the little three-legged pot. " -- Colcannon
is so like champ, cally, stampy and poundies that it's difficult to
understand how it ever came to have a different name. Yet, all over
the country, colcannon is colcannon and known as nothing else. As in
the two versions of the song, it can be made with kale or with
greens, meaning cabbage. Those reared on the version made with kale
can never understand how the cabbage version can be considered
colcannon, and vice versa...."
Servings: 1 servings
Colcannon Lore Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Irish
The History of Recipes
It is possible to follow the history of `recipes` far back into the distant past, in fact as far into history as pharonic Egypt, and maybe further still. Interesting though that maybe, these, early cook books were just very basic pictorial instructions for preparing food.
In fact, the most ancient recipe discovered, according to food historians is a series of tablets in the Sumerian language which recount the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making people feel blissful. Later on, in The time of the romans around 25BC a roman called Apicius created a few documents showing how to cook the recipes enjoyed by his fellow Romans. In his scrolls, Apicius tells us how the roman meals were split into appetizers, main course and afters, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. He also describes how the Roman chefs made use of many herbs, including some that we all recognise such as bay, mint and parsley. For the decades that followed, the upper classes strove to serve up the most extravagent meals, and consequentially the best cooks and their recipe collections could command a high salary. Even so, it was during the nineteenth century that cooking and cookery books rose to prominence. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, dedicated years of their lives to collating, verifying, and writing down popular recipes of the day. The arrival of television gave us TV chefs and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. And that pretty much brings us to the present day and the internet revolution, allowing us all to search through thousands of recipes like the ones you can find on the site you are now reading. |
We hope you enjoy this Colcannon Lore recipe.
