Champ - Scallion Mashed Potatoes for St. Patricks Day

8:59 PM


From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Mashed potatoes were a real treat when I was a child. Our standard daily fare was a plain boiled or baked potato, but on Sunday those lowly spuds were transformed into a billowy mounds of creamy goodness that were fortified with butter and cream. It went a step further when my Grandmother was visiting. She made slight changes to my mother's recipe and by infusing the cream she used with scallions, our Sunday treat became Champ, an old Irish favorite. Nowadays potatoes are served as an accompaniment to meals, but there was a time in Ireland when potatoes were the meal. Traditionally, people who observed religious fasts would abstain from meat on Fridays. Champ became a popular meal, particularly for those who lived in inland areas where fish was not available. In their stead, Irish cooks made huge quantities of scallion infused mash. Champ was served in individual bowls and each portion had a well of melted butter in the center. The dish was eaten from the outside in. Forkfuls of potato were taken from the outer edges of the mound and dipped in the melting butter before tasting. Champ, by the way,is a translation of the Gaelic word br

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