Norn Iron Chef® Recipe

CHAMP

Champ or thump is the Irish method of serving mashed potatoes. It can be made in a great variety of ways with parsley, chives, scallions, peas, or even for the very adventurous, young nettles. It is a favourite meal for a fast day with little or no time until it is on the table, eaten, and any leftovers can be refrigerated and reheated the following day. It is served in mounds, each with a hollow in the centre into which is put a large lump of butter or the substitute of your choice for those on restricted fat saturated diets. The Champ should be eaten from the outside, dipping each mouthful into the melted butter. For young and old alike a glass of milk or buttermilk completes the meal.

Champ is the Irish original fast food, but it has also served the Irish for another purpose. It is a Hallowe’en dish and in the country, it is an old custom to place the first two portions on the top of the flat pier at the farm gate for the fairies. This is to ensure the protection by the fairy folk against their mischievous ways as Irish fairies are not the sweet Disney like creatures one sees in cartoons, but a force to be reckoned with if not treated respectfully.

In the Irish countryside there are not many old cottages left, but if you ever do visit inside one, either in situ or at the Ulster Folk Museum one will notice a large “pothole” or hollow  into which the old iron pot was  set while the potatoes was  beetled with a long handled masher or beetle. This was often the work of the man of the house –his wife adding the hot milk.

Method for making Champ.

Choose potatoes of equal size. The rule of thumb is to have two per person and for hungry men three or four. (The traditional Irish house wife looks after their men folk very well, as well as the fairies, or they might get a clout around the ear. It has been known to have happened.)

Scrub or boil the potatoes in their skins or peel before cooking. Potatoes boiled in their jackets undoubtedly have the better flavour. As they are prepared, drop into a basin of cold water until required for cooking. Transfer to a saucepan, cover with cold water and add a little salt. Bring to the boil and boil steadily until tender –approximately 20 -30 mins according to the size and variety of the potato. While the potatoes are cooking, the chopped scallions, nettle tops or peas are cooked in a pint of milk, ready to pour into the mashed potatoes. When the potatoes are drained and mashed free of lumps, the milk and second vegetable are beaten in together with salt and pepper. Chopped chives and parsley are generally added without cooking. Serve very hot with a generous lump of butter in the centre of each portion. Sometimes for that extra protein a beaten egg is added to the Champ.

There you are now, nothing to it.

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