Letters

Mash hits

Dish of the day

Wed Oct 19 2022 - 00:03

Sir, – Further to the correspondence since October 8th on mash, champ and poundies, it is clear that the gastronomy of Ireland is a treasure trove of cultural expression through food. Champ appears to have an Ulster heritage. In her 2012 book, Darina Allen notes that “Claragh Champ” made with peas and parsley was known by her family as Ulster champ. Similarly, Colman Andrews in his 2009 book notes that pea champ is a speciality of the “northern counties” where fresh peas are substituted for the scallions. Caroline Macafee, in her Concise Ulster Dictionary (1996), lists potato champ as being mashed boiled potatoes mixed with milk butter, onions, and parsley. She also lists champ as a verb to mean to mash, as in potatoes, and notes its use as bean champ and nettle champ.

However, there is some dissension in the ranks. Éamonn Ó Catháin, a chef from Belfast who wrote his book in 2004, claims poundies as a Derry dish and notes that it is the same as the dish which is called champ in Belfast. In her 2002 book, Biddy White Lennon also considers “poundies”, “stampy” and “cally” as variations of champ, the only difference being the ingredients added to the mashed potatoes. Andrews appears to concur, commenting that champ’s “relatives”, known as “cally”, “poundies”, “pandy”, “stelk”, “thump”, “bruisy”, or “cobbledy”, are more popular in Ulster than in the other provinces.

Others position poundies more carefully, explaining that, when a large number of potatoes were boiled in their jackets, the larger ones would not be boiled through. They were put in the embers of an open fire, with red coals on top, and left toasting, and called toasties. Poundies are toasties mashed up with a boiled egg and butter and were considered very good for children or someone recovering from illness. Darina Allen (2012) explains that the term poundies may have come about as the potatoes were mashed with a pounder (a large, rounded piece of wood called a beetle) and then salt, pepper, butter and gravy are added. Given the time of year, I should highlight that “cally”, a mashed potato dish with butter and garlic or onions, is associated with Halloween. There are over 80 related stories in the Schools Collection of the Irish Folklore Commission, over 75 per cent of which are from Counties Galway, Roscommon and Mayo. – Yours, etc,

Dr JOHN D MULCAHY,

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