Dr Mobeus
Champ
Champ is colcannon’s softer, greener cousin from Northern Ireland. The trick that sets it apart is the milk: you scald it with sliced spring onions before it goes anywhere near the potatoes, so the onion flavour soaks right through the mash instead of sitting on top. The result is a bowl of potatoes that tastes like it cost three times as much. Potatoes, milk, butter and a bunch of spring onions is the entire shopping list, and it comes in around £1.30 to feed four. Serve it under anything with gravy, or eat it straight from the bowl with a knob of butter melting down the middle, which is the proper way.
Champ
Ingredients
Method
- Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15 to 20 minutes until a fork slides in easily. Drain well and leave them in the colander for a minute so the steam escapes.
- While the potatoes drain, put the milk, butter and most of the spring onions into a small pan over a low heat until the butter melts and the milk is steaming but not boiling. Take off the heat and leave the onions to soften in the warm milk for 5 minutes.
- Return the potatoes to the pan and mash until smooth, then beat in the warm milk a splash at a time until the mash is creamy and almost pourable. It should be softer than normal mash, that is the whole point of champ.
- Season generously with salt and pepper, spoon into a warm bowl and scatter over the remaining raw spring onions. Serve as a side, or as a base for sausages, stews or a fried egg.
Tips and Variations
Any milk works, including UHT and plant milks, though whole milk gives the best texture. A sliced leek gently cooked in the milk makes a milder winter version. Leftover champ firms up overnight and fries beautifully into cakes for breakfast. Keep the raw spring onion garnish back until serving so it keeps its bite.
