The modern manifestation of Halloween, with the candy, costumes, and terror, holds no charm for me. My Halloween tradition involves less scare and more snack; I usually have like-minded friends over to celebrate the season rather than go trick-or-treating. This year, I decided to draw upon the original holiday of All Hallow’s Eve for some inspiration. All Hallow’s Eve was a Western (Anglo) Christian holiday that revolved around commemorating the dead using humor to intimidate death itself. Like all holidays, All Hallow’s Eve involved traditional treats. The church encouraged an abstinence from meat, which created many vegetarian dishes. One of these is colcannnon: an Irish dish of mashed potato mixed with kale or cabbage. Colcannon was originally a very simple dish based on what was available at the time. I updated it slightly for my personal taste and some intensity of flavor. It might not be sweet, but it’s as traditional Halloween as it gets.
Serves 4 for dinner, 6-8 for a side dish
Ingredients
– 3 lbs. potatoes
– ½ green cabbage
– 2 shallots
– ½ cup heavy cream
– 2 Tbsps. olive oil
– 2 Tbsps. black pepper
– 2 Tbsps. salt
– 1 Tbsps. nutmeg
Directions
- Leaving the skins on, cube the potatoes and begin boiling in a large pot. Make sure the cubes are roughly the same size so as to have the same cooking time.
- Peel and slice the shallots.
- Heat a pot to medium and add the olive oil, shallots, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
- Keep an eye on the mixture and stir occasionally to prevent burning.
- Meanwhile, quarter the cabbage and slice into pieces about ½ an inch thick.
- Once the shallots are soft and becoming clear, which should take about 5 minutes, add the cabbage.
- Stir the cabbage into the shallot mixture and then add 2 cups of hot water. Cover and let cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until the cabbage is cooked but still firm.
- Drain the potatoes into a large boil, add the heavy cream, and mash until they reach the desired consistency.
- Stir the cabbage and shallot mixture into the potatoes.
- Serve the colcannon hot, with extra nutmeg if desired.
By Isabel Mader
