A recent article in The Irish Independent

By Rozanne Stevens

Monday April 04 2011

This week, I went in search of authentic Irish boxty — or potato cake — which led me to visit the Boxty Bakers, a family business in Carrick-on-Shannon in Co Leitrim.

Boxty is a traditional Irish potato cake and you can still get it in Cavan, Leitrim and Monaghan. Families still cook it using old family recipes and small producers have sprung up doing it on a commercial scale.

There are several kinds that vary from region to region and even from family to family.

One version uses mashed potato and grated raw potato, mixed with a little flour and a pinch of salt. This is then baked in loaves for two hours. The loaf is sliced and the slices are fried in butter or grilled to golden. This is the version that the Boxty Bakers make according to their family recipe. If you’d like to know more, you can call Stephen Hennessy on 087 2559269, or visit www.irishboxtybakers.ie.

The boiled version is the most unusual one. The potato mixture is shaped into round balls then boiled. These are dried, then sliced and fried in butter. Unique to Ireland, it seems to come from Cavan.

The third version is a mixture of mashed potato and grated raw potato, or just one type of potato. This is shaped into patties and fried until nice and crispy.

Traditionally boxty would have been fried in butter and served as part of a ‘full Irish’. Today boxty is used in interesting and modern ways.

Other ways to use boxty:

Use it like a pizza base with tomato and cheese.

Use as a lovely starter and top it with fried black pudding, apple sauce, crème fraiche and parsley.

Try with smoked salmon, crème fraiche and watercress

Serve with asparagus, parma ham and hollandaise.

Serve with wilted spinach and a poached egg.

Use as a base for canapes and top with salmon mousse.

Use as a party dipper with salsa.

Boxty pancakes

500g potatoes, peeled and washed

2tbls plain flour

1tsp baking powder

Salt and pepper

150ml milk

Oil for frying

Method

Grate the potatoes with a coarse grater.

Sieve in the flour and baking powder in the potatoes.

Mix in the milk.

Lightly oil a heavy pan and drop spoonfuls of mixture on to the hot pan.

Cook until golden, then turn over.

Serve hot with butter and sugar or bacon.

www.rozannestevens.com

- Rozanne Stevens

Last Wednesday we featured on the Tom Dunne Breakfast Show at The Ploughing Championship. You can listen to the full interview by clicking on the image below. We are on at 42 minutes 30 seconds.