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Colcannon

A mashed potato and cabbage dish seasoned with butter, milk, salt, pepper, and green onions.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Colcannon

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the potatoes

  1. Boil the potatoes until tender.

  2. Drain the potatoes.

  3. Mash the potatoes.

Cook the cabbage

  1. Chop the cabbage.

  2. Cook the cabbage in boiling water until soft.

Combine and serve

  1. Combine mashed potatoes, cooked cabbage, butter, and milk in a large bowl.

  2. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

  3. Fold in chopped green onions before serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Cabbage + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,001 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Cabbage + potatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together275 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Starchy base that mashes smooth and gives the dish its body.
Cabbage
Adds soft texture and a mild, sweet flavour when cooked until tender.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
Milk
Adds moisture so the mashed potatoes become creamy and spreadable.

The step that matters

Draining the potatoes well. Excess water left on boiled potatoes dilutes the mash and makes it loose and watery. Draining thoroughly lets steam escape so the mash holds together and tastes concentrated.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, butter, milk, pepper, onion):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, butter, milk, pepper, onion. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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