Boxty belongs to the northwest midlands of Ireland, to Leitrim, Cavan, Fermanagh, Sligo and Longford, where an old rhyme warns that a girl who cannot make it will never get a husband. Our position is that anyone who can make it will never be short of friends. What sets boxty apart from other potato pancakes is that it uses potato twice: grated raw, which gives crisp, lacy edges, and mashed, which keeps the middle soft. There are several kinds, from griddle boxty cut into farls to boiled boxty dumplings; this is pan boxty, the most approachable.

Boxty is eaten for breakfast with bacon and eggs, at dinner beside a stew, or folded around a filling in Dublin restaurants. On a race morning it turns leftover mash into something worth getting up for.

The batter

Ingredients

• 12 oz (340 g) raw floury potatoes
• 1 1/2 cups (340 g) cold mashed potato
• 1 cup (125 g) all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) buttermilk
• 2 scallions

Method

1. Grate the raw potatoes on the large holes of the box grater onto the kitchen towel. Gather the towel around the potato and twist hard over a bowl to squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Leave the liquid in the bowl to settle for 5 minutes.
2. Carefully pour away the brown liquid from the bowl, keeping the thick white starch at the bottom. This starch helps bind the boxty.
3. Add the grated potato, mashed potato, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper to the starch and mix with a fork. Beat the egg into the buttermilk, pour it in, add the scallions and stir until combined.

Frying

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons (45 g) butter
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil

Method

1. Heat 1 tablespoon butter and 2 teaspoons oil in the skillet over medium heat until the butter foams.
2. Drop in 1/4 cup (60 ml) mounds of batter, spaced well apart, and flatten each to about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick with the back of the spoon. Cook 4 to 5 minutes without moving them, flip with the spatula, and cook 4 to 5 minutes more.
3. Move cooked boxty to the baking sheet in the warm oven. Add more butter and oil and fry the rest in batches.

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