Bubble and squeak
A traditional British dish
January is the month to keep out the cold with a hearty serving of bubble and squeak. Preferably topped with a fried egg.
Like many dishes, it evolved as a way to use up leftovers. The odd name probably comes from the spluttering noise made by the moisture in cooked cabbage meeting hot fat in the frying pan.
Back in history, the name referred to a pancake of sliced cooked beef mixed with cooked cabbage and fried in beef dripping. In the late 19th century, when Britain’s population expanded and the poor moved from the countryside to the towns, mashed potatoes replaced beef as the staple ingredient. Nor need bubble and squeak be made with cabbage.
Every year, one of my Christmas rituals is to buy a stick of sprouts from the greengrocer. Anything up to a metre high, the stick lives in a corner of the utility room until everything edible is stripped from it, right up to the topknot which resembles a mini-cabbage.
Bubble and squeak is also delicious made with curly kale. Iconoclasts even make it with mashed parsnip or swede. And, of course, don’t forget to add a sprinkling of herbs and garlic or onions.
