Champ (in Ulster sometimes called 'poundies') is a traditional Northern Irish and Ulster Scottish dish. Scallions (spring onions or 'green onions') are simmered in milk first, then mashed with hot boiled potatoes; the milk-onion infusion makes the dish smell of onion without the harshness of raw alliums. The 'well' of butter at the center is non-negotiable — each diner stirs from the well, mixing butter into their portion as they eat.
Spoon down through the buttery well: each spoonful is rich, oniony, smooth as silk. The milk has done the work; the onion's bite is replaced by sweetness. The butter that melted into the well makes a sauce around each bite. Side dish or main, depending on hunger.
Simmering scallions in milk extracts the onion's water-soluble flavor compounds (sulfides and thiosulfinates) into a creamy carrier — the result is onion-perfumed milk that integrates into the mash without the raw bite. The hot mash partially melts the butter well from the inside while keeping the surface intact.
Variations
Ulster champ uses scallions; the colcannon version uses cabbage or kale (popular across the other three Irish provinces); West Cork version uses nettles in spring — three Irish potato mashes.
On the Palate
Where Champ sits in the British flavor cloud
Get the milk-onion infusion right — simmering the scallions in the milk first is what perfumes the mash with sweet onion instead of the raw allium bite.
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
5 steps · 20 min active + 15 min waiting
- 122 min
Peel 800g floury potatoes. Boil in salted water 20 min until tender. Drain.
- 27 min
Meanwhile, in small saucepan combine 200ml whole milk and 8 chopped scallions (white and green parts). Simmer gently 5-7 min so milk takes onion flavor.
Watch outThe milk should just tremble with tiny bubbles at the edge and smell sweetly of onion; never let it roll to a full boil.
- 32 min
Strain milk through sieve into bowl, discarding solids (or keep solids to fold back in for chunkier champ).
- 43 min
Mash potatoes with infused milk, beating until smooth. Add 50g butter, 1 tsp salt, plenty of black pepper.
Watch outBeat until the mash is smooth and glossy and holds a soft peak; if it looks slack, it needs less milk next time.
- 51 min
Mound in serving bowl. Make a 'well' in the center with the back of a spoon. Drop 30g cold butter into the well to melt. Serve immediately while the well is still pooling.
Watch outThe well of cold butter should sit pooling and half-melted at the center — serve the instant it starts to run.
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