Hearty potato far more festive, Irish than ridiculous green beer

Many of those who emigrated came to America, where they found potatoes in abundance. Some of their traditional recipes made their way into American cooking. Hearty potato soups, mashed potatoes mixed with other vegetables, and casseroles topped with potatoes are all riffs on Irish cooking.

Yes, even such all-American casseroles as the classic Tater Tot-topped hot dish are direct descendants of Irish shepherd’s pie. In Ireland, shepherd’s pie was a stew-like mix of lamb and vegetables topped with a thick layer of mashed potatoes. It’s more common here to find cottage pie, which is a variation of shepherd’s pie made with beef instead of lamb.

Modern versions sometimes go for more eye appeal by replacing the mashed potato topping with shingles of sliced potatoes. It’s a good look, but purists complain that it shortchanges the potatoes. A please-everyone workaround is to nestle a thick layer of mashed potatoes at the bottom of the pie and then top the meat layer with the potato slices. Mashed potatoes for comfort combined with artfully arranged slices create a carb-lover’s dream.

Potato soup isn’t confined to Ireland; there are French, Dutch and Greek versions as well, but the Irish version puts the most focus on the main ingredient, adding only an onion to embellish the tubers. A recipe from the Ellis Island Cookbook compiling recipes immigrants brought to their new homes from throughout the world features this basic version. It calls for grated potatoes, making the texture as simplistic as the ingredients. Modern cooks may prefer to add more spices and herbs; garlic, rosemary and paprika pair well with potatoes.

Adding vegetables to potato soup is another way to elevate the basic recipe. Shredded Brussels sprouts added to the soup create a liquid version of another Irish classic, colcannon. Traditionally, colcannon is a mixture of mashed potatoes and cooked leafy greens such as kale or cabbage. While the name evolved from the Irish word for cabbage, many cooks today prefer to use kale or other sturdy greens that retain their texture rather than being mashed beyond recognition into the potatoes.

Colcannon was originally a way to stretch scarce green vegetables by combining them with more readily available potatoes. Today, some cooks reverse the proportions in order to limit the amount of carb-heavy potatoes by folding in plenty of vegetables.