Boxty

A potato pancake that often uses potato twice, raw and grated plus cooked and mashed, bound with flour and milk or buttermilk and fried on a griddle or pan. The raw potato gives a lacy, crisp edge and the mash keeps the middle soft, which is the whole point. Boxty belongs to the north midlands and south Ulster, Leitrim, Cavan and Fermanagh especially, where an old rhyme warned that a girl who could not make boxty would never get a man. Squeeze the grated potato hard in a clean towel before mixing, or it will never crisp. Serve it with eggs and bacon, or wrapped around a stew if you want to annoy a purist.