Scottish Clapshot (Orkney Potatoes and Rutabaga)
Floury potatoes and rutabaga ("neeps") boiled together, dried in the pan so the mash is not watery, then mashed with butter, salt and pepper and finished with chives.
Clapshot is potatoes and swede, which Americans call rutabaga, mashed together, and Wikipedia says the dish and its name both come from Orkney. Nobody is sure what the name means. Orkney's official island website, in a column by local food writer Rosemary Moon, says it began on Orkney, spread through the Highlands, and may be named for the sound of the masher; Wikipedia suggests the Orcadian word klepp, a dollop of potato. Wikipedia cites F. Marian McNeill's "The Scots Kitchen" (1929) for its description, and the dish is served with haggis, oatcakes, mince or sausages. Sue Lawrence, whose recipe we adapt, calls it Orkney's answer to champ and colcannon, with rutabaga where those use greens or onions.
Why it works the kitchen science
Dry the pan
Rutabaga releases water as it cooks, and a couple of minutes over low heat after draining stops the mash from turning sloppy (Lawrence).
Two textures, one pot
Cutting the dense rutabaga smaller than the potatoes lets them finish at the same moment, so the floury potato is not overcooked into glue while the root catches up.
Step by step
- Step 1
Peel the rutabaga with a sharp knife (it is waxed and tough) and cut it into pieces about half the size of the potato chunks so both cook in the same time.
- Step 2
Put the potatoes and rutabaga in a large pan, cover with cold salted water and put the lid on. Bring to a boil over high heat.
- Step 3
Lower to medium and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until a knife slides easily through both the potato and the rutabaga.
- Step 4
Drain well. Return the vegetables to the pan, cover, and shake the pan over very low heat for 2 to 3 minutes to steam off the water; rutabaga holds a lot of it.
- Step 5
Mash with the butter until fairly smooth, leaving a few orange flecks. Season with salt and plenty of pepper.
- Step 6
Stir in the chives and serve piping hot.
Scottish Clapshot (Orkney Potatoes and Rutabaga)
Serves 4 · about 4 cups · 40 min total
Vegetables
- 1 lb 7 oz (650 g, peeled weight) floury potatoes such as russets, cut into 2-inch chunks
- 1 lb 2 oz (500 g, peeled weight) rutabaga, cut into 1-inch chunks
- Salt
Finish
- 3 1/2 tbsp (50 g) butter, or beef dripping
- 1 to 2 tbsp chopped chives
- Black pepper
Method
- Peel the rutabaga with a sharp knife (it is waxed and tough) and cut it into pieces about half the size of the potato chunks so both cook in the same time.
- Put the potatoes and rutabaga in a large pan, cover with cold salted water and put the lid on. Bring to a boil over high heat.
- Lower to medium and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until a knife slides easily through both the potato and the rutabaga.
- Drain well. Return the vegetables to the pan, cover, and shake the pan over very low heat for 2 to 3 minutes to steam off the water; rutabaga holds a lot of it.
- Mash with the butter until fairly smooth, leaving a few orange flecks. Season with salt and plenty of pepper.
- Stir in the chives and serve piping hot.
Adapted from Sue Lawrence's "Clapshot" in "Scots Cooking" (Headline), as published on nigella.com, as written for 4. Lawrence gives 650 g potatoes and 500 g swede (peeled weights), 50 g butter or dripping and 1 to 2 tbsp chives, and simmers both together 15 to 20 minutes. Rosemary Moon's Orkney method (more potato, rutabaga added a few minutes after the potatoes, no chives) is linked for comparison. Nigella Lawson. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- Traditional partners: haggis, mince, sausages, or warm bowls with thick oatcakes and a glass of cold milk or buttermilk (Lawrence).
- With butter instead of dripping, it is vegetarian.
- A masher, not a food processor: Live Breathe Scotland warns waxy potatoes go gluey under the masher; overworking does the same to floury ones.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Chives belong in clapshot. Disputed: Sue Lawrence uses them, and search summaries of a Scotsman history say Orcadian writer F. Marian McNeill's 1929 recipe included them; Rosemary Moon on Orkney.com says real clapshot is only potatoes, neep, salt, pepper and butter.
- The potato to rutabaga ratio. Disputed: Orkney.com says about three parts potato to one part neep, never half; Live Breathe Scotland (search summary) says two to one; Lawrence uses about 1.3 to 1. Name the range.
- Which goes in the pot first. Disputed: Orkney.com starts the potatoes and adds the neep 2 to 3 minutes later; Live Breathe Scotland starts the neep about 10 minutes before the potatoes; Lawrence cooks them together.
- The name comes from the masher. Folklore: Orkney.com calls it a theory; Wikipedia offers klepp; nobody knows.
- "Turnip" in Scotland means rutabaga. Documented (Lawrence: turnips are swede in England and neeps in Scotland).
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