Food - Drink
The Simple Irish Dish Traditionally Eaten On Halloween
By NICO DANILOVICH
Halloween is celebrated in many countries, but this October occasion evolved from an Irish Celtic holiday called Samhain. Holidays tend to come with traditional dishes, and while Americans associate Halloween with candy, caramel apples, and not much else, the Irish enjoy a festive mashed potato dish called colcannon.
Colcannon is made by combining potatoes with butter, milk, spring onions, and cabbage or kale; regional variations include extra ingredients like bacon, chives, corned beef, or ham. Not only is this dish special because it's made and eaten by the originators of Halloween, but colcannon can even be used to tell fortunes.
Colcannon is sometimes served with trinkets hidden inside, and whichever object you happen to find in your serving determines your fortune. A coin foretells personal wealth over the next year, a rag predicts the opposite, a stick means harm, a thimble means a single person will stay single, and a ring predicts a wedding.