©2003 Ashy Macbean.
This recipe comes from the Orkney Islands, which are situated north of the Scottish mainland. I ate clapshot for almost three months once without knowing what it was called. I was staying with some friends in a farm cottage in Aberdeenshire. The winter was unusually hard and none of us had any money. The farmer, being a kind soul, said we could help ourselves to a few potatoes or the odd turnip from the store if, for example, we happened to be making soup. We ate clapshot twice a day for the rest of the winter.
I give the basic ingredients here, but you could add a couple of chopped carrots along with the turnip, or even better, add some parsnip. It cooks quicker than carrot and turnip so add it along with the potato. The basic rule is to use slightly more potato than everything else put together, otherwise the final mixture might be a bit sloppy. We didn't usually put butter in our clapshot as we couldn't afford to buy any. You can leave it out if you'd rather have a zero fat recipe.
Ingredients
3 parts potato
2 parts turnip
1 onion
Crushed black pepper
Butter
Salt
Peel the turnip and cut into 4 or 5 cm pieces. Put in a pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for five to eight minutes. Add the potatoes, prepared in the same way, add a little more hot water to cover the vegetables and simmer until they are soft. Drain and mash, adding salt, pepper, butter and finely chopped raw onion. You now have clapshot which, served along with a salad, makes a substantial and nutritious meal.