I got the following note from Dorota Presland of Cafe Continental Patisserie, 5221 Ocean Blvd.,Siesta Key, FL 941-346-3171 with the history and recipe for Bubble & Squeak. Dorota was afraid she was too late… but, she’s not.
“Guilty conscience has got the better of me at last. I am probably too late with our recipe for Bubble & Squeak, but as I promised I will do it.
First, some history. The tradition of Bubble & Squeak started in the 18th century in England. The origin of the name is not really known. Initially bubble & squeak were all the leftovers of family Sunday lunch and included potatoes and meat. All was cooked together over fire with vast amounts of lard. Some say that’s where the name came from – the fat would bubble and the meat was the squeak. Subsequently the meat was dropped from the concoction and Bubble & Squeak became the Sunday Lunch leftovers of all vegetables and potatoes. Forty or so years ago it was traditionally Monday evening meal in England, Bubble & Squeak served with cold leftover meat and pickles. Nowadays, as people have less and less time, there are few and far between family Sunday lunches and Bubble & Squeak is not a Monday ‘must.’
Cafe Continental adapted slightly the English ‘anything goes’ recipe, to cater for American taste (English version will always have some form of cabbage or Brussels sprouts). We have also recently introduced a ‘De Luxe’ version, adding cooked zucchini and broccoli, to make it more like its English counterpart.
CAFE CONTINENTAL BUBBLE & SQUEAK
2 cups of mashed potatoes
1/2 cup of frozen peas
1/3 cup of sliced onions
Fry the onions until softened slightly
Cook the frozen peas and drain
Mix together potatoes peas and onions
Make a patty and fry or grill on both sides until crispy.
For the ‘De Luxe’ version decrease the amounts of peas and onions and add cooked broccoli and zucchini and proceed to cook it the same way.
The quantities mentioned above should produce 2 large portions of Bubble & Squeak or 3 smaller ones.
Hope you are keeping well and miss Siesta Key enough to come back sometime.
Dorota
P.S. Had a look at your website, your food & travel book sounds wonderful, you just got yourself another faithful reader.”
Thank you Dorota, Maralyn and I know our readers will enjoy this tasty recipe.
Brenda C. Hill
Books By Hills
GLOG: Where & What in the World
SLOG: Success
Author: Brenda Hill
As a longtime food writer for Where Magazine New York City, Brenda Hill, along with her writing partner, Maralyn Hill (no relation), writes and publishes books about chefs, food and international travel. They co-authored "Our Love Affairs with Food & Travel" and joined French Master Chef Herve Laurent in writing "Cooking Secrets: The Why and How" Brenda has been active in the California Writer's Club, IFWTWA, and the Santa Barbara's Writers Conference. Brenda Hill and her partner Maralyn Hill conduct marketing and writing seminars. Maralyn and I will be heading back to Rancho La Puerta in July to give our presentation on writing and marketing your book, as well as bringing back some freshly picked off the farm nutritious and tasty recipes.
