Alison, yes, colcannon is basically champ but with cabbage. Thanks for posting the recipe. Hash browns don't have the mashed potatoes in them, do they? I think that's the difference. The starch helps bind the cakes together. Whan I was in Ireland last year, I had the BEST food!! Didn't get up North for an Ulster fry, but definitely want to. Loved black pudding! Ah, yes…Irish cuisine. The thought behind the rhyme is, I guess, that making boxty is (kinda) labor intensive , what with the grating and mashing and all, but also kinda basic. So if one goes to the trouble to make it, then, well…the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. (Especially if he can't cook!) This applies to all different cultures--in traditional Hopi society, young girls had to perfect their (manual) corn-grinding skills to become more suitable spousal material.