Does anyone know about it?

For those not in the know, it is made from mashed raw potatoes and flour and salt and cooked or boiled in different ways to get different styles

Brn,

I asked this question also, the answer I got is that no one really knows for certain when it came to be, but most people think it started during the Famine.

I found this thread on the net so it needs to be verified for accuracy, but at least it sounds good:

http://www.takeourword.com/TOW156/page2.html

It is the third or fourth question down.

From J. David Neher:

A boxty is a traditional Irish potato pancake or roll and I'm assuming that that it's an English word. I've looked in your site, emailed Irish (i.e. in Ireland) pubs, restaurants and government agencies to no avail. Can you help.

Well, we're a bit cautious of rushing in where the Irish government fears to tread, but here goes.

Yes, boxty is an English word but most dictionaries, if they mention it at all, simply say that its origin is Irish without divulging the precise details. Our Irish-English dictionary tells us that bacstaid is "bread made of the raw pulp of potatoes; a boxty". No etymology is given but we assume that it is related to the words bacail, "the act of baking", bacalaide "a baker", and bacus, "a bakery". As the latter is clearly a Hibernian version of bake-house, it is quite likely that all these words have their origin in the English word bake.

(Message edited by do_chinniúint on November 10, 2007)

(Message edited by do_chinniúint on November 10, 2007)

If it is from bake + something else, I wonder what the second part was?

Brn,

I just found another possible origin and this one makes a little more sense to me, but again, this is not verified as being accurate so I would be skeptical as always...

http://www.whats4eats.com/recipes/r_br_boxty.php

Scroll down to the comments at the bottom.

Boxty Word Origin
Hello Pádraic,

I've been scouring everywhere to find the source of my specific definition, but I can't seem to track it down. I'm pretty sure it was in a German-language survey of Gaelic terms!

Bacstai is the Gaelic form of boxty I see most often. I see that Gallagher's gives the name origin as "arán bocht tí" (bread of the poor house). I've never seen that etymology before. I know that arán means bread, but what does the bocht tí translate as?

By the way, your restaurant looks great. I'm so hungry now I think I'll book a flight to Dublin!

Chef Brad
#2 - Chef Brad - 06/03/2007 - 08:01

I corrected the spelling of "bocht" and added (bread of the poor man). The original poster spelled it as "boct" which could suggest a pre-standard spelling...or...Chef Brad did not spell the word correctly at the time of writing.

Makes me think of "planxty / plancstaí", another Irish word of unexplained origin. One obstacle to linking "bacstaí" to "bácáil, bácús," etc. is the discrepancy in vowel length.

I agree with Dennis...

When I was Ireland, I had several "boxties" from different regions of the country and I wouldn't describe the method of cooking as "bácáil" which means to bake, it was more like "frioch" which means to fry.

That's why I really like the second possible explanation. Because if it is true that this word comes from the Famine era, then I think this makes a little more logical sense.

arán bocht tí = bread of the poor house

The boxty does resemble a bread, it would have been something the lower classes could have made readily assuming they had the potatoes to do it, and finally it is not out of the realm of possibility that slang usage shortened it to just "bocht tí" which would could easily be made into the English form boxty.

(Message edited by do_chinniúint on November 10, 2007)

planxty - boxty - Ansty (< Anastasia, bean an táilliúra sa leabhar The Tailor and Ansty ar chuir an Irish Censorship Board cosc air sa bhliain 1942). Tá rud éigin ag titim amach anseo leis an iarmhír "-sty". An saghas mír dhíspeagtha í seo?

Is leis an tuaisceart is mó a luaitear bacstaidh. Meas tú an Albainis Ulaidh atá i gceist?

Chaith mé súil anois ar "Irish Words and Phrases" le Diarmaid Ó Muirithe. "Nobody is sure where the word comes from" dár leis.

nach bhfuil an focal steampaí ar an rud céanna?

Agus deir an t-amhrán:

"Is anall ón Sasana a tháinig an steampaí"