James Silverton wrote:

> I mentioned I had not previously wanted to try colcannon and the same
> applied to "Bubble and Squeak". My impression is that colcannon is not
> fried and B&S is. My one attempt to make colcannon used sliced cabbage
> cooked for 5 minutes.
>
> Tho' colcannon may add other vegetables, B&S is more likely to use any
> left-overs and sometimes meat is added to it. Pictures I have seen of
> B&S make me suspect that the cabbage may have received the traditional
> British cooking (20 minutes or more) and then cooked agan! Now, where
> the name bubble and squeak comes from, I'm not inclined investigate :-)
>
> James Silverton
> Potomac, Maryland

My mother said it came from the sound of the steam building up and
causing bubbles and pipsqueak type sounds as you fried it.
She always used leftover cabbage, potatoes (perhaps a few odd cooked
carrots) from an Italian version of "New England boiled dinner" that we
made using pepperoni instead of any other cut of meat. It was delicious
the first time and then again recreated into bubble and squeak.