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1
Boil the Potatoes and Cabbage
25 Mins • Boiling
Boiling water, 100°C (212°F)
Put the potatoes and cabbage in a large pot, cover with cold salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook for about 25 minutes until both are completely tender — a knife should slide through a potato chunk with no resistance and the cabbage ribs should bend easily. Drain very well in a colander and leave to steam-dry for 5 minutes; wet vegetables make a soggy cake.
Steam-drying is the step most people skip. Shake the colander twice and let the vegetables sit — dry mash fries crisp, wet mash steams.
Done when: Potatoes fall apart when pressed; cabbage ribs bend without snapping.
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2
Mash with Garlic
5 Mins • Mashing
Warm pot, about 60°C (140°F)
Return the drained vegetables to the warm pot and mash them roughly with a potato masher, leaving plenty of texture — trinxat is not smooth purée. Fold in the minced garlic and season with pepper and a little salt, remembering the bacon will add salt later. The mash should hold together when pressed but still show shreds of cabbage.
Mash in the pot, not in a bowl: the leftover heat wakes up the garlic without cooking it raw.
Done when: A rough, chunky mash that clumps when squeezed.
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3
Fry the Bacon Crisp
8 Mins • Frying
Medium heat, about 175°C (350°F)
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy frying pan over medium heat and fry the diced bacon for about 8 minutes until deeply crisp and golden, stirring now and then. Lift the bacon out with a slotted spoon and set it aside, then fry the black sausage slices in the same fat for 2 minutes per side. Lift them out too, leaving all the rendered fat in the pan — that fat is what fries the cake.
Do not rush the bacon on high heat; it burns before it crisps. Medium heat and patience give you crackling bits.
Done when: Bacon is dark golden, crisp at the edges, and the pan holds a pool of fat.
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4
Press and Fry the Cake
12 Mins • Pan-Frying
Medium-high heat, about 190°C (375°F)
Spoon the mash into the hot pan and press it down firmly into a flat, even cake about 3 cm (1 inch) thick, tucking the edges in with a spatula. Dot the butter over the top. Fry for about 6 minutes without moving it, then check the underside — it should be deep golden and crisp. Slide it onto a plate, flip it back into the pan, and fry the second side for about 6 minutes more.
Resist poking at it. A crust only forms where the mash sits still against the hot pan.
Done when: Both sides deep golden and crisp; the cake holds together when flipped.
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5
Serve with Bacon on Top
2 Mins • Plating
Serving temperature, about 60°C (140°F)
Slide the cake onto a warm plate, scatter the crisp bacon over the top, and lay the fried black sausage slices on top. Finish with the chopped parsley. Cut into wedges at the table and serve at once, while the crust is still crackling.
Warm the plate first — a cold plate steals the crust's heat in seconds.
Done when: Wedges cut cleanly, bacon crackling, parsley bright green.
auto_awesome Finishing Touches & Plating
Serve the trinxat the moment it leaves the pan, cut into wedges with the bacon scattered over the top. A plain green salad on the side is all it needs.
Andorra
3h 10m
France
Vietnam