Q&A -- The Potato Primer

[eGCI Team]

Post your questions for The Potato Primer here.

[jackal10]

I'd like to thank the editorial team, and especially gsquared for their contributions.

This unit was tough to do, partly because there was so much content, and even then we probably have as much again that we left for next time, and partly because I am trying to follow the Atkins diet and loose weight, so I couldn't eat any of the food, and was not that motivated to cook carbs. Fortunately gsquared and the team pitched an and did some of the photos (spot which ones).

Thanks people!

[Jonathan Day]

Jack, I don't think I've seen anything like this in any cookery course or cookbook, anywhere. Simply astonishing in detail and richness, but also far more concise than I might have expected given all that content.

I do have a question about pommes Anna. I was taught a fairly classical approach to this dish, including a recommendation to use a special copper casserole or cocotte dedicated only to making pommes Anna (click here for a picture). The top fits over the bottom, allowing the potatoes to remain soft in the centre while browning on both top and bottom and compressing the potato layers.

I don't have one of these casseroles but I have used one for pommes Anna, and the first attempt didn't work all that well because the potatoes stuck everywhere and had to be painstakingly reassembled on the plate. On the second try, I drowned the thing in butter; this time it emerged from the casserole intact and tasted delicious, but seemed a lot of trouble. I now make them in a very well seasoned cast-iron pan, with a weighted lid, lined with cooking parchment, on top.

Is there a new and better way to make pommes Anna, using silpats or cooking the layers outside of a casserole?

[jackal10]

Thanks I guess the conciseness is influenced by the style of La Repertoire...

What you describe is indeed the classic Pommes Anna. To quote Escoffier

"Set the roundels [of potato] in circles on the bottom of a mould proper to this potato preparation, or in a well buttered thick saucepan...let the lay of each circle be reversed...make 5 or 6 layers in this way...cover the utensil and cook in a good oven for 30 minutes...turn out to drain the butter.."

I think of them as almost like individual Gratin de Pommes de Terre a la Dauphinoise, and maybe 1/2 inch thick.

However there is a more modern version, sometimes called Pommes Maxim, which is thinner, more like a galette, and cooked on a silpat or baking parchment sheet. These are usually only 2 or 3 rounds thick with the roundels first tossed in melted butter and then laid in circles on the sheet. I guess its a nomenclenture confusion as to the gradations between them - when does Dauphinois become Anna become Maxim?

Edited November 20, 2003 by jackal10 (log)

[Varmint]

Super. Outstanding. Amazing. Wow. And these are just what I'm thinking -- I can't imagine what my oldest son - the potato freak -- will say when he looks at this after school. This is an amazingly comprehensive study, Jack, and I'm truly sorry you didn't partake of any of this food. Thanks from all of us.

[Monica Bhide]

JAck -- you really are amazing. I had seen this in production -- even then this has really humbled me. Excellent work

[jackal10]

Thanks, but it is not that good...most of this stuff is in easily acccessible books or online.

A major omission are all those wonderful Indian potato (alloo) dishes. I'm sure there are other ethnic potato dishes - this unit is very classical French oriented.

US varieties are only covered sketchily. It would seem from this distance that the bulk potato producers in the US cover only a few varieties, with the rest available perhaps in specialist shops or farmers markets. In the UK the potato marketing board, and the major suoermarkets a few years ago stated pushing the idea of different varieties being better for different purposes, and offering more varieties.

One thing I'm still puzled about: Why are there two different sorts of hash brown? Is it geographical and which is correct?

I'd appreciate reports of how the recipes cook. Are they too sketchy? Any other major omissions, or errors?

Edited November 20, 2003 by jackal10 (log)

[iain]

I'm likely to set off some sort of deluge here, but I have always operated under the impression that hash browns are made with shredded potatoes while home fries are made with cubed.

[iain]

This lesson, by the way, is excellent. I wish that I had it available last night, when I made mashed potatoes for maybe the second time of my life. I absolutely love potatoes in all their forms, but have a life-long (and unexplainable) aversion to mashed. I am working on overcoming that aversion now.

The mashed potatoes I made last night used french fingerling and turned out rather dry, even though I used about 6 tablespoons of cream to 2 pounds of potatoes. Following advice given in The Joy of Cooking, I dried the potatoes over low heat after boiling. Think I would have been better off leaving them a little wetter before mashing?

edited to fix bad italic tag

Edited November 20, 2003 by iain (log)

[jackal10]

I'm likely to set off some sort of deluge here, but I have always operated under the impression that hash browns are made with shredded potatoes while home fries are made with cubed.

Not according to Beard, Fanny Farmer, Julia Child et al For example http://starchefs.com/FoodWine/child_recipe.html

Fanny Farmer adds fried salt pork cubes, and this may be the link to other sorts of hashes, like corn beef hash.

Maybe the shredded sort are more modern recipes.

Home fries are bigger cubes, and not mashed together into a cake (I think).

Edited November 20, 2003 by jackal10 (log)

[jackal10]

The mashed potatoes I made last night used french fingerling and turned out rather dry, even though I used about 6 tablespoons of cream to 2 pounds of potatoes. Following advice given in The Joy of Cooking[/], I dried the potatoes over low heat after boiling. Think I would have been better off leaving them a little wetter before mashing?

Fingerling potatoes are very waxy, so don't mash that well. They will always be a bit dry.

I doubt if drying them out has that much effect. You can add cream or milk until the consistency is right.

How much butter did you add? It is the butter that changes the mouth feel... I think you would need at least 4oz and maybe 8oz.

[guajolote]

I'm likely to set off some sort of deluge here, but I have always operated under the impression that hash browns are made with shredded potatoes while home fries are made with cubed.

Not according to Beard, Fanny Farmer, Julia Child et al For example http://starchefs.com/FoodWine/child_recipe.html

i agree with iain, despite what julia says.

hash browns = shredded

[bushey]

A great way to prepare fingerling potatoes is to steam them a bit first, until they're just tender. Then place in a roasting pan and flatten slightly with a potato masher. Some of the potatoes may get completely smooshed, but that's okay*. Dot with lots of duck fat and roast at about 375-400 for thirty minutes or so. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

*the smooshed bits get really crispy and delicious.

[jackal10]

A great way to prepare fingerling potatoes is to steam them a bit first, until they're just tender. Then place in a roasting pan and flatten slightly with a potato masher. Some of the potatoes may get completely smooshed, but that's okay*. Dot with lots of duck fat and roast at about 375-400 for thirty minutes or so. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

*the smooshed bits get really crispy and delicious.

Yup. Picture in the unit, under "crushed potatoes" but with

Butter not duck fat, and a sprinkiling of parsley. I imagine they would be even better with duck or goose fat.

[Jensen]

There has been a potato question plaguing me for years. I've looked for the answer to no avail; I've even sent a query about it to the Potato People (or whatever the potato organisation is called ).

Sometimes, I will get a potato that refuses to cook. It can be baked for hours or boiled for hours and it's still as hard as rock.

I did read an explanation for this at one point in time but, as my brain apparently became overly full of mostly useless knowledge, it has somehow fallen out.

Does anyone know why this happens?

[iain]

The mashed potatoes I made last night used french fingerling and turned out rather dry, even though I used about 6 tablespoons of cream to 2 pounds of potatoes. Following advice given in The Joy of Cooking, I dried the potatoes over low heat after boiling. Think I would have been better off leaving them a little wetter before mashing?

Fingerling potatoes are very waxy, so don't mash that well. They will always be a bit dry.

I doubt if drying them out has that much effect. You can add cream or milk until the consistency is right.

How much butter did you add? It is the butter that changes the mouth feel... I think you would need at least 4oz and maybe 8oz.

I only used about 2 oz...more butter probably would have done the trick. I went with more cream, which improved things, but not enough for me. Next time, I'll use much more butter (like I really need an excuse to use more butter on anything).

edited because there were too many instances of the word "probably" in the original post

Edited November 20, 2003 by iain (log)

[Jonathan Day]

Richard Olney, the writer on French cookery, insisted that mashed potatoes be passed through a sieve once and moistened with butter and the water they were cooked in. The resulting puree can be slighty greysish but is very tasty.

Some time ago I was rushing to get dinner on the table. I had a lot of "Roseval" potatoes -- reddish skins, waxy -- which I boiled, threw into a Kenwood mixer and whipped at high speed for a good long time, adding a fair bit of butter in the process. I know that this is supposed to turn them into glue, but for some reason it didn't -- they came out light, snowy-white (even though the potatoes had yellowish flesh) and good. No idea why.

Edited November 20, 2003 by Jonathan Day (log)

[sherribabee]

I'm so excited about all this potato info., I hardly know what to do with myself. I just printed out the primer and it will go into a notebook which will become one of my most used, I'm sure.

I *heart* potatoes. I actually made fries for the very first time last night (double fried them in corn oil (the folks in Burger Club will know why, that's how they made them at Tavern on Jane)), and they were delicious.

Thak you so much, Jack, for all the effort you've put into this.

[alacarte]

This segment made me so hungry!!

I especially love the chip sandwich. I didn't know that was permissible. So glad I was wrong.

I'd love to hear Holly Moore's assessment of Jack's technique on frying chips. Or Jack, your assessment of the Moore version of Americanized french fries. (

Since Holly included french fries as part of his ultimate Diner Cooking segment, this could become an interesting debate....)

[fifi]

uuuuhhh... WOW! Don't be so humble, Jack. Yes, all of this stuff is available. The WOW-factor is how all of this was assembled.

This made me so hungry that there is a single serving LeCreuset individual gratin pan in the DeLonghi even as I type. I just happened to have a potato that needed using and an end of gruyere.

I made a corn chowder one time and thought that little cubes of purple potato would look cute in there. Nope. The color bled out and the whole thing turned blue, probably due to the fairly alkaline pH of the chowder. I should have known better. But then, I repeated the same mistake with maroon carrots in chicken and dumplings.

Why is there is something deeply disturbing about blue food.

[tryska]

ummm.

yum.

and thank you.

i shall be doing your mash technique for thanksgiving this year.

[jackal10]

Since Holly included french fries as part of his ultimate Diner Cooking segment, this could become an interesting debate....)

Chip butties have a long an honourable tradition, although they are being replaced by vindaloo or chicken tikka as the food of choice after an evening of beer

I think Holly and I agree pretty well on French Fries. I par-cook in water then oil, he in oil, but it much the same thing.I don't pre-soak, since I'm cooking in water. We both chill before finish frying. I think this is the key, since it dries out the surface. We both cook to a good mahogony brown, rather than straw.

[jackal10]

Blue seems to be one of natures ways of saying "don't eat".

Very few foods are naturally blue - maybe blueberries - but most are purple rather than blue. Blue is used for wound plasters in kitchens and the food processing industry, so you can spot them if they chance to fall off into the food.

Most blue food colours are indicators - red cabbage, for example and turn red with acid.

Blue potatoes bleed in water, so dry cooking methods - microwave, or fry work better. The colour is also not very temperature stable.

[elyse]

I have question on sweet potatoes. I just bought some to make sweet potato pies, but they're really big. Is the flavor more intense the smaller they are? These are about the size of a pint and a half, if that makes any sense.

[fifi]

Blue potatoes bleed in water

One would think that someone like me with as many semesters of chemistry, biochemistry, etc. under their skull would realize this. Then to do it twice! I think I will blame it on the merlot.

Most blue food colours are indicators - red cabbage, for example and turn red with acid.

When the kids were younger, this was a fun thing to do. I had them dropping all kinds of stuff on minced red cabbage to see which way it would turn.

I was in some fancy restaurant a couple of years ago and they had blue mashed potatoes. Blue corn may be all the rage, but it kinda bothers me, too. Especially if it is made into polenta.