One of my favorite staple foods is the potato. Sturdy and
versatile, potatoes are easy to keep on hand and lend themselves to
a variety of preparations from the simple to the painstaking.
One of my favorite staple foods is the potato. Sturdy and versatile, potatoes are easy to keep on hand and lend themselves to a variety of preparations from the simple to the painstaking.
They are also nutritious, containing enough protein and vitamin C (as well as most of the B vitamins and others) to have been the backbone of diets in places as diverse as Peru, where they were probably first cultivated as long as 7,000 years ago, and Ireland.
While it took a while for potatoes to gain acceptance after their introduction into Europe by returning Spanish conquerors in the 16th century, they are now found in different guises on menus from India to Norway.
A lot of us probably consume more potatoes as french fries than any other way, despite their unhappy reputation as a bearer of transfats and other evils. French fries (called “chips” by the British and, for a while, “freedom fries” in this country, when we were mad at France) are actually Belgian. According to the Web site of the Belgian Tourist Office, they were misnamed french fries when people misunderstood the term “frenching,” which refers to cutting foods in small pieces the size of fries.
Apparently the french fry was originated in the Antwerp area of Belgium, where it was customary to make a meal of fried small fish. In the winter, when the streams froze over, the folks cut potatoes into pieces the size of the fish and fried them instead.
In Belgium, as well as parts of the Netherlands and France, they are served from roadside carts, in a paper cone and garnished with … not ketchup! No! the condiment of choice in that part of the world is mayonnaise. Don’t knock it until you try it. I find it delicious and enjoy the combination whenever I can.
However, I am not going to provide a recipe for french fries here. My husband, who is less intimidated by massive quantities of hot fat than I am, has tried them several times with mixed success. I conclude that it’s a job best left to the experts, and while I may not want to know the process fast-food fries go through before they’re delicious, I will keep eating them. I am more comfortable in the area of the smallish potato, boiled, or the large-ish potato, baked.
According to the Gourmet Cookbook, what we often think of as “new” potatoes are properly called boiling potatoes. They can be red or white, with relatively thin skins. They contain low starch and a lot of moisture, which is why they hold their shape and are useful in salads.
The other major type of potato is the russet or Idaho potato. Whether large or medium, they are usually obling in shape with rough light brown skins. Containing more starch and less moisture, they cook up with the fluffy texture we look for when baking, mashing or frying potatoes.
Real new potatoes are just that: potatoes that have been harvested while the leaves are still on the potato plant. They have a much higher moisture content than starch content, and they remain crisp when boiled.
A relatively new variety, the Yukon gold, was developed in the ’80s. They have a medium starch content and a distinctive flavor, making them useful for a variety of purposes.
Have you had a real baked potato lately? While cooking them in the microwave is so much quicker and makes better use of energy, a real oven-baked potato, with its crisp skin and fluffy interior, is worth the trouble, especially if you already have the oven hot for other purposes. Here is a reliable method from the New York Times Cookbook.
Baked Potatoes
Russet potatoes
butter or olive oil for greasing
butter, salt and pepper to taste
Step 1: Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Step 2: Choose potatoes of uniform size for even cooking. Scrub them to remove any clinging soil, and dry thoroughly. Grease them lightly with butter or olive oil.
Step 3: Place potatoes on rack in preheated oven and bake 40 to 60 minutes, until tender when tested with a fork.
Step 4: Remove from oven, split open and top with a lump of butter, salt to taste and freshly ground pepper.
You can add cooked broccoli and grated cheese (which almost makes a whole meal), or those other standby garnishes: sour cream and chopped chives or green onions.
While reading about boiling potatoes in the Gourmet Cookbook, I learned why recipes specify putting the potatoes in cold water and letting it come to a boil, rather than adding them to already boiling water. If the water is already boiling, the outsides will be done before the insides.
If you have truly new potatoes, you may not want to do anything with them after boiling besides butter them and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
But if you do, here is a dish that is just as good with mature boiling potatoes or Yukon Golds: Raclette.
This is a Swiss dish that, like its cheesy cousin fondue, is both food and entertainment for a group. It calls for raclette cheese, or some other easy-melting, fairly sweet cheese like fontina. Mozzarella is too soft, and Emmenthaler or Gruyere are too hard.
You also need a way to melt the cheese. Special melting gizmos are on the market, but you can also do it in front of a fireplace or in the broiler.
Raclette
Raclette or other cheese, 6 to 8 ounces per person in several large blocks.
Boiling potatoes, two to four per person
gherkins or other small pickles
pickled onions
selection of meats such as prosciutto and salami
Step 1: Set the table, preferably in front of the fireplace, with plates, knives and forks, and a tray with the meats and pickles.
Step 2: Boil the potatoes in their skins until tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
Step 3: Drain the potatoes and put them in a cloth-lined bowl to keep hot. Serve one at a time to each person
Step 4: Place the cheese blocks on a cookie sheet and push close to, but not in, the coals of the fire.
Step 5: When the surface of each block melts, but before it bubbles, scrape it off and place on one of the potato-laden plates. Eat with the meats and pickles.
