I’ve often heard in conversations that centre around restaurants and their menus, talks of how good their mashed potatoes are. In an almost similar refrain I’ve also heard people say that the potatoes they make at home are never quite the same.
In the following steps I attempt to demonstrate and demystify what I consider a very good mash. I chanced upon this process by accident (a happy one I might add) and have happily adopted it into the restaurant’s repertoire. The first step may seem tedious, but you’ll realize that it’s actually quite simple. It is after all for the sake of those restaurant-style mash puds.
Before I begin with the process, let me explain how the cooking of a potato works. Potatoes are essentially starchy tubers, and one needs to learn to exploit the starchiness to coax out that creamy goodness. The downside with the starch in potatoes upon cooking them is that they rapidly start breaking down into sugars (starch in potatoes is a complex carbohydrate, which essentially means that its sugars are tightly bonded together), and that effect is only hastened when they are over mixed or whipped. Often this results in gummy or gluey mash, which is as unpleasant to eat as it is to look at.
What we want is fluffy potatoes - a joy to eat!
One first needs to find old potatoes, not the new ones; your vegetable vendor should be able to help you with this. Old Potatoes are a market term; basically the opposite of 'new'potatoes. How old they are, I'm not sure, but certainly over a couple of weeks. They are probably higher in starch, that key ingredient in making this recipe work. They probably don’t look as waxy and shiny and light as the potatoes that you’re going to pick off the shelf; but trust me that dark flaky-skinned ones are a better bet.
Rinse them thoroughly under cold running water to get all the grit out and dry them. Take a few 8 inch by 8 inch pieces of aluminium foil and place one large potato in the centre. Sprinkle generously with coarse salt.
Wrap the foil around the potato so it’s totally encased in it. Repeat this with the other potatoes. Place on a tray and put it in a pre-heated oven or OTG for about an hour to 80 minutes. This process is similar to making baked potatoes; only we’ve added salt in this case. The salt gets absorbed through the skin of the potato and seasons them in the process. It also eliminated the need to cut and simmer them in water thereby eliminating any loss in starch, which would’ve washed away in the water. Another thing to remember is that the drier the potato is, the more fat it will absorb; if it’s water logged for any reason (usually through vigorous boiling) it will not absorb fat and you will end up with a grainy and watery mash. This process keeps them totally dry, thus making the absorption of fat, in this case a combination of milk, cream and butter that much easier.
In a small pot, combine the milk, cream and butter and simmer, add a little grated nutmeg and pepper and hold it hot.
Insert a skewer through the foil to check to see if the potatoes are done. If it goes in easily, they’re cooked. Remove from oven and unwrap the potatoes. Now proceed to the tricky part. With the help of a kitchen towel, hold the hot potato and peel the skin off with the help of a small knife. Keep aside and repeat with the rest of them.
Now while they’re still hot you need to grate them fine into a bowl.
I would use a kitchen towel or paper towel to help accomplish this since the potatoes are very hot.
Soon as you’ve finished grating them, take the simmering liquid and slowly pour it over the potatoes and stir with a whisk or wooden spoon.
Adjust the consistency to what you’d like it to be; some like it creamier. And voila the mash is ready.
You can hold them warm for several hours; or if you need to make them ahead of time, you need only microwave them for a bit before serving them up: restaurant mash right at your dinner table.