There’s mashing, boiling, roasting, steaming, salad, hasselback, rosti, hash browns and those are just the merest indication of some of the more standard dishes.
If you’re looking for something a little more off the beaten track, try the Shandong dish of potatoes in caramel, Scottish macaroons, or perhaps a potato barfi.
It is, however, hard to ignore any form of fried potato. We’re hardwired for it apparently — fat and carbohydrates in a simple package.
An overabundance of both is often the key, and sometimes the only attribute of many of the fried spud options. It turns out that this is a big reason why we favour them, search them out, even crave a dose of fried tattie.
Maybe, and I’m just guessing here, that could be why McDonald’s alone reportedly goes through 1.5 million tonnes of potatoes every year by itself.
That’s an unbelievably large number of spuds.
Don’t tell the Belgians with their fries (yes, it was the Belgians that invented the "French fry"), or the British with their crisps, but my sneaky wee guilty pleasure over either of those are the distinctly American tater tots.
If you are unfamiliar with tater tots, think of them as hash brown pellets. I’m going to assume that you’re familiar with hash browns. If you aren’t, I congratulate you on your clean and healthy lifestyle.
I always assumed that tater tots were highly processed and made using a laundry list of chemicals. Maybe the ones that you can buy in supermarket freezer sections around the world are.
I was pleasantly surprised a few years ago then when I stumbled on a "cheesy potato puff" recipe in an old cookbook. A couple of tweaks and, voila, home-made tater tots to tease my senses, please my mouth and send my doctor into conniptions of coronary concern — sorry doc.
This recipe may look like a lot but trust me, you going to want to make plenty. These will freeze down well, either as the unfried "tots" or as the completed article. Then it’s just a case of either frying them off as needed or reheating them in the oven for a side dish, snack or just because the cravings have kicked in again.
In terms of which type of tater to use, I go with a more floury variety such as Agria or Ilam Hardy.
The flour is there for two reasons — to help hold things together and to dry it all out a bit. There is no reason why you can’t use a gluten-free flour for this.
— Kevin Gilbert is co-owner of Gilbert’s Fine Food in Dunedin.
If you have a question, email him at: kevin@gilbertsfinefood.co.nz
TATER TOTS
Ingredients:
1kg potatoes
15g (1 Tbsp) flour
1 tsp garlic powder (optional)
½ tsp onion powder
1 tsp mixed herbs
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Method:
The first step is to par cook the spuds. You don’t want to mash them; you want them still to have a little crunch. Your choice of cooking method is between boiling and steaming, but the key is to have them cooked enough not to be raw but not so much that you’d serve them as is.
Now, let them cool for at least half an hour.
Grate the cooled potatoes into a bowl and add the other ingredients.
You don’t need to add everything and, indeed, this is the point at which to play a little bit if you want to. Want to add some chopped bacon or cheese? Now’s the time.
Mix everything together into a dry(ish) mass before portioning out into ‘‘tot’’ sized pieces. I went with about a heaped teaspoon but, if you want them bigger, go bigger.
Once you have enough for a frypan load, heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a frypan to about ½ cm deep. You want it to be hot enough that the tots start gently frying and bubbling as soon as they touch the oil.
Fry in batches, remembering to turn the tots to colour and cook all sides.
Allow to drain on a plate with paper towels.
Eat.
