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On potatoes

Here's a non-exhaustive list of things i like making with potatoes. But really, all you need is to mash some boiled potatoes, and add some salt and pepper, and you're good to go

. The wiki list of potato dishes has more things that I haven't tried making yet. Also see this report on the humble potato from 2008, the international year of the potato.

South asian / Indian variations

Chinese

French

Greek

Swedish

German

Korean

Italian

Spain

Swiss

Diner food

Breads

At home

Other (things i don't necessarily make at home or make often)

Dessert

Theory

  • What kind of potatoes to use for different dishes?

    • what's eating Dan video on the basics
    • sweet and starchy

      - fiber content - amylose (rigid, crystalline structures) and amylopectin (softer, gel-like textures) - young and old - peel earthiness - the case for baby potatoes - the case against baby potatoes - temperature effects - cold vs hot mashing - overworking - resistant starch created by cooling and reheating - twice-frying, blanching and the high-temp finish - maillard reactions in browning - acid and discoloration - when to salt, based on moisture content and intended texture - rinsing - sprouting and toxicity

    • tl;dr - mealy potatoes like russets, idahos and some sweet potatoes have a high starch-to-water ratio, giving a fluffier texture when deep fried or baked, but fall apart when baked. make sure not to harass them too much during prep, since that can destroy the cell walls and lead to a dense congealed final dish. waxy potatoes (a lot of new potatoes, fingerlings) have a high water-to-starch ratio, and create a moist, more dense texture when boiled. yukon gold potatoes are a bit of an all-rounder, and are especially suited for mashing

    • Can we make ratatouille with potatoes? something like this?
    • You might notice that I have not included a lot of pairings on this list. In the indian context, this would be dishes like aloo gobi or aloo mutter, in soups and loaded potatoes this can be adding things like bacon or the classic broccoli-cheddar-potato soup, or even dishes like shepherd's pie. This is because reasons.
    • also see the potato atlas

Total: 9

p.s. Sweet potatoes are not potatoes. Please stop.

p.p.s. Chips/crisps are not on this list. This is not an oversight.