EXCELLENT DISCUSSION OF WHAT MAKES A POTATO A POTATO. Cooks and the curious will enjoy this clear explanation about the wide gamut of behaviors exhibited by potatoes in the cooking process dependent on the character of the starch that constitute them. We guarantee you will learn something new – we did!
This new BBC article compliments Megan’s concise classic “Potato Texture Cooking Guide” composed year’s ago (https://www.woodprairie.com/kitchen) in an effort to explain the same potato phenomenon. After reading these two pieces you will come away understanding and never look at a potato in the same way again. Jim & Megan
“Baked, mashed, boiled, fried – in a general sense, it’s hard to do potatoes wrong. There’s something about the fluffiness of a well-baked potato, the crunch of a nice chip, the creaminess of mash (the best recipe I know: keep adding butter until it stops being absorbed) that warms the heart, as well as the taste buds.
“But if you’ve ever chosen the wrong potato for the job, chances are you know it. It may not be the kind of thing explained to you in school, but anyone who’s tried to fry red potatoes or make salad with russets knows, not all spuds are created equal. Some of them – to put this mildly, as my smoke detector did not – are not meant for frying.”
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160222-the-secret-transformative-powers-in-a-potato
