The spud, humble yet mighty, does so much for us: snack, nibble, side dish, main dish, soup or salad, stepping up to the plate or staying in the background depending on what you ask of it. And you can ask a lot – far more, in fact, than most of us do, most of the time. When did you last, for example, combine it with pasta as the Ligurians do, stir-fry it Szechuan-style, or even use it in a lovely, puddingy cake (see below)? Not that recently, I'll wager.
Add to their great versatility and deliciousness a few other simple virtues: potatoes are rich in vitamin C and other antioxidants; they're easy to store (see below); and they are, of course, cheap as chips. Like all the things we take for granted, without them we'd be lost. And, pretty soon, we'd be sick of pasta.
We tend to make more of a fuss of the lovely, waxy new and salad potatoes that are on the shelves in the summer. But a maincrop spud can be just as good. The secret to truly enjoying winter potato dishes – the buttery mash, the gorgeous gratin – is to start with top-notch tubers. Potatoes are available all year round, but they are at their best when freshly dug or properly stored. The maincrop harvest begins in September and most varieties store well for several months. If they are kept at the right temperature (that is, at 7-10C), their condition will remain good and their flavour may actually intensify. If kept too warm, they will start to decay and soften; too cold, and their starches turn to sugar, giving them an unpleasantly sweet taste. I generally start reining back on my maincrop potato consumption around March, in expectation of the glorious first new potatoes of April or May.
Buy potatoes that are very firm – hard really – and have smooth, unbruised skins and no sprouts or green patches. The green bits, which tend to form when potatoes are exposed to light or extreme temperatures, indicate the presence of solanine. This is a toxin and, in large quantities, it is dangerous. When you get your potatoes home, remove them from any plastic packaging and store them in a cool, dark, dry place, but not the fridge.
If you're on the high street or in asupermarket, you'll be faced by mountains of nameless "red" or "white" potatoes and generic "baking" potatoes (often the mild-flavoured estima type). But I think it's always worth going for a named variety so you know what to expect when you cook it. The big sellers are king edwards and maris pipers, and they are both very decent, all-round winter spuds. King edward has a good, earthy flavour and a very floury texture that will bake, mash and roast beautifully. Maris piper, and the widely available, red‑skinned desiree, too, are a touch less floury so, while they can still be mashed, they hold their shape better when cooked, which means they're very good in a gratin.
However, many heritage varieties are enjoying a renaissance now and will reward the effort it takes to seek them out. Farm shops and farmers' markets are the best places to look. Spuds such as the fluffy, floury golden wonder, the rose-skinned red duke of york and the deep purple shetland black and highland burgundy, are all prized for their flavour rather than for their high yields. Here in the West Country, we get plenty of the lovely, creamy wilja, a great all-rounder that's especially good roasted. And aspecial mention must go to pink fir apple, that curious, long, knobbly potato – it may look as if it's permanently auditioning for the comedy vegetable slot on That's Life!, but it also has a superb flavour and a waxy, smooth texture. Don't even think about mashing this one – just boil, slice and serve with butter or olive oil for pure potato heaven.
These are just a few favourites ofdozens of characterful spud types now being grown by adventurous farmers. If you can't find any of the less run-of-the-mill varieties in your local shops, try heritage-potatoes. co.uk or thepotatoshop.com.
I've gone a little outside the normalrepertoire of winter potato favourites in today's recipes, to show you what spud flesh is capable of delivering, but I am devoted to the time-honoured classics, too. Icertainly couldn't get through winter without many a plate of buttery mash. My tips for perfect, fluffy mash include starting with potatoes cut in fairly large pieces, certainly no smaller than a very large egg. This helps to stop them absorbing too much wateras they cook. Once thoroughly cooked – you can even overcook them a little for mash – drain and leave to steam in the colander for at least five minutes. You can also makemash very successfully with the flesh scooped out of hot baked potatoes. Either way, my preferred mashing method is to use a ricer – this pretty much guarantees lump-free mash every time, as does rubbing through a sieve.
If it's irresistible roasties you're after, rough up the part-cooked potatoes well before they go in to roast. I use a fork to scratch the surface of the spuds, but a good bashing in the pan does the trick, too. Season them well at this point. And it's essential that the fat (sunflower or groundnut oil, or goose fat if you can get it) is smoking hot before you add the spuds to the roasting tin. This way, they start crisping up as soon as they hit the pan, rather than absorbing the fat. It's worth making the extra effort, because you'll never get more plaudits then when you bring a pan of perfect golden, crisp roasties tothe table.
Pan haggerty
The Northumberland take on the delicious combination of potatoes, onions and cheese. Rich and buttery, I like it with a crisp, green salad and some simply cooked pulses. Serves six as a side dish.
50g butter
2 onions, thinly sliced
500g fairly firm-fleshed maincrop potatoes such as maris piper
80g mature cheddar, grated
Sea salt and freshly ground blackpepper
Heat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Melt half the butter in a20-25cm ovenproof frying pan over a medium-low heat and fry the onions for about 15 minutes, until soft and golden. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and slice them very thinly (use a mandolin or the slicing side of a box cheese grater).
Set aside a good pinch of the cheese – about 10g. Scoop the onions out of the pan. Layer a third of the sliced potatoes into the still-buttery pan, then add half the onions and half the cheese. Season well. Repeat the layers, then finish with a final layer of potatoes. Dot the remaining butter and the reserved cheese over the top and season. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the potatoes are tender all the way through and the top is golden. Servepiping hot.
Italian devil potatoes
This super-simple dish is a fine example of thrifty cooking: it takes something cheap and plentiful (spuds) and enlivens it with something rich and intensely flavoured (olive oil and chilli). Serves four as a side dish.
100ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium-hot red chilli (deseeded or not, according to taste), finely chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and cut into slivers
1 large sprig rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
750g firm-fleshed maincrop potatoes, such as maris piper or desiree
Put the oil in a small pan with the chilli, garlic and rosemary. Heat very gently until the oil is just fizzing and cook for just a couple of minutes – you don't want the garlic to take on any colour. Remove from the heat and set aside to infuse.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into roughly 5mm slices. Put them in a pan, cover with salted water and bring to a boil. Cook until they are tender to the point of a knife, which may be almost as soon as they've come to the boil, or just two or three minutes longer. Drain, leave to steam in a colander for a few minutes, then transfer the potatoes to a warmed serving dish. Trickle over half the chilli oil and plenty of salt and pepper, then gently turn over the potatoes – don't worry if they start to break up at the edges, because this helps them absorb the tasty oil. Finish with the remaining oil and more salt and pepper.
Potato lemon cake
This lovely moist cake works best ifyou use whole, cooked potatoes, which you rice once cold – it's agreat use for leftover boiled spuds. Serves 12.
175g unsalted butter, softened
200g caster sugar
4 large eggs
200g ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
250g cold, plain cooked potato (ideally a really floury type such as king edward)
Finely grated zest of 3 lemons
For the topping
Juice of 2 lemons
75g caster sugar
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Butter and line a 23cm diameter springform cake tin.
Beat together the butter and sugar until really pale and fluffy (five minutes in a mixer), then beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of ground almonds with each.
Stir the baking powder into the remaining almonds, then fold them into the mixture. Push the cold potato through a ricer (or rub it through a sieve) directly into the mixture, add the lemon zest and fold in lightly. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 30-40 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Check it after 25 minutes to make sure it is not colouring too much – cover with foil if it is.
Leaving the hot cake in its tin, pierce it all over with a skewer. Combine the lemon juice and caster sugar for the topping and, before the sugar has had a chance to dissolve, pour all over the cake. Leave to cool completely before serving.
