I have never been what you’d call a Victoria Wood fan, but the word Spud always reminds me of her pronouncing the name of Jacket Potato fast-food chain Spud-u-like as spud-oo-lik-ay. Whimsical maybe, but I still find it amusing. It might be because the only branch I ever saw was near Manchester Piccadilly and I saw it first when I went for my interview at Manchester University, coming from a small city, Spudulike encapsulated the promise of the big city. Luckily, my horizons were widened very quickly on arrival and I never needed a takeaway potato, which is lucky, it wasn’t long before it disappeared.
Potato Dauphinoise
I am musing about spuds because as I sit here I am looking at 50 sprouting – I should say chitting – seed potatoes. they are rather beautiful, with purply-green shoots pushing through towards the light. It won’t be long before they can go in, 22 early potatoes (Red Duke of York) which can be eaten small and young, and 28 maincrop (Cara) which will come up later in the year and provide a large crop of all-purpose potatoes. (Fingers crossed that is, and assuming we don’t get blight again this year).
I started to think about all the wonderful ways of cooking potatoes, mash, roasties, chips, and, our favourite, Potatoes Dauphinoise. We tend to use a tried and tested recipe from Joanne Harris and Fran Warde’s book The French Kitchen, which is delicious. There are many other wonderful versions out there too, including recipes with onions, a herby version and with celeriacinstead of potato (OK, not really Dauphinoise, but a good alternative).
Of course, dauphinoise usually comes with a health warning, good ones are stuffed full of cream and butter, but are perfect for this cold snap. What’s your favourite potato dish – share your favourite recipes here!
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