Mashed potatoes.

Mashed potato (mashed potatoes and sometimes called smashed potato) is a common way of serving potato in many countries worldwide. It is simply said, the best fucking food on the planet. It is made by mashing boiled potatoes (peeled or unpeeled). Sometimes other ingredients such as milk, cream, butter, vegetable oil, garlic, cheese, bacon bits or sour cream are added. A French variation adds egg yolk for Pommes duchesse that is piped through a pastry tube into wavy ribbons and rosettes, brushed with butter and lightly browned. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2700x1800, 1555 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Mashed potato Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2700x1800, 1555 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Mashed potato Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... Binomial name Solanum tuberosum L. The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a perennial plant of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family, commonly grown for its starchy tuber. ... A glass of cows milk A goat kid feeding on its mothers milk Milk is the nutrient fluid secreted by the mammary glands of female mammals (including monotremes). ... Cream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of raw milk before homogenization. ... Butter is commonly sold in sticks (pictured) or blocks, and frequently served with the use of a butter knife. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with cooking oil. ... Binomial name Allium sativum L. Garlic (Allium sativum) is a perennial plant in the family Alliaceae and genus Allium, closely related to the onion, shallot, and leek. ... Cheese is a solid food made from the milk of cows, goats, sheep, and other mammals. ... Bacon Bits are either small pieces of bacon or artificially flavored bits of flour. ... It has been suggested that Pavlaka be merged into this article or section. ... An egg yolk surrounded by the egg white An egg yolk is the part of an egg which serves as the food source for the developing embryo inside. ...

Many cooks feel that making the dish successfully is dependent on first returning the boiled (and drained) potatoes to the empty pot and heating them to drive off surplus steam but others feel that this is an unnecessary step.

The success of the dish is a matter of opinion. Some hold that potatoes mashed or smashed with a fork have the true texture of the genuine mashed potato. Some say potato cells are damaged during violent processing such as in a food processor because the starch (freed from the cells, which become swollen during cooking) makes puréed mashed potato very sticky. Others say that passing the boiled potato through a ricer or food mill produces a desired refined texture. Other ways of making them include using a hand implement that actually mashes them in the pot or using an electric mixer (not a blender) to mix them into whipped potatoes. Another key factor in the success of mashed potatoes is whether or not to make them lumpy or smooth. Some prefer them lumpy to add a little more substance to the dish, but others prefer smooth so they can focus entirely on the taste. It's also a practice in some cases to include the skins. Starch (CAS# 9005-25-8) is a complex carbohydrate which is insoluble in water; it is used by plants as a way to store excess glucose. ... Purée and (more rarely) mash are general terms for food, usually vegetables or legumes, that has been ground, pressed, and/or strained to the consistency of a soft paste or thick liquid. ...

Lamb chops with mashed potatoes

Not all varieties of potato are suitable for mashing, the best being floury varieties rather than the waxy types used as salad potatoes. If the latter are used, they will require thorough cooking and mashing or the dish will end up containing small potato chunks. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 1985 KB) Summary Lamb chops with mash and salad. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 1985 KB) Summary Lamb chops with mash and salad. ...

Mashed potato is also an ingredient of various other dishes, including Shepherds' pie, Colcannon and potato croquettes. Wikibooks Cookbook has more about this subject: Shepherds Pie Shepherds pie is a traditional British dish that consists of a bottom layer of minced (ground) lamb in gravy covered with mashed potato and (often) a layer of cheese. ... Colcannon is a tradaitional Irish food made of mashed potatoes, cabbage, garlic, leeks, butter, salt, and pepper. ... Croquettes The croquette or croquet is a parcel of food such as minced meat or vegetables, shaped into a cylinder, encased in breadcrumbs and deep fried. ...

In addition to butter, cream, or milk, mashed potato may also be seasoned with salt, pepper (often white pepper, to blend in), and/or a dash of nutmeg. In some countries, other spices may be added for more flavor, e.g. a variety of common kitchen herbs. A white turnip cooked and mashed with the potatoes in a proportion of about 1:10, provides a slight "bite" that mashed potatoes proverbially lack. Alternatively, a little garlic may be cooked with it. Another option is to blend in wasabi powder to taste. This works well as a side dish for tuna steaks. In the U.S., mashed potatoes are often covered with gravy. In London, mashed potato is sold in pie and mash shops. It is often served with sausage, in this form being called bangers and mash. Edible salt is mostly sodium chloride (NaCl). ... Binomial name Piper nigrum L. Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. ... Species About 100 species, including: Myristica argentea Myristica fragrans Myristica malabarica The nutmegs Myristica are a genus of evergreen trees indigenous to tropical southeast Asia and Australasia. ... Trinomial name Brassica rapa rapa L. The turnip (Brassica rapa var. ... Binomial name Allium sativum L. Garlic (Allium sativum) is a perennial plant in the family Alliaceae and genus Allium, closely related to the onion, shallot, and leek. ... Gravy is a thickened sauce, usually made from a base of extracts that run from meat and/or vegetables during cooking. ... Categories: British cuisine | Food and drink stubs ... Plate with German Wurst (liver-, blood- and hamsausage) A sausage consists of ground meat, animal fat, herbs and spices, and sometimes other ingredients, usually packed in a casing (historically the intestines of the animal, though now generally synthetic), and sometimes preserved in some way, often by curing or smoking. ... Bangers and mash Look up bangers and mash in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In many American households, the top of each serving is hollowed with a spoon in order to form a gravy and/or butter volcano crater.

Dehydrated instant mashed potato mixes are also available, as well as frozen varieties. The dehydrated varieties vary in quality and texture, and purists generally consider them to be inferior. A campaign for one such product (Smash) memorably launched the business of advertising agency Boase Massimi Pollitt. Instant mashed potatoes are potatoes that have been through an industrial process of cooking, mashing, and drying to yield a packaged convenience food that can be reconstituted in the home in seconds by adding hot water or milk, producing a close approximation of mashed potatoes with very little expenditure of... Smash is the most popular brand of instant mashed potato in the UK. The preparation of Smash is extremely simple, making the product popular with those short of time or lacking inclination to manually prepare mashed potato. ... Boase Massimi Pollitt (BMP) is an advertising agency founded in October 1968 by Martin Boase, Gabe Massimi, and Stanley Pollitt. ...

Potatoes, especially mashed potatoes, have a high glycemic index which some consider is bad for health.^{[citation needed]} Glycemic index (also glycaemic index, GI) is a ranking system for carbohydrates based on their immediate effect on blood glucose levels. ...

See also

• British cuisine
• Scottish cuisine
• Irish cuisine
• Fufu

British cuisine is shaped by the countrys temperate climate, its island geography and its history. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... A pint of stout and some wheaten bread Irish cuisine can be divided into two main categories – traditional, mainly simple dishes, and more modern dishes, as served by hotels etc. ... Young women in preparing Fufu in Democratic Republic of Congo Fufu, also spelled foofoo, foufou, or fu fu, is a staple food of West and Central Africa. ...

Reference

• ↑  Holly Jones with Alan Wilson, The Book of Organic Potatoes, ISBN 0-9540631-0-4

External links

• A recipe for mashed potatoes
• Mashed potatoes with variations