As a kid I remember one of my favourite toys was the potatoman. A potato that had various attachments like spectacles, ears, and even amoustache and for some reason is one toy that’s seen all over the world. Inever really recognized the importance and significance of the potato till Ibecame a chef. My first week in training had me peel a hundred kilos a day andit has been an important part of my life ever since. It has to be the mostconsumed food item in the world, with the average consumption per year globallyat around thirty three kilos per person. A tuberous crop originating in theAndes region of South America, a continent that has given us a lot of veryimportant foods, and was first cultivated for consumption around eight thousandyears ago. It travelled to India courtesy the European mariners as late as the19th century and yet we along with China harvest a third of the potatoesconsumed worldwide.
Besides being used for brewing alcoholic beverages likeVodka and Akvavit, being used as a starch base for bio degradable packaging andbeing used to heal burns, this humble vegetable satisfies the appetites ofeveryone, from infants to adults. French fries is the first thing normallyordered at restaurants, and although it is meant for the kids, everyone digsin. Ask a child what he want to eat from the shop and I guarantee four out offive time the answer will be chips. It almost always is an accompaniment tomeat or fish and there are countless ways of preparing them. After fries, mashpotato is the most popular preparation best with salt, pepper, a pinch ofnutmeg, butter and milk, whisked into light fluffy goodness that melts in themouth. Mash is also used to make other dishes like shepherds pie and thesynonymously Goan potato chops stuffed with beef mince, flavoured withsausages, and at my restaurant we even roll it in spring roll wrappers, deepfry it, and serve it topped with sour cream and crispy bacon. We eat it forbreakfast in the form of hash browns, which is grated potato seasoned with saltand pepper and sautéed in butter.
More locally we eat potato bhaji with freshly fried crispypuries . We eat it as a salad sometimes just tossed with mayonaise and onions,and other times cooked in bacon demi glaze and stone ground mustard . almostevery popular Indian snack has potato in it right from the samosa to thebattata wada to the sev batata puri and the aloo tikki.it can be eaten simplybaked, cut open and topped with things like butter, sour cream, chopped chives,bacon bits and almost anything we fancy. In the restaurant line besides being avery important accompaniment, it is used for thickening soups and sauces and iseven used by smart bar owners to push alchohol sales by serving deep fried,crispy, salty, potatoes .no barbeque is complete without some kind of potatopreparation. My favourite being roasted baby potatoes tossed in salt andchilly, served with a garlic mayo dip.
When life gives you potatoes, simply slice them fine, throwthem in hot oil, fry till crisp toss, in sea salt and vinegar and enjoy.
