A Deeper Understanding Of Joel Robuchon’s Mashed Potatoes
The reason our crew gets out of bed in the morning is to fulfill the eaters of New Orleans; y’all are our people.
But, as is our nature, even after we found the pluperfect recipe for mashers, we continued our research and begin delving into the mysterious art of retrograde potatoes.
Preparing a perfect tub of mashed potatoes seems easy enough but in reality making a classical version is tough. The ways to fuck up are manifold-the path to greatness fraught with difficulty.
Retrograding your potatoes clears the path to eminence. Afro too high to box with god? Retrograding your potatoes can fix that too.
We’ve all been there. You cooked your potatoes too long, and ended up with a big gluey mess. Undercook your potatoes and all you’ve got is a bowl filled with lumps.
Enter retrogradation.
Retrogradation occurs when a potato is gently cooked at 160 degrees for approximately 30 minutes, then cooled down, allowing the starch to “retrograde” that is; to set. This prevents your potatoes from turning into glue, and simultaneously allows you to make mashers that are lump free.
After you’ve gently simmered your potatoes, and cooled them down, you now have mise en place for potato greatness.
Reheat your potatoes in warm water at 180 degrees for 30 minutes.
Drain in colander, add cold butter, whip, add hot milk to achieve desired texture
Type of potato, ratio of butter to potato, ratio of milk to butter, amount of salt, type of salt, adding pepper or not adding pepper; all these things will figure large into your final product.
We’ll leave these steps up to you. Once you’ve figured out how to retrograde your potatoes you’re well on your way to masher greatness.
Potatoes contain trace amounts of naturally occurring temazepam and diazepam (aka Valium)
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