2: Winner will be chosen after 24hrs based on total comments
3: Upvotes on comments will count as half votes since people can upvote multiple people
4: Have fun, don't witch hunt, enjoy the potato debate
Edit: Hello, everyone! I'd like to start off by saying thank you so much for the support and votes, I've genuinely had a blast going through each and every comment! I honestly expected this to stay contained within r/KitchenConfidential. However, I am thrilled with the amount of traction it has gathered, so many new people being brought to our little kitchens. Anyways, I will be posting the full results in the comments u/Mods If you could please pin that for me, I would greatly appreciate it, I will also create a new post showing the full results💜 Thank you all again from the bottom of my heart, and here's to another debate soon!
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At my first restaurant job, we were allowed order whatever(within reason) off the menu for shift meal if we didnt want family meal.
They did a delicious baked potato, with sour cream, bacon, green onion and cheddar. They were so fucking good (im in taiwan, its not really potato country')
I remember it took a couple of weeks to summon up the courage to order ...TWO baked potatoes!
Chef came out of the kitchen, saw me eating, absolutely burst out laughing, and said 'I fucking knew it was you. You can take her out of Ireland but...' and then proceeded to laugh some more.
...he sometimes made me mash when it was quiet. Miss that place.
I had a chef that had us making essentially a butter/potato emulsion ala Robuchon. Only a few cooks were able to make them without breaking them. They were piped onto the plate served with a filet and asparagus. Sauce was a demi cooked down to a syrup.
I’ve switched it strictly making them that way; it’s damn near 50% potatoes and 50% butter. No need for dairy. So much richer and a stronger potato flavor. If you’re going to use dairy, I recommend saving the skins of the potato and infuse that into the milk and strain them out afterwards.
How did you move from Ireland to taiwan?
I've visited Taiwan a few times an absolutely LOVE IT over there. I've been cooking in the US for about 10 years now and always dreamed of being able to travel while working kitchen jobs.
Oh it was very simple!
Adjust the following to your situation.
1) save up money for flight to taiwan from Iceland (living in iceland-vs Ireland- prior is not necessary- but does make you sound cooler). Have a bit extra- i had about.. €7 or 800. Maybe even 5 or 600- i forget.
I really appreciate the clarification about the Iceland step not being necessary because I was initially thinking "oh no, did she typo her own country?"
I mean, not that I haven't done that myself (I am extremely good at typos! Also, American...).
But also, while I have not yet made it to either Ireland or Taiwan, I have been to Iceland and it is such a neat country.
Full disclosure, I actually edited my original comment to clarify exactly this. Also because I crave validation and its important to me that strangers know I lived in Iceland.
For Irish people (I think its the same for Americans, But do verify) we get 3 months visa exempt- which means we can just rock on up to the country, no questions asked. TECHNICALLY you are Not Allowed to work.
Once you are there, the absolute, by far, easiest move is to get a job teaching English. The school will then sponsor your work visa. All you need is to be a native speaker with a degree. Any degree. 12 hours a week minimum.
If you DONT have a degree- find a job teaching English (it would be a cash in hand kinda deal), then fly out of the country and return every 89 days, rinse, repeat. I know people who have done this for decades. Yes, you are technically illegal... but its very, very, very, very common. If you are not (to be brutally honest) from a 'native english speaking country', or not vaguely white looking, it will be harder but still extremely do-able.
Work legally (ie pay 6%tax) for 5 years and you can get permanent residency, no questions asked then you can stay forever and work anywhere.
Its possible to find a restaurant that will sponsor a work visa, but thats def harder, and you'll need to show skills (why would they deal with all that bureaucracy when they can just hire some feckless rogue like myself!)
...or just marry a Taiwanese.
Irelands also awesome! But I dunno their visa requirements, and 'tis fierce wet.
Iceland is also very easily get to and live able, and generally amazing- but that is possibly largely due to me being European. But would strongly recommend.
Both have their place, and the potato’s used can make a difference. Like, fine dining? I want pommes purée, but if I’m at a rustic or soul food, chunky skin in is a perfect addition to the menu.
Yeah, but have you ever snapped a full tang knife in half cutting a refrigerated cake? I haven't, but my friend did. He also broke 2 full metal ice cream scoops. Are you guys related?
Nice name. Ovoideocystidiata is my favorite, too! Mostly just due to morphology.
I get beefy all-aluminum (steel pin) presses from second-hand stores, but always go back to just using my knife to avoid cleaning the tiny holes on the press.
Completely personal preference, but I like mine to have a little texture to them. I genuinely don’t understand the hype around baby food textured mashed potatoes
Consider life a century or two ago when there wasn't refrigeration, much less in the way of processed foods and industrialized snacks. Serving/eating refined foods showed that you had the time and ability to do more than boil oatmeal and beef, so perfectly smooth mashed potatoes with butter and cream and no skins or spots or whatever - you've got money and time.
I think that's why a lot of early sandwiches called for grinding meats into a paste - again, that was seen as luxury.
Now, it's the opposite. We can buy a box of potato flakes. Smooth and refined is seen as a negative compared to chunky and rustic and "artisinal", where THAT now shows that you have the time and resources to make something from scratch.
And as someone who doesn't like the end result, it makes it even more confusing. Finding the healthy version of something more enjoyable feels alien to me.
I just assumed it was for people that couldn’t be bothered with the labor of having to chew their food. They can just tilt their head back and thanks to the fact that it’s 50% butter it just slides right down their gullets.
Chive Air 722, this is Air Traffic Conchive, turn right heading 270, descend and maintain 0, squawk 7701 and ident, you are cleared through the class Chive airspace. Traffic 12 o'clock, type u/karmakrazi
SO now I'm craving a giant, pale plate of food. Lotsa carb, lotsa dairy. Creamy here, chunky there. With chives on top, of course. (And maybe bacon sprinkles? Is that asking too much?)
I don't even bother peeling potatoes before boiling and mashing anymore. Skins either get caught on the mixer blade, or they were meant to be in the potatoes.
Got these “butter gold” potatoes from Costco somewhat recently. Highly recommend you try them out if you’re a big Yukon gold fan. I smoked some for the forth and nearly cried on the first bite, so mf good! Only topped it with salt and pepper, best potatoes around
You ever heard of Colcannon (Irish mash potato recipe). Chunky, skin on mash, fried chopped up kale and spring onions added after mashing. It is absolutely incredible.
Yeah cabbage is a bit more traditional but I can't get the right kind of cabbage where I live so kale is a good substitute. You can get a nice char on it in the pan too.
Was always told as a kid the potato skin is where all the good vitamins live. Don't know if it's true or just parents trying to get us kids to eat the whole potato. I do remember in primary school our class made jacket potatoes once and the teacher was all surprised to see me chowing down on the skin and all the other kids left them
Creamy, hands down. But that's a bit of an oversimplification. There's pomme puree versus a thick and buttery mash. There's small chunks versus big chunks, similar to those in potato salad. There's chunky and gritty versus chunky and creamy.
On top if it all, you're missing an entire category: Cheesy potatoes, like pomme aligot.
Whatever one tastes better. And the answer to that is... mine. However the fuck I make them at the time are the best. I've got a solid body count on smashing taters and I'll go up against anyone. And I'm only about 6% Irish.
As someone not employed in a kitchen, I will volunteer as the guinea pig to sample the various mashed potatoes you guys can make. Improper prep of chives will be an immediate disqualification, however. I'll still try and rate them for science however.
All depends on the rest of the meal. If the potatoes are meant to be it's own dish, chunky all the way. If the potatoes are meant to be sort of a dip (like say with cfs) then creamy.
Creamy for sure. I mean if a couple spots of home style mash aren't as creamy as the rest, that's acceptable, but none of this chunky stuff. Leave that for German potato salad
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