In French, the word for potato is pomme de terre (earth apple). The earth apple is a wonderful thing — substantial and comforting. The potato contains virtually no fat and is a significant source of vitamins C and B6, potassium, fiber, minerals, and complex carbohydrates. It has about the same number of calories as a similar-size apple. Combined with milk, the potato is a nearly perfect food — one that almost single-handedly nourished nineteenth-century Ireland until the potato blight struck.
Ten billion bushels of potatoes are grown every year, almost half of them in Russia and Poland, where most are fermented and then consumed as vodka. A staple food of the Incas of Peru (who measured time by how long it took to cook them), the first potatoes traveled from South America to Europe via the Spaniards in the sixteenth century. Europe was fairly slow on the uptake of potatoes; it was not until the late eighteenth century that potatoes were established as a commonly eaten vegetable throughout the continent. Their popularity was enhanced when the French pharmacist Antoine Parmentier published A Chemical Examination of the Potato, which proved how nutritious the new tuber was.
Although the potato is not native to Ireland, the Irish and the potato are inextricably linked in most Americans’ minds. In many ways, the potato was as much the patron saint of Ireland as Patrick. In Sartor Resartus (1871), Thomas Carlyle wrote of the Irish: "Their universal sustenance is the root named Potato, cooked by fire alone; and generally without condiment or relish save an unknown condiment named Point, into the meaning of which I have vainly inquired; the victual Potatoes-and-Point not appearing, at least with specific accuracy of description, in any European Cookery Book whatever."
It appears that Thomas Carlyle wasn’t a very good researcher. Not as good as John Thorne at any rate. Mr. Thorne’s latest collection of wide-ranging essays on food and life, Pot on the Fire, (North Point Press, 2001) reveals the tradition involving Irishmen who, having nothing but potatoes to eat, took their potato, pointed it at nonexistent salt or milk, and proceeded to eat the potato plain.
When the Irish did have a little something else around, they generally made champ. Here’s a description of champ written by Florence Irwin, born in Ireland in 1883: "In a farmhouse, two stones (28 pounds) or more of potatoes were peeled and boiled for dinner. Then the man of the house was summoned when all was ready, and while he pounded the enormous potful of potatoes with a sturdy wooden beetle his wife added the potful of milk and nettles, or scallion, or chives, or parsley, and he beetled it until it was smooth as butter, not a lump anywhere. Everyone got a large bowlful, made a hole in the center, and into this put a large lump of butter. Then the champ was eaten from the outside with a spoon or fork, dipping it into the melting butter in the center. All was washed down with new milk or freshly churned buttermilk."
The following recipe for champ is faithful to Irwin’s description. It appears in Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book (Penguin Books, 1980), and comes with this warning: "If you buy vegetables sweating in plastic from the supermarket, you will probably be at a loss to understand why anyone eats it [champ] above subsistence level." Grigson also advises the reader on the proper way to eat champ, which I, as a firm believer in playing with your food, will quote in its entirety: "Make a well in the middle of each mound [of champ] and put in a huge lump of butter. The idea is to fork up some of the champ from around the edge and dip it into the central pool of butter before eating it. The final mouthfuls are glorious, when you get to the buttery center."
Champ
6 large spring onions (you may substitute kale, chives, parsley, or wild greens)
1 cup milk
1-1/2 pounds potatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon butter
1. Chop the spring onions, including the greens. Put them into a pan with the milk and simmer for about twenty minutes.
2. Wash and quarter the potatoes. Boil until tender.
3. Mash the potatoes with a fork. Mix in the hot milk and onions, adding extra milk if you like. The mashed potatoes should be firm enough to hold their shape, but creamy. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Divide the mixture onto heated plates, shaping into mounds. Make a well in each mound and insert a Tablespoon of butter. Makes four servings.
This next recipe is my friend Lisa Comforty’s favorite. She adapted it from Anna Thomas’s Vegetarian Epicure, Book II. (Alfred A. Knopf, 1978)
Greek Potato Salad (or Potato Salad sans Mayo)
3 pounds potatoes
1 pound carrots
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt to taste
3 Tablespoons minced fresh dill
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1. Peel the potatoes and chop them into one-half-inch cubes or pieces. Steam them until they can be pierced with a fork but are not mushy.
2. Peel the carrots and slice them into rounds. Steam them as well until just soft.
3. Whisk the oil, vinegar, salt, dill, and garlic, and pour it over the warm potatoes and carrots.
4. Toss, chill for several hours, and toss again before serving. Makes six servings.
Baked Potatoes with Stuffings
Choose potatoes of roughly the same size. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Prick the potatoes with a fork and coat lightly with olive oil. Place in the oven and bake until tender. Split lengthwise, fluff with a fork, and spoon in the stuffing of your choice. This works best with potatoes in the russet family, such as the incomparable butte.
Scallion and Lebaneh (Yogurt Cheese) Stuffing
— with or without Smoked Salmon and Dill
1-1/2 cups plain low-fat yogurt
8 scallions, chopped fine
4 thin slices smoked salmon, chopped fine (optional)
2 teaspoons fresh chopped dill (optional)
1 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1. Place the yogurt in a paper towel-lined sieve and let it stand two to three hours or overnight.
2. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the scallions, salmon, dill, salt, and pepper.
Hearty Portobello Stuffing
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped fine
4 medium Portobello mushrooms, diced
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup beef (or vegetable) broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook two minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring often, about eight minutes.
2. Stir in the wine and broth, increase the heat to medium and cook until syrupy, about five minutes. Stir in the salt, pepper, and parsley.
Basil Sour Cream Stuffing
3-4 cloves garlic
1 Thai red pepper (optional)
1 bunch basil
1 cup sour cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1. Place the garlic and pepper in a food processor and chop very fine. Add basil and chop fine.
2. Add sour cream and process until just blended. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Sage and Garlic Mashed Potatoes
1-2 large garlic cloves, sliced thin
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon minced fresh sage leaves, or 1-1/2 teaspoons dried sage, crumbled
Fried sage leaves (optional)
Olive oil for frying
12 whole fresh sage leaves
Coarse salt for sprinkling
4 russet (baking) potatoes (about two pounds)
1 cup plain yogurt
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1. In a small saucepan, simmer garlic in oil until golden. Stir in sage and remove pan from heat. Let mixture stand fifteen minutes and drain oil through a fine sieve into a small bowl. Discard any solids.
2. To make the fried sage leaves: In a small skillet heat one-eighth inch of oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and fry sage leaves, one at a time, about three seconds, until crisp, transferring with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Sprinkle sage leaves with coarse salt.
3. Peel and quarter the potatoes. In a large saucepan cover potatoes with salted cold water and simmer over medium-high heat until tender, about twenty minutes. Reserve about one-third cup of the cooking liquid and drain potatoes.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. While the potatoes are still warm, force them through a ricer into a bowl. Beat in yogurt, butter, seasoned oil, and enough reserved liquid to reach the desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Transfer to an oven-safe serving dish. Bake until heated through and top with fried sage leaves. Makes six to eight servings.
Sunday Dinner Mashed Potatoes
8 potatoes (about 2 pounds), peeled and quartered
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
Salt to taste
1. Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender.
2. Drain. Add butter to pot and mash potatoes with a fork. Blend in one-quarter cup of the sour cream. Add egg and blend well.
3. Add the remainder of the sour cream and salt. Makes six servings.
Terra Brockman is the director of The Land Connection Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving farmland and promoting small-scale, diversified, organic agriculture in Illinois. Visit www.thelandconnection.org or call 309-965-2407 to learn how to get involved.