IT'S POLLTATO TIME: vote for your favourite way to consume potatoes

honestly I think I gotta go with croquettes if I have the choice! hashbrowns and gnocchi as runnerups.

Totally dependent on the quality of the product because the best two: roasties and chips - are also the worst two when they're shit

I do love a croquette partly because they seem especially difficult to fuck up

leek and potato soup/mash/roasted/chips are staples. Proper mash is mashed with a ricer and an contains unhealthy amounts of salt and also contain leeks sauteed in butter imo. I know some ppl might be snobby about air fryers or consider them a marketing gimmick. But let me tell you, my Cosori turboblaze is fucking great for making chips without a chip pan full of boiling oil. I occasionally do dauphinoise mainly to justify the existence of a mandolin cutter in my kitchen, but it is a fine side when done the right way.

more recently I like to roast a tray of cubed and hot spiced potatoes/onions/sweet potatoes/garlic and add them to whatever curry/chilli type dish I have made or am rewarming.

I'm on mashed potato duty for Christmas dinner at my ex's and I'm pretty sure the kids demanded it because I don't hold back on the salt & butter

hot spiced potatoes mmmmm Bombay aloo

Voted roasted but you forgot masterchef perennial fondant potatoes, could be my favourite if I'd had them enough to have a firm opinion.

when you heavily salt the water before boiling the potatoes for mash it really makes all the difference. Sometimes you just have to say bollox to Big anti-salt!

I find that potato waffles are waffley versatile

Freedom fries, fer sure

The first time I had fondant potatoes I was very disappointed because I assumed fondant meant soft and silky and apparently not

All of these are great. Good roasties are absolutely my champion potato, though. Worst is probably boiled just because they can be a bit dull, but honestly they're still pretty awesome when put with the right flavours.

Roasted

Caal otm about waffleversatility tho

Welsh Rarebit is so good as well.

kind of just cheesy mash on toast, but still a classic

Never heard of potato in a Welsh Rarebit but I love a fried potato sandwich so i can dig it

huh! everyone else in the world must be doing it wrong!

well anyway what I wrongly call Welsh Rarebit from my mum's version of it is a fucking improvement on the recipe

sadly missing jojo potatoes, which are thick wedges that are battered and fried. i think latkes may be my #1, but i think i could make a strong case for the best exemplars of 5-7 categories here

also potato pierogi might have earned my vote. and also vietnamese beef and fried potato, but crucially my preference is for the thin crispy chip-like version, not the version with big soggy chunks

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fee116050339566e9b38f09/1629051267254-UEPOX53C4E0BYAVMC3UO/vietnamese-beef-potatoes.JPG

but latkes with applesauce and sour cream? wow

huh! everyone else in the world must be doing it wrong!

I wasn't arguing I just learned a new thing

Stamppot, you rubes

I went with hash/home fries, a category that imo extends from Waffle House scattered, smothered and covered to Iberian patatas bravas.

I would have voted french fries except there can be so much variation between good and bad fries.

home fries

Actually looking at the list again, I see that Waffle House would fall under hashbrowns, also an excellent category. Still going with hash/home fries tho.

Also, pretty much all of these are good. Potatoes are good! It still boggles my mind sometimes to remember that the world outside the Americas never had potatoes or tomatoes until 500 years ago.

I often make what are called home fries in the US. Like parboiled, fried or roasted potatoes with herbs and spices. I just call them chips, but basically they are home fries.

Patatas a lo Pobre is a cool Spanish recipe that also is kind of home fries, but with lots of garlic, bell peppers and parsley.

fucking hell, potatoes are literally a godsend

According to our most conservative estimates, the introduction of the potato accounts for approximately one-quarter of the growth in Old
World population and urbanization between 1700 and 1900.

https://web.archive.org/web/20110705043431/http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/nunn/files/Potato_QJE.pdf

Write in for buttchugging

It still boggles my mind sometimes to remember that the world outside the Americas never had potatoes or tomatoes until 500 years ago

Hey there are so many punchlines but I'm lazy and I've had a couple

and also potato dependency accounts for the demographic catastrophe in the Republic of Ireland, but obv British Evil was the true villain (again)

The usual way we eat potatoes at home is tudousi

https://www.3thanwong.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/1f4d77_a300dcdfae864065b963593db895a627-mv2_d_3000_2250_s_2-scaled.jpg

Probably going to vote for the UK chips option. Am somewhat perturbed that wedges are tagged in with them as they seem as distinct from (UK) chips as French Fries are.

just big chips?

Voting for UK chips as in those served with cod, and xp yeah they are very much not the same as wedges.

colcannon

I do a version of that, and yes it is actually in the top 1% any other opinions can go fuck themsens

a good mash actually needs spring onion, cabbage or just being left a bit chunky imo else it lacks something, colcannon my fave solution

chunky spring onion >>>> chives

yep

my default mash is colcannon with leeks replacing the cabbage

voted UK chips, just don't overcrowd the fry basket plz

The usual way we eat potatoes at home is tudousi

I've been meaning to try this for ages. I'll make it a new year's resolution.

it's not hard, just start making hash browns then immediately stop

wot no brian harvey?

perfect mash needs perfect gravy, which is caramelised onions in beef fat, red wine and wholegrain mustard.

my default mash is colcannon with leeks replacing the cabbage

well, that's tomorrow night's starch sorted. thx!

I think leeks are generally underrated and can be integrated into just about any recipe

i often think similarly.

Tator tot or go home

Tator tot or go home

I cannot take the name tater tot seriously, it's like sippy cup

I'd so never heard of them that I didn't even notice them on poll options. Sounds like made up shit from Jack Fulton universe

new baby potatoes halved and roasted to a dark nuttiness btw

1. Proper roasted new potatoes (parboiled, skin on, shaken or slightly smashed, dusted with flour, roasted with herbs)

2. Latkes, served with sour cream and homemade applesauce

3. Tudousi, Sichuan style

4. Gnocchi (butter + sage + parm)

5. Potato salad (vinegar and herbs, not the creamy sort)

It’s interesting to me that scalloped potatoes are always good but never transcendent, and potato gratin is transcendent 10% of the time and disappointing 90% of the time. I’d take Betty Crocker scalloped potatoes from a box over a poorly-executed gratin any day

Favourite potato-forward dishes: tortilla, Massaman curry, shepherd’s pie (with gamy ground meat and a singed mash)

Oh, and poutine ofc

Had some tots today and currently wouldn't want them any other way

for years I’d thought of them as school lunch slop but tots are actually extremely goated especially for breakfast

I don’t like the “and chips” component of fish and chips, always limp and over-oiled and undelicious. If the “and chips” were replaced with significant sides (potato salad, healthy clump of slaw, more than a thimbleful of mushy peas) I’d eat it once a month instead of twice a year

It just seems to me like an unlucky union, spectacular battered fish with any kind of fries/chips, too much oil and too much beige

Delia Smith’s books taught me how to cook and although she instilled in me a deep love for British food I really don’t like using potato as a component in a puréed soup, whenever a recipe wants it I don’t do it and I thicken with a roux instead. Potatoes just make soups starchy

And considering how much I adore an arancini it’s interesting how little I care for a croquette

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_potatoes

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Salt_Potatoes.jpg

mm mm good

I don’t like the “and chips” component of fish and chips, always limp and over-oiled and undelicious.

well yeah, british cuisine…

I have some leftover lard from making carnitas last weekend, I’m going to try to recreate grandma utz potato chips (IYKYK) with it this weekend

the guy from my local fish and chips shop was an army trained master chef who used to be the personal chef of Prince Andrew (now Mountbatten) . He had a nervous breakdown recently and went missing and after returning home put his business up for sale ,"due to unforseen circumstances" very sad

well yeah, british cuisine

Honestly British cuisine is in my top five, with the caveat that the British palate is odd and there are lots of “to be avoided” things about it. Best cheese, best use of vinegar, best use of blood, best salads, best cakes.

salt potatoes are soooo good

xps

https://www.thefieryvegetarian.com/papas-arrugadas-canarian-wrinkled-potatoes/

some of the coolest chemistry too, the salt water heats up above boiling which changes the way the starches cook in the potatoes to make them creamier. and the skins keep the salt from getting inside.

I don’t like the “and chips” component of fish and chips, always limp and over-oiled and undelicious. If the “and chips” were replaced with significant sides (potato salad, healthy clump of slaw, more than a thimbleful of mushy peas) I’d eat it once a month instead of twice a year

You should try going to a non-shit chippie.

I’ve eaten at “the best” chippies all over Britain, Ireland, Canada and USA and never once have the chips been delightful. I like fries! Poutine, vlaamse frites, regular begular fast food fries with white vinegar extra salt and ketchup, all terrific. Idk why I don’t like them with battered fish. Even contemplating “great fries” alongside a delicious halibut is unappetizing, it just seems to me like a poor culinary union

If I had to pick one version of deep-fried potato objects it’d be patatas bravas, what a fine thing to eat

xp if they are "limp" then that's not the best

Par boiled then roasted until crispy with a fair bit of garlic, salt and pepper.

Mashed potatoes with gravy at Thanksgiving is my favorite form of potatoes, and I've learned to approximate them in my cooking all year-round.

I hate McDonald's, but McDonald's french fries are maybe the best fast food french fries. I also love fish and chips, and Codmother at Fisherman's Wharf in SF has the best where I am.

I can just buy Trader Joe's frozen french fries and bake them and be happy

I grew up with German potato salad and love it, the recipe I remember used red potatoes, vinegar, onions, mustard, parsley and especially caraway seed. I think any kind of potato salad is great, though.

I just learned the word colcannon from Spelling Bee, but I like the concept. Baked potatoes are fine. All of my friends like potatoes that are parboiled, shaken and then roasted, but they seem a little overrated to me, as do hashbrowns

NYT cooking today features a latkes recipe, which I guess is a version of hashbrowns? It looks fantastic. I've never made them

gift link:

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021682-pure-potato-latkes?unlocked_article_code=1.8k8.m8C8.xi7jzYX_c4Jt&smid=share-url

Judging purely by how often I make them, I'd have to say baked. They are standard fare in our house, including tonight's supper. But for the greatest pleasure I must throw in my lot alongside darraghmac and fgti. I'll say roasted new potatoes.

I notice many of the dishes mentioned so far depend largely on elaboration through adjunct ingredients and do not trust the potato be their heart, soul and raison d'être. They're delicious, yes, but are they potatoes?

https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/chinese-spicy-potato-salad/

want to make this soon

love potatoes floating in a spicy Chinese soup but especially Da Pan Ji

Voted for "hash" cause I was really in the mood to eat some today and cos yeah being able to sneak bravas under that banner helps tilt the scale a bit

I don’t like the “and chips” component of fish and chips, always limp and over-oiled and undelicious.

Totally get how this version of chips might not appeal compared to others but to me they can be the best. When visiting the UK last year I ate fish and chips several times at random run-of-the-mill chippies and each time the chips were pretty much the same — I've never encountered anything like them in the US, where fried food is usually over-done imo.

Makes me think of the Dad's Army German captain saying he doesn't want soggy chips... that's kind of how they ought to be in fish and chips.

lol I like soggy British chips, I got attached to them when I lived there. But my wife had never had them before our first visit together and she is ... not a fan. "They're soggy! Why don't people say they're soggy?"

Such a shame bc battered white fish is the best thing. I think about how wienerschnitzel is typically served with a non-dairy potato salad— that’s a happy marriage!

McDonald's fries are great when they're hot, but they're only hot for like 45 seconds....

fish n chips in aus, the chips are never soggy or greasy, at a good place. crisp, reasonably chunky and loaded with chicken salt. it’s mcdonald’s fries i’m side eyeing ppl saying are best, they’re dreadful here. frequently limp, undercooked and jammed into the box all squished. bleugh.

Since I moved to New Zealand the British food I miss the most is chip shop chips. Greasy, soggy and soaked in vinegar, they're a million times better than chip shop chips here which are without exception, terrible.

Voted for roasties though

Love basically all of these, really hard to choose. Lately my wife has made potatoes pavé, which she said was also called 15 hour potatoes.

You slice them thin on a mandoline, layer them and soak them in cream overnight, pressing them into a brick in a bread loaf pan, which is then baked. Then you take out the brick, cut it into cubes, and fry the cubes so they are crunchy and browned along the many edges of layers but soft and creamy in the middle. Tons of work but amazing.

i used to make those at a fancy restaurant i used to work at. pretty fun and a neat novelty on the plate but i’d still take classic scalloped potatoes if i had the choice

i guess because they were too rich and i like enjoying a large quantity of potatoes

I don’t see any option with CHEESE? What gives.

__

Dan S if you make it to the east bay there’s a taqueria on Piedmont Ave that makes patatas, mas fina. Basically like usual nacho-style toppings but they do it right (and have excellent house made salsa). Can’t recall the name off the top of my head sorry.

So hard to pick one but I guess chips or fries have to be it. Mashed potatoes are a real favourite also tho.

I've got into making hash browns a bit in recent years on a Saturday, a potato ricer is really good for squeezing the water out of the grated spuds.

Dauphinois is definitely up there and I love the versions with anchovies in them.

In summer I really like boiled new potatoes with herbs and butter.

I don’t see any option with CHEESE? What gives.

Lots of these options are or can be carriers for cheese: fries (poutine), gratin, croquettes, 'cheesy chips', baked/jacket, whatever. Distil your favourite potato dishes down to the potatoey essence: are they cubed, chunked, slivered, etc? baked, fried, battered, boiled? I thought about including potato salad for example but ultimately it's just boiled (presumably, I don't eat/like potato salad) potatoes with accoutrements. I think Aimless gets it:

I notice many of the dishes mentioned so far depend largely on elaboration through adjunct ingredients and do not trust the potato be their heart, soul and raison d'être.

I'm not sure boiled will get much love, but LG is onto something. Boiled new potatoes are divine when garden fresh, pulled up same day.

My own pick is probably going to be hash/home fries. Deeply nostalgic and comforting for me. Mine are fried with lots of butter, dried herbs, chopped onion, bit of pepper, sometimes garlic, and always Hy's seasoning salt, smuggled to me by visitors from Canada.

Roasted are way up there and I had an excellent gratin the other day, but never make gratin/scalloped at home.

18 years in the UK and UK chips are still near the bottom of the ranking for me. Too much risk of sogginess and even with the really good crisp ones I'd rather be eating a French Fry. I also wouldn't bother with potato soup, although there was a period in uni where Safeway's thick potato (I think it also had bacon?) soup was one of my staple meals.

Leek and Potato soup with some bacon or some broccoli if you aren't a carcinogenic pork fan is one of my fave soups. I do weekly batches of soups and this is my goto one. Probably doesn't too alluring but it is actually delicious with some thick toast drizzled with olive oil.

*doesn't sound too alluring*

the pity i have for those who have not learned to love the soft fat greasy vinegar salt newspaper wrapped chipper chip is the realest pity i have ever felt for ilxors and lads i have pitied many of ye manys the time

manies the time?

many's the time?

anyway the jobs fucked if you don't love em

I love the way the vinegar tang interacts with curry sauce on chippy style chips.

i also don't understand why you'd favour the skinny crunchy nothing-flavoured fry over a proper vinegar-soaked chip

and yeah, Chinese takeaway chips and curry sauce with vinegar on it, food of the gods

well, for me, it's because vinegar is repulsive

Sorry if I came across more pugnacious than I intended, just wanted to sing the praises of the Proper Chip

mashed with full block of butter, triple cooked chips or properly done roasted. hard to choose between these. shout out a couple of spanish preparations I’ve been into lately - patatas arrieras (a kind of spanish nachos riff with fried potatoes, prawns, aioli, and heaps of garlic chilli oil) and patatas viudas (‘widows potatoes’ which are so simple but so delicious)

honestly some of the best potatoes I’ve ever had were these boiled ones at a local place that tasted like they’d been boiled (confit’d?) in butter. it must have been the variety of potato they used because they were so rich and unctious beyond what you’d normally get from a boiler. I know some places boil them in beef stock and then let them sit to absorb that flavour

it’s probably considered kinda gross too idk but I genuinely quite like the boiled potatoes you get in tins - they’ve got a sweetness you don’t get with the more earthy normal potatoes

xpost don't apologise, I appreciate the passion people are bringing for their favourite potatoes

Dauphinois plus anchovies sounds friggin amazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiqqC_fbP1c

The only time chips are good soggy is when they are under a slather of gravy as disco fries otherwise, NO.

Tough question. Steamed and mashed and mixed with my mother’s beef gravy? Smashed potatoes? The best chips an Irish-Italian chipper can sell you? But in the end, good roast potatoes >, I think.

Waffles used to be great but Birdseye reduced the oil in them or something and now they’re dry and awful, sadly.

idk if this has spread around the world but confit potatoes or 'potato pavé' have become pretty popular in a lot of restaurants in london.

i think this bloke invented them and here's the recipe: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/jan/27/ofm-20-best-recipes-quality-chop-house-confit-potatoes

time-consuming but they are almost the rival of a chip, for me.

on the chips v fries - i mean... a steak with frites and some pan sauce wouldn't be the same with thick-cut proper chips imo, too hefty. equally fish and chips would be weird with fries.

it's fucking hard to get good fish and chips, tho there's a decent place near me now which is unusual for london.

ah sorry i see the pave was already discussed, should have read more before posting

and yeah, Chinese takeaway chips and curry sauce with vinegar on it, food of the gods

Mmmm. When I lived in Manchester in the early '90s, there was a Chinese chippy around the corner and I made a meal of exactly that many times. Sometimes with their prawn crackers on the side, omg.

Just looked and found a recipe for that Chinese chip curry sauce — gonna do it! https://khinskitchen.com/chinese-chips-and-curry-sauce/

if you buy 'golden curry' it's basically the standard chinese curry sauce. you can get it in most supermarkets in the uk, and think fairly widely available in usa too.

The UK section of my local sells stuff in a tin called McDonnells, is it any good? Or would I be better off using Golden Curry (which TBH I have been tempted to try! Chippies here don't do curry sauce chips much).

I once had a girlfriend (from the USA) who ate potatoes raw.

you can shred them for marinate them for sure. but do you mean like eating an apple or something?

*or marinate

The UK section of my local sells stuff in a tin called McDonnells, is it any good? Or would I be better off using Golden Curry (which TBH I have been tempted to try! Chippies here don't do curry sauce chips much).

i think golden curry is the one, it's basically the quintessential chinese/chip shop curry sauce imo. i am fairly sure some of the places i've gone to use this. as long as you accept it's like fake food and not a thing to eat every day or whatever, lol.

i do love now and again being able to make good air fryer fries and some curry sauce at home. add some grated cheddar if feeling chaotic evil.

OK thats my lunch sorted, I got crinklecuts and an airfryer.

i think it has crappy instructions but you can use a square or two from the golden curry block rather than the entire thing. if you google proportions you'll find more exact advice. basically don't need to use the whole block at once.

yeah i figured one choc-block in water til its the right consitency should be workable.

I love to make Japanese chicken curry, which includes big chunks of potatoes, onions and carrots. The unique thing about Japanese curry is that it is thicker, milder, and sweeter than other curries.

I use the Golden, Vermont, or Java brands. They are all basically the same. I think one package includes like 8 blocks? It feels like a big scored bar of chocolate.

Yes you melt the curry bar in some water or broth while the other ingredients are cooking and then add the resulting thick sauce.

Yeah it is weird that it is Japanese curry really but widely used in Chinese restaurants (in Europe at least).

Like the standard chicken curry or prawn curry at a Chinese takeaway in Dublin will use this stuff but no potato, more like onions, sometimes mushrooms, maybe peppers.

The origins of Japanese curry are so fascinating but it’s one of the rare foodthings I have no taste for

It seems I’m doing the Christmas dinner and I’m likely adapting it into a (broadly) Sichuan menu, very excited.

Tudousi is def gonna be made. There’s an “I don’t like turkey” character in my immediate family so I might do a couple ducks or a couple roast chickens with an “old water” brining the night before

The biggest disappointment of my first UK trip was the lack of big chips/wedges. I was served thin fries every time. In BFC (Belfast Fried Chicken) I saw someone eating them as a side, but when I ordered peri-peri chips a la carte they were skinny. Only option on the menu.

Is it a known thing that you have to order fish to get the big chips?

Anyway love jojos and giant wedges but I don't see them much anymore, shitty ersatz McDonald's fries have taken over.

I'm air-frying some potatoes tonight (deconstructed impossible burger in a bowl).

Very intrigued by Sichuan Xmas dinner please elaborate

Is it a known thing that you have to order fish to get the big chips?

Very intrigued by Sichuan Xmas dinner please elaborate

My brother’s gf is Chinese and they went with my parents to China for a three week trip and fell in love with the food there

My bf is vegetarian

The idea of doing a Sichuan-style Christmas dinner appeals to me— (long) beans and (Tudousi) potatoes and squash (pancakes) and some ducky-goosy-but-actually-curdy stuff for the vegetarians, plus roasted chickens to replace the unwanted turkey

I’m not super experienced cooking from my Chinese cookbooks (two of which are Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, who died a few years ago RIP; her cookbooks are incredibly good), but I’ve done Chinese menus before from them with great success. Famously I made five Peking ducks for a New Year’s Party ten years ago— not the fine dining service with the blinis, but the typical three day procedure ended with me cutting them up over cress with scissors and serving them to 50 people and they were totally delicious

I’m dexterous enough to make intricate pastas and I’ve done homemade wontons in large numbers but I’m terrified of DUMPLINGS! and dim sum for some reason, those wrappers seem delicate

Going for Sichuan btw because my elderly parents can do ma but cannot do la— all numbing no heat, it’ll be great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR9KG8gS5x0

The bit where he says "very violently decanting the potatoes" made me cackle aloud.

Astounded by the lack of potato salad a an option. So may different ways, from the mayonnaise style to the more vinegary German style; Japanese style- mayo again but with okara (tofu lees), sichaun cold shredded potato (Tudousi) etc.

Hasselback potatoes deserve a mention as well, even if it’s just another form or roast potatoes.

Potato quickly sliced into very thin pieces. The job should be done rough, quick, with cate for function (thin and cookable) and not aesthetic homogeneity. These things slices are then placed into the fry pan, coated with olive oil, moved around a bit, and voila, you have yourself some amalgamation of the chip and roasted potato. Top points best way to eat potato.

*care *thin

Re potato salad with and hasselback I refer you to IT'S POLLTATO TIME: vote for your favourite way to consume potatoes

(not clear but the link goes to a specific post)

This calls for some listing.

1) Mashed - a childhood thing (served with a roast sausage in a sauce), but also nowadays in shepherd's pie, or in a local specialty that mixes potatoes with leek, vinegar, and cream.
2) Baked. Pre-boil the potatoes, bake them with olive oil and either herbs (parsley) or a spice mix. If you're roasting some meat, lamb ideally, toss the potatoes in the oily juice and let them become golden. And if that's still not enough taste, add some good chili sauce in your place.
3) Potato salad.
4) Baked in their skins, or as we say, en robe des champs (in their dress from the field).
5) Gratin dauphinois - also a childhood thing, although I never do it myself
6) Great in soups

I like gnocchi but it's not the potatoes that shine in gnocchi. I like fries, especially Belgian-style, but consider them unhealthy so I rarely have any. Rösti is good but that's really a Swiss-german thing.

Here's the local specialty btw. It's a cabbage sausage. To be perfect, the potatoes should be more mashed, with more cream, and less presentable. I guess it could be considered a cousin to the colcannon that you discussed above - but I especially love the acidity from the white wine / vinegar in our thing (papet vaudois, for reference).
https://recipecontent.fooby.ch/14527_3-2_1920-1280.jpg

taste's very strange!

I think of that piece of content often

I just went to a German Xmas Market/Fair thing the weekend before last, ordered my brats and then realized that the fuckers were serving mayo-based potato salad, like a giant tub from Costco or something

I was really looking forward to real German red potato salad (with vinegar & parsley) and then got served up this yellow slop

This poll really demands ranked choice voting.

I still smell like latkes from yesterday (I spent quite a while chatting with my good friend at his house while he was hosting their annual holiday party and he was also manning the fry station).

I think my ballot would look like this:
1. US Chips
2. French Fries
3. Tater Tots
4. Hash Browns
5. Soup

The one option I’m not seeing is twice-baked, wherein you bake the potatoes skin on, slice off one side, carve out most of the flesh from the middle, mix that flesh with other fun stuff like cheese and herbs, then refill the hollowed-out baked potatoes with the mixture, and bake them again until the mix is warmed through and browned on top. They’re a bit of a pain to make but I love them.

Oh yeah, twice-baked are amazing and just about as decadent as you can achieve with a potato

I voted 'hashbrowns' but what I mean is potato pancakes, with apple sauce and/or sour cream & chives

It's weird how the two potato items are the only ones modern day McDonald's has any claim to supremacy on. I wonder how well they would do with a spinoff chain called Potatoho that only sold fries and hashbrowns.

I just went to a German Xmas Market/Fair thing the weekend before last, ordered my brats and then realized that the fuckers were serving mayo-based potato salad, like a giant tub from Costco or something

I was really looking forward to real German red potato salad (with vinegar & parsley) and then got served up this yellow slop

I believe this is a North Germany/South Germany divide.

Man, I wish we were all in Toronto eating latkes from my former employer's restaurant. I worked there for a couple years, twenty years ago, best latkes I've ever eaten. Every year still I'd pick up a couple dozen and bring them to festive gatherings, there's really nothing better.

I like how a latke and a tortilla are essentially made from the same five glorious things-- potato, egg, onion, salt and oil.

US chips and gnocchi are the only two things I would vote for. I can't stand potatoes unless their default texture/flavor has been fried or processed out of them I guess.

I have a question. What distinction does one make between "French fries" and "UK chips"? I kind of think of "fries" as covering all the ground between shoestring and beefeater, including wedges. Potato parallelepipeds, cooked any any kind of oil, usually deep-fried but sometimes roasted in oil or reheated from frozen. Obviously there is a huge difference in texture and taste between crisp vlaammse frites in a paper cone and soggy British "and chips" on a page of the Daily Mirror but aren't they essentially the same thing?

They aren't generally soggy, the British ones, or they shouldn't be. They are p similar to the Belgian ones but not twice or triple fried. If you've only had soggy you've had bad chips.

Hm. I just read a discussion on Reddit that defined "fries" as including (in order of least- to most-contentious): standard cut, steak cut (aka beefeater, twice fried), curly, natural cut (skin on), shoestring, waffle, sweet potato, crinkle, and tater tots.

I would personally distinguish sweet potato fries from "fries" because they're a completely different vegetable (and not even a true tuber). Waffle fries are differently-shaped enough to be their own thing-- I recall having "potato coins" at a certain point in my childhood and boy were they ever awful-- but I like waffle fries fine. Tater tots aren't fries. Crinkle cut are fries but they're probably the kind I like the least; I just googled to be sure that they are even made from "cut potatoes" (they are) instead of a potato slurry (like Pringle's chips), what a weird and strange version of a French fry are crinkle cut fries.

the crinkle cuts in shake shack are p good imo.

The subgenres of fries are important, in the same way that "metal" or "jazz" gives you some context but not the whole story.

idk what to say any more. I keep getting told I'm "eating at bad chippies" when I talk about UK chips being soggy. Like it's my fault. Like I'm using standard Yelp instead of "Yelp, Innit" when I research tonight's chippy tea. I say with authority and conviction: UK chips are issued with a higher frequency of "sogginess" than the fries that one typically can expect in USA, Canada, and much of Europe. I have had soggy fries all over the world, but no place more frequently than in UK. It has to do with the storage, I think: putting a fried fish or haggis on the chips tends to steam the fries and it makes them soggy. Nobody complains that "the fries were soggy" when talking about their favourite destinations for moules frites. Or French bistros. Casse-croutes in Quebec definitely tend toward soggy fries at times, but that's why you order the poutine, where the sogginess is less of an issue.

maybe because you're talking to people who grew up in the country and have eaten that shit about a billion times more often. seriously. being a tourist doesn't mean you know.

also if you haven't had soggy frites with moules-frites, prob one of the most slapdash dishes in existence even if it's amazing when done well, then that is a surprise.

obv the thinner the fry the crispier it is, down to the crispiest one on the plate being the fry that has no potato in it and has soaked up only oil, but that is not the nicest fry, and chipper chips are not supposed to be soggy.

no horse fat, gtfo

fgti, please tell me iyo are the chips in this photo "soggy" - https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Fish_and_chips_blackpool.jpg

wow, the fish isn't on top of the chips there. unlike every other fish and chips ever made.

No, those "and chips" look delicious.

I resent having to make this assertion but please don't call me "a tourist", as I spent a quarter of my childhood/teen years growing up in UK, and have lived over-a-year of my adult life there on extended trips for work. My childhood was spent in Northumberland and Orkney, mind you, and it was the 80s/early 90s prior to "whatever happened in the 00s that caused UK restaurants on the whole to step up their game and it might've been because of Jamie Oliver", so yeah maybe "that bad haggis chips I had at age 12 in Stromness in 1992" is adding extra steam to my chip-memories but I'm not making these assertions like I haven't spent years of my life over there

k but you also don’t have to spend all this time soul searching and insisting that you are right about chips and everyone else is wrong. You don’t like them. It’s what it is.

I had awesome chips in Kirkwall, as a tourist

I can tell you that there are two chippies within walking distance of my house and they both sell like C-minus 5/10 chips, but they are only soggy if you leave them wrapped for 10 minutes before eating and I have learned either not to do that, or if unavoidable just put them in the air fryer for a couple of minutes when I get home.

whither boxty

There are lots of bad chippers, the hit rate isn't great relative to other fast food, the fries that are more consistent are most likely all frozen so it's a bit more repeatable.

xpost ulster

also if you haven't had soggy frites with moules-frites, prob one of the most slapdash dishes in existence even if it's amazing when done well, then that is a surprise.

Realllllly that's an interesting take. Moules Frites is so consistently spectacular in my experience that I order it less because it just kinda feels like cheating. Also because my fellow diners often are weirded out by the fact that I like to remove every mussel from every shell before eating rather than doing a shell-as-you-go.

I feel like it's done quite badly as a tourist trap thing in a lot of places. Finding it done brilliantly is p hard imo, unless you make it at home. It's not terrible just small mussels, average broth, okay chips kinda common enough. I've prob had better moules frites in Ireland by the sea than in Brussels or Paris.

Best moules frites I've had are at the Regency Cafe in Brighton, have tried and failed to get decent seafood at a number of other seaside towns around the UK, they keep bringing me breadboards covered in freezing cold assorted molluscs.

whither boxty

in a fucking hole where it belongs

sorry if this offends

The fact that the first two entries are the only varieties of fries available as voting options is fucked up. (In the US, "UK chips/chunky chips/wedges" are sometimes known as steak fries.)

Also, why no poutine option?

As fries go, my current ranking is waffle fries > curly fries > steak fries > skinny fast food style fries.

There's a taco chain in Montana (and other states), Taco John's, that sells disc-shaped tater tots as a side. Tacos + tater tots = amazing, and although I don't drink I could see it being one of the all-time great drunk dinners.

I've prob had better moules frites in Ireland by the sea than in Brussels or Paris.

Good tip, I'll order it next time I'm there

Tacos + tater tots = amazing

Hard agree

I like tater tots. Tbh there is not really any preparation anyone has mentioned that doesn't seem good.

I used to love those canned shoestring potatoes as a kid... but (like Hostess cakes) my mom only ever bought them when we went camping so maybe they're inextricably linked to summer and seem better in retrospect

https://i5.walmartimages.com/seo/coming-soon_466e5473-7172-48ae-8be5-e816089b73ae.11b85ac01f53c3407e186377449fc37e.jpeg

imo poutine isnt an option for the same reason many other suggestions aren't an option - the potatoes are fries, which is covered

adding stuff isnt the poll

otherwise this would be abrakebabra taco fries and it wouldnt be close

they are only soggy if you leave them wrapped for 10 minutes before eating

Lol this is UK chips done right imo... I want to be peeling chips from a smushed together mass.

xp or fully-loaded tater tots

Never had Poutine, Latkes or Colcannon so much to discover.

I went for Gnocchi but its actually 2nd to mashed.

Those Utz shoestring chips seem virtually identical to a Canadian potato incarnation which is considered "uniquely ours": Hickory Sticks. I don't love them but they're oddly addictive. I don't rate them as highly as certain uniquely Canadian chip flavours (especially dill pickle and all dressed).

I did eat Hedgehog chips at a point and really liked them

Never had Poutine, Latkes or Colcannon so much to discover.

Latkes, my god. This is my former boss with a tray of her famous latkes. Actual potato paradise

https://static.wixstatic.com/media/090a74_d05ded6e5db640cab4dd4e6377192c77~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_406,h_552,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/Judy%20with%20Latkes_edited.jpg

The eternal tourist potato has to be the single spiral potato on the long stick available at eg. Camden or Portobello. Bleurgh.

soaking some potatoes I sliced on the mandoline to fry and make some chips/“crisps” as we speak

When making the mayo style potato salad I tend to cut it half-half with plain yoghurt, especially when using store bought mayo. Although I’m struggling to remember the last time I didn’t make mayonnaise from scratch. Mainly because I always have eggs, olive oil, garlic and mustard in the house and never a jar of mayo.

srsly smashed are so good especially if you use them as a conduit for vinegar and sea salt

Write-in vote for the modern Brit-Chinese chippy fusion delight of salt'n'pepper chips.

I eat at/take out from a lot of SF Chinese restaurants. Salt and Pepper anything is great

- as in spare ribs, shrimp, calamari, etc

I’m in tots country (Pacific Northwest) and it’s tots-or-fries everywhere here, and I’m always happy with tots.

If I remember right from Montreal, Chicken McNuggets in French are McCroquettes.

(I love your username Eazy and I love that album)

(thank youuu!)

https://imgur.com/a/59gZFxd

they were delicious

bottom rack of poulet roti basted in au jus:

https://i.ibb.co/VWwrRZvj/image.png

Had my first business idea as a reault of this thread: A potato bakery chain that sold these varieties would be a hit

totally

"You Say Potato"

Spuds n Suds — potatoes and beer only.

As it happens Rhett & Link ranked potato concoctions today, I will document here as if any of you gaf:

S Tier - US Chips, Classic Fries

A Tier - Twice-Baked, Au Gratin, Waffle Fries

B Tier - Loaded Baked, Diner-Style Hashbrowns, Mashed With Gravy, Tater Tots, Curly Cut Fries

C Tier - Hashbrown Patties, Potato Salad, Crinkle Cut Fries

D Tier - Roasted, Steak Cut Fries

seems somewhat arbitrary but I don't understand their ranking system

“Putting roasted potatoes in D tier is the most egregiously malicious take I have ever witnessed.”

Whats roasted vs twice baked in this context? Who D tiers a crunchy duckfat roast tater with a fluffy interior, coated in gravy? U R crazy mr bot.

Last century there was a Belgian fries place in the Santa Monica Promenade that I would never shut up about if it was still around, but went out of business the same time the nearby theater that showed Hong Kong action movies also closed. The two are permanently connected in my mind.

I really like the way I cook them now: Peel and roughly chop, dice, shred or however you like to make a potato smaller. Add some sliced red onions or leeks in proportion. Maybe a bit of a red bell pepper if there's one around. Season with pepper, rosemary, and a bit of Tim Midyett's meat rub. About a minute or two before the potatoes are done, add a couple spoonfuls of tikka masala sauce (I love this one) over the top. This plus an egg is basically my breakfast most days.

U R crazy mr bot.

I WAS JUST DOCUMENTING

Here’s the show to prove I was only a witness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QNBBrXuQSE

The one option I’m not seeing is twice-baked, wherein you bake the potatoes skin on, slice off one side, carve out most of the flesh from the middle, mix that flesh with other fun stuff like cheese and herbs, then refill the hollowed-out baked potatoes with the mixture, and bake them again until the mix is warmed through and browned on top. They’re a bit of a pain to make but I love them.

― trm (tombotomod), Monday, December 15, 2025 1:56 PM (three days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Oh yeah, twice-baked are amazing and just about as decadent as you can achieve with a potato

I voted 'hashbrowns' but what I mean is potato pancakes, with apple sauce and/or sour cream & chives

― Andy the Grasshopper, Monday, December 15, 2025 2:00 PM (three days ago) bookmarkflaglink

shame on me for assuming the twice-baked potato would be an option

Elvis is that a recipe for potato ceviche or

I made tudousi yesterday, pretty good, though I underdid the aromatics. Glad we bought a mandolin recently. I checked J Kenji Lopez-Alt's recipe after and he doesn't suggest parboiling? Either way might add some shredded broccoli stem next time, we always have some and it usually gets chucked.

Elvis is that a recipe for potato ceviche or

Doh! Put it all in a big pan with a big of olive oil and fry em up!

BIT of olive oil