It’s time for a good old-fashioned rant. Rebel, yes, rebel I say, against the abomination known as “home-style” mashed potatoes!
I have another name for home-style potatoes. Bad. Lumps, pieces of peel, even the little bits that are the beginnings of eye sprouts are all things I regularly find in bad mashed potatoes, no matter if they are from a restaurant or from the grocery. They feel unpleasant in the mouth. They are unwelcome interruptions to what should be the glorious experience of eating mashed potatoes.
I have no idea who decided that bad mashed potatoes were a homey comfort food. Personally, I think it is just a cover for bad cooks and sloppy processing. Or maybe they think this proves that dried potato flakes weren’t used. My mother-in-law, who made mashed potatoes that were ambrosia, would have died of embarrassment rather than serve the dreck that passes for edible offerings these days. My own mother, my grandmothers, aunts, great aunts, any cook of my acquaintance while growing up would have apologized for them. Real mashed potatoes are smooth as silk while having a firm feel in the mouth. The potato flavor shines through without the disturbing crunch of peel. They are more than a simple side dish, they are the perfect complement to almost any entree.
Okay, not everyone is as crazy about mashed potatoes as I am. But really, does anyone think this type of mashed potato is better than the properly cooked kind? And lastly, the name insults our mothers (or fathers, if yours cooked) by implying that they couldn’t fix them properly. I suppose soon we’ll start getting strings in green beans and silk strands in corn, and they’ll come up with a folksy sounding name for them, too.
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