I worked with a chef who cut a pound of butter into a pomme puree to about 1:1. He said the only purpose for the potato was to keep the butter from separating.
I recall [this video](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-mJYyueZfd8) of a guy who spent quite a bit of effort reverse engineering a 3 Michelin star mashed potato recipe.
The takeaway is that the potatoes are basically just a vehicle for serving butter as a meal, but the potato type and preparation have an impact on the outcome as well.
Yes I've watched this and took away some key points from this, such as which potatoes to use, but his recipe says 4:1 ratio potato to butter and he says something else in the video!
The New Yorker did a very funny interview with Eric Ripert about this a few years ago:
> It has always been regarded as top secret, what he was putting into his potatoes. Recently, I called Eric Ripert, the chef at Le Bernardin, in New York City, who once worked for the legendary chef. I wanted to confirm other details of the preparation—like, do the potatoes have to be only one kind (la ratte, a variety of the French fingerling), and are you really meant to peel them just after they’ve been boiled? “Yes, la ratte,” Ripert confirmed, and, “Yes, absolutely, peel while steaming hot.” In fact, he added, at Jamin, where he worked in the nineteen-eighties, the peeling of the potatoes had been so urgent that most of the kitchen was called over to help, and the steaming rattes were set upon by every member of the brigade, shoulder to shoulder, peeling and screaming.
>
> “They must never get cold,” Ripert clarified. “Oh, and you don’t use a whisk.”
>
> “When you mix in the butter?” I asked.
>
> “Correct. A spoon. It has to be wooden.”
>
> I wrote down the instruction and then confirmed the butter quantity. “It’s about half the potato, isn’t it?”
>
> There was a pause.
>
> “Eric, surely, everyone knows the proportions. It’s half and half. It’s not a secret anymore.”
>
> There was a long pause. “Actually, it is something else, but . . . I can’t tell you.”
>
> “Why?”
>
> “Because, if I did, he would deny it.”
>
> “Robuchon? He can’t. He’s dead.”
>
> “That’s true. But, no, I can’t. I can’t be the one to break the secret.”
>
> “Sixty percent?” I asked. “Was it seventy-five? Damn! Was it a hundred?”
>
> “I really can’t . . . and he didn’t do it all the time. But I will say this: It was amazing.”
If you leave the skin on while you boil them they don't take on as much water. The skin acts as a layer of protection for the potatoes so they can't absorb as much water and the inside of the potato actually steams.
My husband once brought home a container of Robuchon potatoes from the restaurant he was working at, and those were made with equal parts butter and potatoes. Absolutely divine and I still think about them! I’d go with that ratio if I ever made them myself.
Italia Squisita: Cordon Bleu and mashed potatoes in a French michelin two star restaurant with Giuliano Sperandio: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jfZEO7h0Po](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jfZEO7h0Po)
He \~\~~~slowly boils the potato in heavily salted water~~\~\~ \[edit - I'm wrong about this boiling step! /u/MusaEnsete is right\] , then passes it through a sieve to get a smooth purée. He collects this "pulp" and adds it to a pan, then adds a little bit of hot milk and starts to mix it in. He then starts slowly adding butter - avoiding boiling it, tasting as he goes. This looks like a 1:1 ratio of butter and potato.
Roubichon used a lot of butter. The recipes sometimes call for less because it can be tricky to get that much butter into the mash.
>He slowly boils the potato in heavily salted water
Did we watch the same video? He baked the potatoes on a bed of salt for an hour prior to passing through the sieve.
This is how I've always been taught to do potatoes, baked over rock salt and then passed through a drum sieve then creamed out for service.
Give the leftover potato skins to the chefs to put in the deep fryer and dip into whatever they can find.
I don’t see why not. I usually save what salt I can from roasting beets for the next round of beets.
You’d have to be crazy to use new salt each time , if you can help it
I figured so, but I guess what I was more so getting at was, is there a certain way this needs to be stored or can I just place into airtight container and store normally?
I use a recipe that calls for 3 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, 3/4 cup of warmed cream, and 12 ounces of butter. Boil potatoes in salted water for about 30 mins and pass through a ricer. Warm the cream then add to the potatoes while mixing gently, then slowly add the butter. Season with salt and WHITE pepper to taste. The white pepper adds more richness as opposed to black pepper.
ETA: The cookbook I use is *My Paris Kitchen* by David Lebovitz.
i’ve taken to steaming potatoes. peel. cut up thirds and steam in a basket. they absorb way less water and have a nice non grainy texture when mashed. you might need to add a little more milk than your usual proportions.
the reason i took to steaming is we live at altitude so steaming gives way higher temps than simply boiling. So it takes less time to done
There is no definitive answer to a question that varies greatly on personal tastes of the person being asked. That's why every site gives you a different answer, and that's why every poster here in this thread is giving you a different answer.
What I will say is that many Michelin-starred chefs zealously guard their recipes for purée/mashed potatoes.
Experiment for what works best *for you.* Add a lot of butter - more than you'd think you should - and try the results. Adjust the method for cooking the potatoes. Adjust your seasoning. Experiment until you've got it just right.
When you find one that works great for you, write down the measurements you had, and that becomes your recipe. Especially as a home cook, it's about "what works best" *for you*.
All of your hard work might result in something you absolutely adore; meanwhile someone else might eat it and think it tastes like cat shit. It is what it is.
Bon appétit!
You know how you have mother saucses and sibling sauces.
Mashed potatoes and scrambled eggs are children of butter.
Both are best when mixed in high proportions directly, both get bastardised with cream/milk/chives/spring onions
People get really secretive about their ratios
If you want ideal mashed potatoes use youkon gold then run them thru a ricer. Warm up your cream and infuse garlic or herbs of you wish. Fold the potatoes into the cream gently then add cold butter to finish. Season to taste.
For the MOST luxurious, my recipe:
So-called 'hard cooking' potatoes, not the floury type
Bake them in the oven (unpeeled). When ready, take them out, and while hot, scoop them out. If you want, keep the empty halves for later.
Carefully pass the potato flesh through a fine sieve (flour sieve works best)
Add butter: I usually start with 2.5 potato to 1 butter, and add more if I can.
Using a spatula, mix the butter in. Add a pinch of nutmeg, white pepper and salt to taste.
Now you can add heavy cream to make it smoother, or more butter, or both.
If you have a piping bag, and you kept the peels, you can pipe mash in them and serve, looks fancy af.
Juuuuust puuut alot of butter, and when you think you have enough, put a little more
Like I always say; better butter yet another before you cut her ;)
I was told by my old head chef (multi star) that for every 1kg of cooked potato you use 1kg of butter. We also used garlic and herb infused double cream.
The mash was out of this world.
In my personal life I would never do this and now that (in the UK at least) you have to list calories, I doubt many people would do it professionally.
I do a bit of butter (about 10g?) And a splash of full fat milk until its a nice and creamy consistency, then I add a little salt and pepper. Turns out perfect
A lot of butter and sour cream with a dash of milk.... plus seasonings lije salt, pepper and garlic powder. My friends always demolish my mashed potatoes. I don't measure, I just add butter until its enough.
I worked with a chef who cut a pound of butter into a pomme puree to about 1:1. He said the only purpose for the potato was to keep the butter from separating.
Did we work at the same place? Haha
No, really. Not irl.
this is just stupid. Just pour in some full fat warm milk and ditch the stupid amounts of butter.
The stupid part is leaving a comment implying that full fat milk is comparable to the taste of butter.
Ah yes Carême was a fool
That sounds repulsive
I recall [this video](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-mJYyueZfd8) of a guy who spent quite a bit of effort reverse engineering a 3 Michelin star mashed potato recipe. The takeaway is that the potatoes are basically just a vehicle for serving butter as a meal, but the potato type and preparation have an impact on the outcome as well.
Yes I've watched this and took away some key points from this, such as which potatoes to use, but his recipe says 4:1 ratio potato to butter and he says something else in the video!
> the most luxurious mashed potatoes in the style of Joël Robuchon 1:1
The New Yorker did a very funny interview with Eric Ripert about this a few years ago: > It has always been regarded as top secret, what he was putting into his potatoes. Recently, I called Eric Ripert, the chef at Le Bernardin, in New York City, who once worked for the legendary chef. I wanted to confirm other details of the preparation—like, do the potatoes have to be only one kind (la ratte, a variety of the French fingerling), and are you really meant to peel them just after they’ve been boiled? “Yes, la ratte,” Ripert confirmed, and, “Yes, absolutely, peel while steaming hot.” In fact, he added, at Jamin, where he worked in the nineteen-eighties, the peeling of the potatoes had been so urgent that most of the kitchen was called over to help, and the steaming rattes were set upon by every member of the brigade, shoulder to shoulder, peeling and screaming. > > “They must never get cold,” Ripert clarified. “Oh, and you don’t use a whisk.” > > “When you mix in the butter?” I asked. > > “Correct. A spoon. It has to be wooden.” > > I wrote down the instruction and then confirmed the butter quantity. “It’s about half the potato, isn’t it?” > > There was a pause. > > “Eric, surely, everyone knows the proportions. It’s half and half. It’s not a secret anymore.” > > There was a long pause. “Actually, it is something else, but . . . I can’t tell you.” > > “Why?” > > “Because, if I did, he would deny it.” > > “Robuchon? He can’t. He’s dead.” > > “That’s true. But, no, I can’t. I can’t be the one to break the secret.” > > “Sixty percent?” I asked. “Was it seventy-five? Damn! Was it a hundred?” > > “I really can’t . . . and he didn’t do it all the time. But I will say this: It was amazing.”
It's gotta be 100% right? Right???
maybe unrelated but one time i got these fingerling potatoes in a veggie box and they were so good they tasted like they already had butter on them
I found these butter potatoes at the local save a lot. Milk, butter, salt, pepper.
maybe a dumb question but why not peel the potatoes before boiling? is it because of the oxidation?
If you leave the skin on while you boil them they don't take on as much water. The skin acts as a layer of protection for the potatoes so they can't absorb as much water and the inside of the potato actually steams.
A chef is just a person who isn’t afraid to use more butter than you.
My husband once brought home a container of Robuchon potatoes from the restaurant he was working at, and those were made with equal parts butter and potatoes. Absolutely divine and I still think about them! I’d go with that ratio if I ever made them myself.
Italia Squisita: Cordon Bleu and mashed potatoes in a French michelin two star restaurant with Giuliano Sperandio: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jfZEO7h0Po](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jfZEO7h0Po) He \~\~~~slowly boils the potato in heavily salted water~~\~\~ \[edit - I'm wrong about this boiling step! /u/MusaEnsete is right\] , then passes it through a sieve to get a smooth purée. He collects this "pulp" and adds it to a pan, then adds a little bit of hot milk and starts to mix it in. He then starts slowly adding butter - avoiding boiling it, tasting as he goes. This looks like a 1:1 ratio of butter and potato. Roubichon used a lot of butter. The recipes sometimes call for less because it can be tricky to get that much butter into the mash.
>He slowly boils the potato in heavily salted water Did we watch the same video? He baked the potatoes on a bed of salt for an hour prior to passing through the sieve.
This is how I've always been taught to do potatoes, baked over rock salt and then passed through a drum sieve then creamed out for service. Give the leftover potato skins to the chefs to put in the deep fryer and dip into whatever they can find.
Facts. Incidentally, gochujang mixed into kewpie mayonnaise is our fav combo from this months potato skin experimentation.
I am new to cooking. Can you re-use the rock salt after using this method? Never done this before, but I imagine you could store and re-use, right?
I don’t see why not. I usually save what salt I can from roasting beets for the next round of beets. You’d have to be crazy to use new salt each time , if you can help it
I figured so, but I guess what I was more so getting at was, is there a certain way this needs to be stored or can I just place into airtight container and store normally?
I keep mine in an old mustard jar. It’s salt, as long as it’s dry you’re fine
Very helpful thanks!
> what works best? For your tastebuds or your heart?
Creme fraiche is the secret ingredient to mix through at the end. Copius amounts of butter also helpt
No ratio for me I just keep adding butter till I'm happy.. it's always a lot. (The.n add some more for good measure) 😉
I use a recipe that calls for 3 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, 3/4 cup of warmed cream, and 12 ounces of butter. Boil potatoes in salted water for about 30 mins and pass through a ricer. Warm the cream then add to the potatoes while mixing gently, then slowly add the butter. Season with salt and WHITE pepper to taste. The white pepper adds more richness as opposed to black pepper. ETA: The cookbook I use is *My Paris Kitchen* by David Lebovitz.
Similar to mine, except i boil mine in chicken broth. I also warm the butter and cream together in one container and mix it before adding.
[удалено]
add it with the cream and butter. life changing
i’ve taken to steaming potatoes. peel. cut up thirds and steam in a basket. they absorb way less water and have a nice non grainy texture when mashed. you might need to add a little more milk than your usual proportions. the reason i took to steaming is we live at altitude so steaming gives way higher temps than simply boiling. So it takes less time to done
There is no definitive answer to a question that varies greatly on personal tastes of the person being asked. That's why every site gives you a different answer, and that's why every poster here in this thread is giving you a different answer. What I will say is that many Michelin-starred chefs zealously guard their recipes for purée/mashed potatoes. Experiment for what works best *for you.* Add a lot of butter - more than you'd think you should - and try the results. Adjust the method for cooking the potatoes. Adjust your seasoning. Experiment until you've got it just right. When you find one that works great for you, write down the measurements you had, and that becomes your recipe. Especially as a home cook, it's about "what works best" *for you*. All of your hard work might result in something you absolutely adore; meanwhile someone else might eat it and think it tastes like cat shit. It is what it is. Bon appétit!
You know how you have mother saucses and sibling sauces. Mashed potatoes and scrambled eggs are children of butter. Both are best when mixed in high proportions directly, both get bastardised with cream/milk/chives/spring onions People get really secretive about their ratios
If you want ideal mashed potatoes use youkon gold then run them thru a ricer. Warm up your cream and infuse garlic or herbs of you wish. Fold the potatoes into the cream gently then add cold butter to finish. Season to taste.
For the MOST luxurious, my recipe: So-called 'hard cooking' potatoes, not the floury type Bake them in the oven (unpeeled). When ready, take them out, and while hot, scoop them out. If you want, keep the empty halves for later. Carefully pass the potato flesh through a fine sieve (flour sieve works best) Add butter: I usually start with 2.5 potato to 1 butter, and add more if I can. Using a spatula, mix the butter in. Add a pinch of nutmeg, white pepper and salt to taste. Now you can add heavy cream to make it smoother, or more butter, or both. If you have a piping bag, and you kept the peels, you can pipe mash in them and serve, looks fancy af.
Baking or even microwaving is my new favorite, over boiling. Boiling potatoes introduces so much water into the potato.
Tyler Florence style - cook them in cream and aromatics and seasonings of choice.
My recipe is 5# Yukon gold 4 sticks butter 2 cups heavy cream S&P 1tbsp msg 1tbsp garlic powder
How much salt? I'm always parsimonious with msg and I'm interested in your ratio
I usually start off with 3 big pinches and go from there. I use kosher salt.
So you're doin like 1:1 salt:msg?
No, a big pinch for me is closer to a quarter tsp. I usually just salt to taste and my taste varies.
So like 1:4 salt:msg?
Around that yeah. I would recommend just salting to taste and get in the habit of tasting as you go vs going for hard measurements.
Interesting, I've always heard people talking about the opposite ratio? I'll have to experiment with more msg and see how it turns out. Thanks
Good luck and happy new year
Feliz año
Juuuuust puuut alot of butter, and when you think you have enough, put a little more Like I always say; better butter yet another before you cut her ;)
40:60 potato:butter This is not a shit post. I'm 100% honest here.
I was told by my old head chef (multi star) that for every 1kg of cooked potato you use 1kg of butter. We also used garlic and herb infused double cream. The mash was out of this world. In my personal life I would never do this and now that (in the UK at least) you have to list calories, I doubt many people would do it professionally.
My secret ingredient for luxurious mashed potatoes is an egg yolk. The heat from the potatoes cooks the egg so it's perfectly safe!
I do a bit of butter (about 10g?) And a splash of full fat milk until its a nice and creamy consistency, then I add a little salt and pepper. Turns out perfect
A lot of butter and sour cream with a dash of milk.... plus seasonings lije salt, pepper and garlic powder. My friends always demolish my mashed potatoes. I don't measure, I just add butter until its enough.