4 Levels of Mashed Potatoes: Amateur to Food Scientist

[peel tears] [potatoes squish]

[drum set]

I'm Emily and I'm a level one chef.

I'm Lorenzo and I'm a level two chef.

I Barry from the Institute of Culinary Education

and I've been a professional chef for 16 years.

[drum beat]

I guess mashed potatoes remind me of home a little bit.

I think we ate a lot of potatoes growing up.

I mean along with other things,

not just potatoes.

I make mashed potatoes at least once a week

'cause it's just an easy starch to have with a meal.

Mashed potatoes are one of my all time favorite sides.

And I'm gonna be taking them to the next level

by smoking them with hay.

[bass drum hit] [metal scraping]

Let's start with our potatoes.

These are thin skinned baby potatoes.

Yukon gold potatoes.

Because it is the creamiest for a mashed potato.

So, firstly I'm going to take my la ratte potatoes

and I'm going to peel these.

You can leave the skins on.

But if I want a creamy mashed potato,

which I'm doin' here,

I'm gonna take the peel off.

Once you've scrubbed them,

you don't have to peel them,

so I'm gonna just chop them up

to make them cook faster.

Because if you do them whole,

it can take a long time.

I like these potatoes because they are rich,

decadent, and creamy.

You can tell that when it cooks down

it's just gonna be just silk.

Small potatoes are nice because they cook faster.

And also they still taste great.

I mean, you're not really losing anything taste-wise,

so why not?

Gonna get rid of that thing.

Don't know what that is.

I cut it kind of all the same kind of size.

This ensures cooking doneness.

And I'm just gonna get the water started,

'cause I want to bring it up to a boil.

So, now I'm gonna add my potatoes to

cold water. - cold water.

It's not heated whatsoever.

If we placed them into hot water

and began cooking them,

they end up being mushy on the outside

and raw in the center.

And the texture will be poor.

All right, my water's boiling,

so I'm gonna add my potatoes.

Woop.

I'm gonna season with

[All] Salt.

And it's very important now

to add enough salt at this stage.

If we don't add enough salt now,

we're gonna have to compensate

for that at the end

and we'll end up with a salty mashed potato.

Let's get these boiling.

And let it boil for about 15 minutes.

Contrary to popular belief,

you never want to boil a potato.

Cooking them at simmer

allows them to cook through very evenly.

These have been boiling for about 25 minutes.

Fork tender.

So now my potatoes have been simmering for

about 10 minutes.

They're fully cooked

and I'm gonna go ahead and strain them.

All right, potatoes are all drained.

And now I'm gonna do the next step

which is ricing them

to make them super smooth.

I use the potato masher

just because it's what I have.

I'm sure there are fancy devices you can use

but I do not know what they are.

So, this little gadget.

This is called a ricer.

Look at that.

It's raining yumminess.

I mean, hello.

Using a ricer

you tend to get more force into the potatoes.

And you run the risk of making them gluey.

I'm gonna pass my potatoes through a tamis

to give myself a super fine texture.

I'm using a bowl scraper.

This has a large surface area

that you can just push the potatoes through.

I'm just tryin' to, at this point,

break down all of the potatoes

so you don't have big chunks in here.

The masher's great also

because you don't have to go to the gym

because of the bicep workout.

Well, just on the one side, I guess.

All right, last bit.

They smell good.

Honestly, I would just eat it like this.

Gimme some salt and butter, forget it.

Forget about it.

So, now you can see my potatoes have a

super fine, smooth texture.

All right, they're all riced

and I'm actually gonna leave it in this pot

and let it rest for a little while

just to dry it out a little bit more.

If you don't dry these out,

you'll end up with pasty mashed potatoes.

I mean, you're not makin' toothpaste.

Next, I'm going to add a unique flavor to my potatoes

by smoking them with hay.

So, I'm going to add my potatoes to a sizzle platter.

Then I'm going to place this container

which has hay in the bottom

on top of a heating pan.

So, I've procured this hay

from a specialist food supplier.

So, if you're trying this at home,

please don't run to your nearest field for this.

You may not get the flavor profile

that you're looking for.

So, now that the hay is smoking,

I'm going to add my potatoes

and leave to smoke for about five minutes.

By using hay at this point,

I'm going to add a subtle and grassy note

to the mashed potatoes.

Now the potatoes have been in for about five minutes.

My potatoes are fully smoked.

Next I'm going to be making some cultured butter.

So, here we have some live yogurt,

heavy cream,

and whisk this together until smooth.

And we are going to leave this to culture

at room temperature for 36 hours.

So, now this has been culturing for 36 hours,

we're going to add our cultured cream mixture

to the Kitchen Aid

and I'm gonna begin to whip the cream

until the butterfat and the buttermilk

is separated.

Now we're going to take our butter solids

and I'm gonna place into an ice bath

to remove all of the buttermilk.

I'm going to form it into a roll

so we can keep it into the fridge until we need it.

So, while my potatoes are drying,

I'm gonna prep my cream sauce.

Little bit of olive oil.

I have my couple tablespoons of garlic.

Now, I'm gonna add my two tabs of

butter. - Butter.

[Lorenzo sings]

I like a lot of butter.

All right, I'm gonna throw my milk in, also.

Sho-be-do-wop.

I'm gonna add the masa.

This'll help infuse a little southwest flavor

into my mashed potatoes.

It'll also help thicken my mashed potatoes

if I go too far

and I add too much stuff.

So, now.

Heavy cream. - Heavy cream.

And the heavy cream is going to add some richness

to the potatoes

and loosen them up a little bit.

I am going to strain the cream

into the potatoes.

Another fun part.

Dabs and dabs of

butter. - Butter now.

And we're going to stir this in gently.

This will add a rich flavor

and slightly sour notes from our culture.

Oh my God.

The potatoes are being infused with

that butter.

Who doesn't like butter, hello.

Now the butter's incorporated

I'm gonna turn down the heat

and add creme fraiche.

This creme fraiche will add a tangy note

to the potatoes.

Now, let's do a little bit of salt.

Just taste it as you go.

So, that's actually already got

a pretty good salt content.

I'm gonna give it just a little bit more.

I say salt content

like I know what I'm talkin' about.

I'm gonna add some smoked Maldon salt.

This is a salt from England,

and it has a smoky flavor to it

and this will go perfectly with the smoked potatoes.

I'm gonna add tellicherry pepper.

This is a large peppercorn from India.

Allowing the peppercorn to grow large

means that we can get a full aroma

without that punch

that will take over the flavor

from the potatoes.

And the final thing we're going to do

is add our chives.

So I have my piping bag here.

And I'm just going to fill with the potato mixture.

And you can see how creamy and rich

these potatoes are.

No serving of mashed potatoes

would be complete

without gravy.

This is gravy packet.

I'm actually reading the packet

just quickly to make sure that I

[laughs] know what I'm doing.

I'm going to put my beautiful gravy packet

into here.

And now I'm going to just

whisk the water in.

It's a pretty advanced recipe.

Don't try this at home.

This is rendered bacon fat, you guys.

I am going to bloom these red pepper flakes.

Onions, celery, and carrots.

Instead of a gravy,

I'm actually going to be covering my mashed potatoes

in a chicken and truffle sauce.

The first thing I'm going to do

is season my chicken wings.

And now I'm going to heat my pan

and I want this super hot and smokey.

I'm going to add some grape seed oil.

I'm choosing an oil with a high smoking point

and a neutral flavor for this.

In go my chicken wings.

[meat sizzling]

And I want these to be caramelized and brown.

So I use a gravy packet just because

it's basically got the flavor of gravy

but you don't have to make a whole turkey

to get it.

[meat sizzling]

Now my chicken wings have nicely browned.

I'm going to remove the chicken

and put it to one side.

And I'm going to strain

my pan of any excess grease.

Just gonna add some salt.

Let's add

some pepper. - Black pepper.

Shallots, half the head of garlic,

some peppercorns, and some

thyme. - Thyme.

Sage

and the odd flavor, marjoram.

I know most people don't ever use that,

but it's really, really delicious.

Try and get some of these clumpy bits

unclumpified.

Butter.

[laughing] I use a lot of butter.

So, my flour is the same amount of butter.

The flour's gonna be used to thicken this.

So, now my aromatics have sauteed

and sweated down.

I'm going to add

some Madeira wine.

This is a dry wine.

It has caramel and orange notes to it.

And now we're just going to gently scrape

the bottom of the pan

releasing all of that delicious chicken flavor.

And I'm gonna reduce this Madeira down

by about three quarters.

In goes the

chicken stock. - Chicken broth.

We're gettin' all the yummy bits from the bottom.

And now I'm going to add back

our roasted chicken wings.

And we're gonna reduce this mixture down

to a coating sauce consistency.

Here I have some black truffle.

And this is going to give a luxurious flavor

to the sauce at the end.

Now my sauce is reduced

and all of the flavor has combined.

Now I'm going to strain it.

Please do not throw away any of this

that I'm straining.

Bake it in the oven with some butter

and some more chicken broth

and you will have yourself

some incredible stuffing.

Now I'm going to add

a little bit of cold butter.

Now I'm going to add a pinch of salt.

The final component is

the diced black truffle.

We're going to allow this to steep

for a minute.

All right, this is looking good.

It's thickened up a little bit

and I think it's ready to go.

Okay, let's plate.

So, I'm just gonna do

a nice big scoop of potatoes.

Looks like a nice portion right there,

I have to say.

So, I have my potatoes in the piping bag.

I just pipe right down the center of the plate,

like so.

I am gonna add my

gravy - Gravy.

Now I'm going to add my chicken and truffle sauce.

And I'm just gonna sprinkle a little parsley on top.

Ta-da!

Let's go for the cheddar cheese.

Let's add the dab of butter.

And now my

chives. - Chives.

And my bacon.

Do I need to explain why you gotta have bacon?

It's bacon. [laughs]

I just love bacon.

And last but not least,

ground black pepper.

And here are my mashed potatoes.

And these are my mashed potatoes.

And here are my mashed potatoes.

These look absolutely delicious.

I cannot wait to dig in, you guys.

Mm hmm, yeah.

Holy moly. - It's really good.

The tangy potatoes

along with the aromatic truffle sauce

is fantastic together.

To me, this is Sunday dinner

on a plate.

I love that.

[laughing] The gravy's really good.

Let's take a look at how our three chefs

handled making mashed potatoes.

[intense timpani]

There are two main categories of potatoes.

Mealy and waxy.

Mealy ones have more starch in their cells

and when heated, the starches swell

and stay separate.

Resulting in a nice, fluffy texture.

In waxy varieties,

the cells tend to stick together

for a more dense result.

Emily used new potatoes,

which means they were harvested when they were young.

These are thin skinned baby potatoes.

They have a higher water content

and a slightly waxy texture

that makes them good for roasting

and holding their shape.

Emily left the skin on

which'll add a bit of texture to the final dish.

I like the skins,

I don't mind them.

The skin also contains phenolic compounds

some of which increase the nutritional quality

of the potatoes.

Lorenzo used Yukon gold potatoes

which are slightly waxy

and get their buttery color from

naturally occurring carotinoid pigments.

It is the creamiest for a mashed potato.

Barry used a specialty type of fingerling potato

called la ratte

which is from France.

They're more on the mealy side,

so their cells stay separated after cooking

which means you can coat each cell

with lots of butter.

[intense timpani]

Each chef used a different method of mashing.

Emily used a hand masher.

I use the potato masher

just because it's what I have.

This is simple and fine

but doesn't coax as much starch

out of her potato cells as other methods do.

The more starch that is coaxed out,

the more that can be coated in butter

or other fats

to make a creamier dish.

Lorenzo extruded his potatoes through a ricer.

This process added small amounts of air to them

resulting in smooth, slightly fluffy

mashed potatoes.

Barry used a special piece of equipment

called a tamis.

It's flatness provided more surface area

for extruding the starch

out of the soft, boiled potatoes

and aided in promoting fluffiness.

[intense timpani]

Emily added butter and heavy cream

to flavor her potatoes.

I like a lot of butter.

The butter she used was unsalted

which allowed her to control the saltiness

of the final product.

Sho-be-do-wop.

The heavy cream added a smooth opacity.

Lorenzo made a cream sauce

flavored with garlic

and thickened with a corn-based starch masa.

However, potatoes are already inherently starchy,

so the masa's thickening properties

are only really beneficial

if your mashed potatoes are runny.

Whoops.

Lorenzo's Yukon gold potatoes

are a combination of mealy and waxy.

So, they can withstand the massive amounts

of butter he added.

I use a lot of butter.

The butter coats the individual potato cells

and adds a ton of flavor and decadence.

Barry used fermentation

to add a tangy quality to his potatoes.

Mixing live cultures from yogurt

with heavy cream

and storing at room temperature for 36 hours

allowed lactic acid bacterial cultures to grow.

This lowers the pH

which is where the tang comes from

and thickens the heavy cream

by destabilizing the proteins.

All of these things helped to make his potatoes

silky, smooth, and creamy.

He also smoked his potatoes

by igniting hay.

Giving them an earthy, musty flavor.

[intense timpani]

Each of the chefs made a gravy,

which is essentially hot liquid

thickened with a roux

that's equal parts fat and starch.

The roux thickens by a process called gelatinization.

In this process, heat is added,

hydrogen bonds within the starch molecules are broken

and water is absorbed.

Emily's gravy is a processed and convenient product.

Gravy packet.

It includes dry, pre-gelatinized starch

in the form of powder, seasonings, and coloring.

Products like these are salty

and work well if you're nervous

about making a lumpy gravy.

This is very clumpy but,

I'm level one,

it's okay if it looks terrible.

Lorenzo used aromatic vegetables and spices

to make his gravy.

Really delish.

He also used chicken stock

which lightened its color

and bacon rendered bacon fat

with all purpose flour

to make the roux and thicken it.

Oh my gosh.

Any fat and starch together

will thicken a liquid.

Although, you don't want to add cold flour

directly to a hot broth.

The outside of the flour particles will gelatinize

and form a membrane around the dry, starchy interiors

forming lumps.

Barry made a chicken-based gravy

by sauteing chicken wings at a high temperature

in neutral grape seed oil.

Barry's flavorings included a sweet, fortified wine

from Portugal called Madeira

which added residual sweetness to his potatoes.

That's perfect.

[intense timpani]

Emily made her mashed potatoes as a side dish.

Her green sprinkling of parsley is visually appealing

and added a fresh quality.

Uh.

For his toppings, Lorenzo used chives,

and added more butter and black pepper.

He also added bacon and cheddar cheese.

The cheese added additional layers of fat

and saltiness with sharp pungent notes

to balance the salt from the bacon.

[laughing] Yum.

Barry has complex and complicated mashed potatoes.

So his simple topping of chives

is a refreshing, visually appealing note

adding a slight oniony flavor

without changing the chemistry of his dish.

These flavors are a perfect marriage together.

Mashed potatoes seem like they're just

a simple part of your meal.

But there are plenty of things you can do

to kick them up a notch.