Chapter 7 Kind and Cruel Potatoes

When I was in Koh Samui, Thailand, I lived in a resort called Silavadee. One day I had dinner and chat with their general manager, Mr. O'Corner.The chef brought up a dish with mashed potatoes as a side dish, and Mr. O'Corner's eyes lit up suddenly, and he began to enthusiastically introduce the making of mashed potatoes.I was very surprised, because the manager did not show any special enthusiasm for food in the past few days, so I asked a question by the way, and his deadpan answer made me laugh for several days: "I am Irish and I know potato. (I am Irish, I know potatoes.)”

I really like the self-mockery of this Irish manager. From this moment on, I also have an inexplicable affection for Ireland: like potatoes, it is down-to-earth and stable, but there is an undercurrent of humor constantly rolling. Potatoes are not something worth mentioning in today's country, especially in cities.But if you know a little about the history of Europe, you will know that potatoes, a tuber native to South America, have changed the history of the entire Europe and North America. Friends who are interested can search for the keyword "potato plague" for supplementary lessons.

In the 19th century, Ireland's population ballooned from 3 million to 8 million, thanks to the successful introduction of the high-yield staple crop potato from South America.While everyone is cheering for the "omnipotent" potato, the crisis is secretly surging. On September 13, 1845, an Irish newspaper wrote-"We regret to announce that the plague has spread to the potatoes of Ireland." Social and economic upheavals were completely irresistible. During the Great Irish Famine caused by the "Potato Plague", millions of people were forced to leave their homes. Two million of them immigrated to the United States, which was entering its golden age. Everything that followed made America what it is today.

So, do you think a potato is a potato?Is it just the gray-headed, inconspicuous tuber buried in the soil?wrong!Call it the Potato God. Let's talk about potatoes.I used to make my own chips at home and it was definitely a drudgery job.When I bought McDonald's, I saw the staff in the open kitchen frying French fries. It seemed very easy, but doing it by myself is completely different from the simple "pour it down and pick it up". The French fries are in different states of maturity. There will be big changes.When the fries are just out of the pan, the fries are hard and brittle. After frying for a while, the surface will feel a little crispy, but this state will not last for a long time. The fries will soon become extremely soft and powdery, sticking to each other. Feels like turning into a potato pancake.At this time, it is necessary to keep turning it so that each one is independent.After about 15 minutes in the pot, the French fries will show a golden color and a hard and crispy shell, so that they can be picked up.

Slicing a pile of potatoes into evenly sized strips is trouble enough, and the constant flipping of the spatula can tire your arm like a broken one.But even so, home-made French fries can’t keep the crispy outside and soft inside like restaurant products. In less than 5 minutes, home-made French fries are completely soft.Waste oil again, alas, what a laborious and thankless attempt. Pan-fried potato wedges are a lot easier to make than french fries.Buy a small bag of small potatoes, the taste is more glutinous than large potatoes, even the skin can be eaten.After washing, cut the potatoes, put a piece of butter in the pan (actually, I think lard is more fragrant), saute the onion and garlic, then fry the potatoes slowly on a low heat, turn over after one side is burnt, and then burn it That's it.Sprinkle some salt, add some dried basil leaves and dried rosemary powder, and serve it on the table, you can easily fascinate the gourmets from all over the world, and it is also a small trick for lazy housewives.

The method of mashed potatoes is also very similar, but you need to cook the big potatoes first, peel them and grind them into mud, add some milk, mix them with bacon pieces, fry them in a pan, sprinkle with salt, and add some Chinese The style of sand tea sauce and chopped green onion is so delicious that it explodes. There is also a simpler potato dish, which is tomato and potato soup.Tomatoes and potatoes, the two gifts of the South American land to the world, are very compatible, and they will have a very special fragrance when mixed together.Wash and peel the potatoes, cut them into half-centimeter-thick slices, throw them into white water and cook them, add two drops of oil, pour the diced tomatoes into the pot after cooking, cover the pot and simmer for 3-5 minutes, the fragrance It will fill the whole room, sprinkle some salt, and a simple soup with vitamins and starch will be done.If the soup base is not white water but broth, it will be even more delicious in the world. When you meet good Chinese cabbage, you can cut a part of the selected cabbage and throw it in, which is also amazingly harmonious.

As for the potatoes in all kinds of cooking and curry, it is an important supporting role, not only providing starch, but also bringing a sweet taste.Potatoes soaked through the sauce, I don't think anyone will not like it. Potatoes are too kind and too cruel. They feed everyone honestly, but suddenly they draw their wages from the bottom of the pot and cause a war.A good man is also like a potato. You think that you will eat this old monster to death in this life, but sometimes you are not sure.Don't ignore every seemingly simple backing, that is the most dangerous thing for yourself.