Saratoga Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Peel and slice the potatoes very thin.
Soak the slices in plenty of cold water for several hours or overnight.
If desired, dissolve a small bit of alum in the water to harden the potatoes.
Carefully drain or dry the potato slices on a towel.
Fry and serve
Fry the slices in plenty of smoking hot fat, a few at a time.
Serve hot or cold.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Thin slices hold their starch, which browns and crisps as they fry.
- Fat for frying
- Hot fat cooks the thin slices quickly, drying the surface and crisping it.
The step that matters
Drying the slices before frying. Surface water turns to steam in hot fat, causing spattering and soggy results instead of crisp browning. Frying only a few slices at a time keeps the fat hot, so each slice cooks quickly.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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