To Boil Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Boil
Pare and wash the potatoes thoroughly.
Place them in a pan with cold water to cover.
Add a little coarse sea salt and bring to a gentle boil.
Dry and keep warm
Once tender, drain the water and dry the potatoes as much as possible.
Sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt and hold over the heat to dry, shaking the pan occasionally.
If not serving immediately, cover with a clean cloth to keep warm.
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.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Form the body of the dish; cooking softens their starch into a tender, floury interior.
The step that matters
Drying the potatoes after draining. Surface water left on the potatoes makes them soggy and dilutes the salt, so drying them over the heat keeps the skins dry and the seasoning clinging to the surface.
“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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