Forget roast, mash and boiled: alternative potato side dishes | Chefs

A celebration with out spuds is actually no celebration in any respect. Whether or not you retain issues humble with nothing however butter or go for one thing extra performative, selecting the best number of potato for the job is crucial, as is the addition of fats and salt. “They’re the three issues that make potatoes superb,” says Elliot Hashtroudi, head chef at Camille which opened in Borough Market, London, final month. Chips are the prime instance, although that’s to not say potatoes ought to be confined to a facet: “They’re at all times the bridesmaid, however by no means the bride, so make a major out of them for Easter,” Hashtroudi says.

With the lengthy weekend falling sooner than common this 12 months, you’d be exhausting pushed to higher a tartiflette. You’ll want waxy potatoes, plus the same old creme fraiche, onions, plenty of garlic, white wine and reblochon cheese, however Hashtroudi would “put a spin on issues” by swapping the standard lardons for smoked eel. “Cheese, potatoes, a little bit of wine: you possibly can’t actually go improper,” he says. “A easy facet salad with that, plus chocolate for after.”

However again to sides, of which potatoes are “arguably an important”, in response to chef Claude Bosi. “They are often ready in so some ways, so why persist with the same old boiled, fried or roast?” He’s not kidding, both: at his new bouchon Joséphine in west London, there’s a complete PDT (that’s pomme de terre) part on the menu, with choices from pommes duchesse to puree. But it surely’s gratin dauphinois that Bosi would serve at Easter: “Creamy, dreamy, scrumptious.” Deliver to a simmer a litre every of entire milk and double cream, plus two garlic cloves, two rosemary sprigs, a little bit thyme, and a few salt and pepper, then depart to chill to room temperature. In the meantime, peel and slice 4 giant desiree potatoes, ideally on a mandoline, then soak them within the milk and cream combine for 20 minutes. “Pour among the liquid into an oven dish, then make a layer of sliced potatoes protecting the complete floor, season and pour in additional of the liquid.” Bosi repeats that course of twice extra, earlier than ending with sufficient liquid to return 1cm above the potatoes. “Then simply bake at 190C (170C fan)/375F/fuel 5 for 45 minutes to an hour, till cooked by, golden and effervescent.”

It’s additionally by no means too early to contemplate barbecuing. “I really like smoking or grilling potatoes,” says chef Michael Robins of Sune in east London. At the moment he’s on a ratte kick (the small, buttery French selection): he steams or boils them in salted water with bay leaves and peppercorns till they’re good and gentle. “You possibly can even do that the day earlier than [in which case, drain well and keep in the fridge].” When it’s time to eat, toss the spuds in oil, season and get them on a scorching barbecue. “You simply want a little bit char on the pores and skin and to heat them by,” he says. Then it’s only a matter of tossing them with olive oil, an enormous squeeze of lemon and a few chopped dill: “So easy, however so good.”

The opposite good factor about potatoes is that they’re a fantastic automobile to tackle spices, too, says Ayo Adeyemi, government chef at London’s Michelin-starred Akoko. He would, nonetheless, go barely off-piste with candy potatoes (sure, they’re a root, not a tuber), including cayenne, floor ginger, smoked paprika, garlic and onion powder. “As soon as braised in rooster inventory, they tackle a beautiful flavour that might be a tasty addition to Easter lamb.”