# Your favorite potato **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404 "2016-04-16T21:16:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/1 "2016-04-16T21:16:16Z")
Other than me of course 🙂 Inspired by the favorite french fry thread. I’m not going to make this a poll because I don’t want anyone to feel limited, and I don’t want my unpopular tuber friends to feel bad. Here are just a few off the top of my head: • Mashed • Baked • French Fries • Scalloped • Au Gratin • Salad – American • Salad – German • Soup • Pancakes • Hash Browns • Chips • Cottage Fries • Twice Baked • Steak Fries • Roasted • Lyonnaise • Waffle • Boiled • Grilled • Sweet • Tater Tots Feel free to suggest something else. In fact one of my favorites doesn’t really have a proper name… just something I threw together. I take some baby potatoes, quarter them and toss them in Italian dressing and grated Parmesan and then put them in a convection oven for about 40 minutes until crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. As you can guess from my user name though my answer to this would be “all of the above.” ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/2 "2016-04-16T21:26:30Z")
Me too, love them all. Except potato salad, but that’s because of mayo. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/3 "2016-04-16T21:38:23Z")
I second “all of the above.” it’s impossible to choose a favorite. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/4 "2016-04-16T21:40:58Z")
Another all of the above. Pancakes, at least when they are done right are my favorite. After that I’d prefer baked most often, then fries, and all the rest tied for fourth place after that. None of them are very apart from the rest. Of course fries are easy to eat and readily available so I eat more of those anything else I think. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/5 "2016-04-16T21:42:48Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Me too, love them all. Except potato salad, but that’s because of mayo. Well you know there is also the Mustard based as well as the wonderful vinegary hot German potato salad. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/6 "2016-04-16T21:45:11Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > Well you know there is also the Mustard based as well as the wonderful vinegary hot German potato salad. yes, that’s acceptable. But I prefer all your other options more. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/7 "2016-04-16T21:47:16Z")
Probably scalloped first, as that’s a comfort food from my yoot. Then hash browns. Then mashed with butter or gravy. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/8 "2016-04-16T21:51:17Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Pancakes, at least when they are done right are my favorite. There is a German Fest here which serves potato pancakes with apple sauce to die for. I’ve tried to make them at home and they never quite get up to the mark of the ones at the festival. I guess I’ll have to wait until October. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/9 "2016-04-16T21:55:33Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Then mashed with butter or gravy. I know we aren’t allowed to change other’s posts, but that should be butter **and** gravy ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/10 "2016-04-16T21:59:03Z")
All of the above plus. Baked potatoes\* can be a vehicle for left-over delivery, or the base for your creative side, or just plain comfort food. Hash browns define breakfast. Fries define informal eating. Potato salad means summer, even in January. Mashed potatoes are essential for a proper food fight. The list is endless. \*The last one I had, at a local steakhouse, was the size of a small child and came with butter, sour cream, cheese sauce, and chives. Delicious! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/11 "2016-04-16T22:31:01Z")
Ever try 'em [this way](http://theorwellprize.co.uk/george-orwell/by-orwell/essays-and-other-works/british-cookery/)? I don’t think I ever have. From an unpublished 1946 essay by George Orwell, “British Cookery”: > [@](#): > > . . . The British midday meal consists essentially of meat, preferably roast meat, a heavy pudding, and cheese. And here one comes upon the central institution of British life, the “joint”: that is, a large piece of meat – round of beef or leg of pork of mutton – roasted whole with its potatoes round it, and preserving a flavour and a juiciness which meat cooked in smaller quantities never seems to attain. > > \ > > It is necessary here to say something about the specifically British ways of cooking potatoes. Roast meat is always served with potatoes “cooked under the joint”, which is probably the best of all ways of cooking them. The potatoes are peeled and placed in the pan all round the roasting meat, so that they absorb its juices and then become delightfully browned and crisp all over. Also: > [@](#): > > Another method is to bake them whole in their jackets, after which they are cut open and a dab of butter is placed in the middle. In the North of England delicious potato cakes are made of mashed potatoes and flour: these are rolled out into small round pancakes which are baked on a girdle and then spread with butter. New potatoes are generally boiled in water containing a few leaves of mint and served with melted butter poured over them. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/12 "2016-04-16T22:33:55Z")
Baked potatoes are peasant food. Knock the dirt off and throw them in the oven. Just don’t see the attraction. Every other kind are good. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/13 "2016-04-16T22:44:03Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Ever try 'em [this way](http://theorwellprize.co.uk/george-orwell/by-orwell/essays-and-other-works/british-cookery/)? Oh, yeah. Root vegetables under roast beast is a dish fit for whoever outranks kings. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/14 "2016-04-16T23:03:42Z")
Add to the list hasselback potatoes and Janssonin kiusaus, aka Jansson’s frestelse or Jansson’s Temptation. The Jansson’s is so rich, we usually only have it at Christmastime, but oh, what heaven. I love 'em all. ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/15 "2016-04-16T23:14:38Z")
Potatoes have no place in a pancake, or in salad or anything cold. Here are the top 10 potatoes, in order: • Hash Browns • sweet, fries • sweet, roasted with olive oil & salt • sweet, chips • Chips • Scalloped • Au Gratin • Roasted and smashed (crushed and re-roasted with oil and salt) • French fries • Mashed, but leave out all the extras. Just butter for me ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/16 "2016-04-16T23:17:04Z")
Potato and onion pierogi, pan fried in butter with a dash of hot sauce on each one. ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/17 "2016-04-16T23:19:31Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Ever try 'em > ( these are rolled out into small round pancakes which are baked on a girdle and then spread with butter. ) > I don’t think I ever have. From an unpublished 1946 essay by George Orwell, “British Cookery” Wait, Orwell cooked his cakes on a _girdle_? Never tried that. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/18 "2016-04-16T23:25:06Z")
All of the above…I’m a carb fiend. 🙂 But best for me is good, crispy hash browns with a bit of ketchup or mild bbq sauce. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/19 "2016-04-16T23:26:29Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > There is a German Fest here which serves potato pancakes with apple sauce to die for. I’ve tried to make them at home and they never quite get up to the mark of the ones at the festival. I guess I’ll have to wait until October. I have Latkes for Passover with apple sauce and yogurt or sour cream. I find if made them at home you have to drain the water out of the gated potatoes really good so the Latkes will cook crispy . I buy them premade now and they’re not bad. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/20 "2016-04-16T23:28:05Z")
For St. Pat’s Day, I made corned beef braised in Guinness with caramelized onions and carrots, and a heaping side of Colcannon buttered mash with bacon, spring onions, and kale. Yum-O! :o [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404.md?page=2)