# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/81 "2016-04-18T23:14:59Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > When I think of potato pancakes, I think of something different than most people are talking about. For me, it’s what you do with leftover mashed potatoes. You can add onion (especially green) and/or cheese, and then you put a scoop on a griddle, smash, and fry until brown on both sides. Maybe this has another name? (Or it’s just fried mashed potatoes?) Could be a regional thing, too. The potato pancakes I’m familiar with are made with a runny batter made from grated potato, flour, eggs, and I don’t know what else, shallow fried in oil. They’re a mainstay at church bazaars, farmers’ markets and whatnot around here (eastern PA, heavy on the Polish/Russian/Slovak ancestry). The leftover mashed potatoes version we always just called “mashed potato cakes.” My mother would dip them in egg and then breadcrumbs, just for maximum starch overload. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/82 "2016-04-19T00:12:31Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > \*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! And don’t forget bacon! I too cannot narrow this down. Sentimental favorites from childhood are Scalloped (I have the oval metal pan my mom always used for them 🙂 ) and potato filling, which we had at Christmas and Easter. It was mashed potatoes but then she added onion and celery and baked it in a casserole. I have to assume it was Pennsylvania German, but the ones I am finding on-line add bread cubes in addition to the veggies. If they were there, I didn’t notice! ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/83 "2016-04-19T00:31:51Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > At what temperature for how long? I think it’s 400 degrees. The time is 40-60 minutes, depending on the potatoes. Just until they can be pierced easily with a fork. I tried looking the recipe online and am seeing some different temps. Also, some people put Parmesan cheese down on the butter. That’s probably excellent. I might have to make some potatoes. ---
**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 19, 2016, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/84 "2016-04-19T01:20:23Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > You never met a girl hot enough! [rimshot] 😃 Would have to be a hell of a girl to A. Still be wearing a girdle these days, and B. Make me swing that way, as I am a happily “opposite-married” woman. 😉 > [@carlb](#): > > [Colombian-style Salt-crusted new potatoes](http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/11/colombian-style-salt-crusted-new-potatoes-recipe.html). > > Dead simple to make, tasty, with a wonderfully creamy-but-not-mushy texture. I like to use a bag of the mixed red, gold, and purple potatoes for visual contrast. I also have to make twice as many as I intend to serve with dinner, because they keep beautifully in the refrigerator, and I’ll just eat them cold as a snack. > > You can also finish them in a hot pan with some herbs and butter for a slightly more…sophisticated?..take. oh. my. god. Screw the diet, making these tomorrow. > [@jsgoddess](#): > > This might count as roasted. My mom would cut potatoes in half lengthwise, salt and pepper, then melt a ton of butter in a glass cake pan, and put the potatoes in face down. Into the oven until they were done. You don’t move them once they go in. > Incredible deep, crusty, buttery browned potatoes. even better. Making these the next day and maybe every day forever. ---
**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 19, 2016, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/85 "2016-04-19T05:07:06Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I googled it and the first result came from a Finnish-themed website. > > Of course, the two countries are next-door neighbors, so either might have picked it up from the other. Yes, the name would indicate it originated in Finland. My Googling indicated it’s traditionally Swedish, so there must indeed have been some overlap. Finland was at one time under the Swedish crown, so the Finns have something of an ambiguous attitude toward their western neighbors. The ones I’ve known have always had a wide variety of ethnic jokes to tell about them. ---
**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 19, 2016, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/86 "2016-04-19T05:14:36Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > Potato Pancakes do not involve batter. They are basically shredded potatoes, and onions, with an egg and a bit of flour as binder. Then fried and usually served with Apple Sauce. These sound like latkes to me. My dad (first-generation Austro-Hungarian American) always made potato pancakes with batter. Anyone here fancy potato kugel? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/87 "2016-04-21T17:47:40Z")
I tell you what I don’t care for much: The thick-cut chips in fish and chips, what are called “steak fries” in the U.S. I like my fries crisp, but those are often limp and greasy and don’t go down well. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2016, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/88 "2016-04-22T23:08:16Z")
I prefer my fries crinkle cut. And dipped in mayo. I’m glad the boards are back. The world needs to know my fries preferences. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/89 "2016-04-22T23:11:53Z")
I prefer the couch potato. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/90 "2016-04-22T23:31:16Z")
GlaDOS, or as she’s better known in her tuber form, PotatOS ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404/91 "2016-06-03T03:33:21Z")
ETA: Wrong topic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-potato/752404.md?page=4)