You Season Potatoes at the Wrong Time
Potato dishes are a staple all year round. In summer, all the attention is overshadowed by various potato salads and rustic concoctions. During the colder months, we snuggle up to warm mounds of mashed potatoes and cheese gratins. The practice of cooking potatoes and storing them in the fridge the night before can be convenient, but it can actually prevent our favorite side dish from reaching its full flavor potential. It is best to flavor potatoes while they are still hot.
Why You Should Season Your Potato While It’s Hot
No wonder potatoes are starchy – we love them for that. From thickening soups to crispy fries, this starch is what makes this root vegetable so versatile. (The starch itself has even been used, so you can use it at home in a variety of ways.) That’s also the reason why the perfect time to season potatoes is we’re working on a starch schedule. While reviewing this classic American potato salad recipe, Cook’s Illustrated found that seasoning a hot potato made the potatoes more flavorful and therefore more flavorful overall.
Like most other starches, potato starch is a binder and thickener. When potatoes are cooked over a fire, the starches are destroyed. In some foods, such as humble potatoes, new starches form after refrigeration. The best opportunity for seasoning is when the starch is broken down and the potatoes are good and steamed. Since the water inside the potatoes escapes as steam through tiny cracks in the flesh, you can capitalize on those open tears and tears by drizzling with vinegar, tossing them in an herb dressing or aioli. That 10-15 minute period while the potatoes are still hot is the best time to flavor each bite before it is sealed with new starch after cooling. After that, you can store the potatoes in the refrigerator to eat them the next day, either cold or slightly warm, depending on the dish.
When to do it
Try this hot seasoning technique every time you boil potatoes before you finish your meal. For mashed potatoes, boil potatoes as usual and drain immediately. Add seasonings such as oil, garlic or herbs and mash. Try this method with your favorite potato salad recipe (looks like that warm German potato salad was always right), homemade fries, or latkes. Despite the crispy edges, it’s even worth toasting the seasoned potatoes before baking and adding the infused oil after it’s in the oven. Baked potato? Open it up and apply your most flavorful fillings first to ensure good contact with the fluffy inside. Any excuse to add more potatoes to your diet is a good one, so if it’s hot and it’s a potato, don’t season it.