Mashed potato

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This article is about the food. For the 1960s dance craze, see Mashed Potato. For the album by The Smashing Pumpkins, see Mashed Potatoes.

Mashed potatoes.

Mashed potato (mashed potatoes and sometimes called smashed potato) is a common way of serving potato in many countries worldwide. It is made by mashing boiled potatoes (peeled or unpeeled). Sometimes other ingredients such as milk, cream, butter, vegetable oil, garlic, cheese, bacon bits or sour cream are added. A French variation adds egg yolk for Pommes duchesse that is piped through a pastry tube into wavy ribbons and rosettes, brushed with butter and lightly browned.

Many cooks feel that making the dish successfully is dependent on first returning the boiled (and drained) potatoes to the empty pot and heating them to drive off surplus steam but others feel that this is an unnecessary step.

The success of the dish is a matter of opinion. Some hold that potatoes mashed or smashed with a fork have the true texture of the genuine mashed potato. Some say potato cells are damaged during violent processing such as in a food processor because the starch (freed from the cells, which become swollen during cooking) makes puréed mashed potato very sticky. Others say that passing the boiled potato through a ricer or food mill produces a desired refined texture. Other ways of making them include using a hand implement that actually mashes them in the pot or using an electric mixer (not a blender) to mix them into whipped potatoes. Another key factor in the success of mashed potatoes is whether or not to make them lumpy or smooth. Some prefer them lumpy to add a little more substance to the dish, but others prefer smooth so they can focus entirely on the taste. It's also a practice in some cases to include the skins.

Lamb chops with mashed potatoes

Not all varieties of potato are suitable for mashing, the best being floury varieties rather than the waxy types used as salad potatoes. If the latter are used, they will require thorough cooking and mashing or the dish will end up containing small potato chunks.

Mashed potato is also an ingredient of various other dishes, including Shepherds' pie, Colcannon and potato croquettes.

In addition to butter, cream, or milk, mashed potato may also be seasoned with salt, pepper (often white pepper, to blend in), and/or a dash of nutmeg. In some countries, other spices may be added for more flavor, e.g. a variety of common kitchen herbs. A white turnip cooked and mashed with the potatoes in a proportion of about 1:10, provides a slight "bite" that mashed potatoes proverbially lack. Alternatively, a little garlic may be cooked with it. Another option is to blend in wasabi powder to taste. This works well as a side dish for tuna steaks. In the U.S., mashed potatoes are often covered with gravy. In London, mashed potato is sold in pie and mash shops. It is often served with sausage, in this form being called bangers and mash.

In many American households, the top of each serving is hollowed with a spoon in order to form a gravy and/or butter volcano crater.

Dehydrated instant mashed potato mixes are also available, as well as frozen varieties. The dehydrated varieties vary in quality and texture, and purists generally consider them to be inferior. A campaign for one such product (Smash) memorably launched the business of advertising agency Boase Massimi Pollitt.