Cooking with the Dutchess:
By Hanneke Eerden
We, the Dutch people, love to eat potatoes: cooked, grilled, mashed and fried! Growing potatoes is a real Dutch specialty, it’s one of our long traditions. I didn’t know it, but apparently the Netherlands produces about eight million tons of potatoes a year! About half are ware potatoes, approximately 20% are seed potatoes and the remaining 30% are potatoes grown for starch.
You think a potato is a simple potato? Wrong… there’s more to it than just that..
First, potatoes don’t grow everywhere, it depends on the climate and the type of soil that’s available. Over here, in The Netherlands, we have a maritime climate and fertile soil, and that creates an ideal area for growing potatoes. But it’s not that simple.
I remember when my Dad owned a piece of land that he used for growing vegetables, and also potatoes. And he always says that you can’t grow potatoes without using crop protection products.
And that’s where we come to the mayor change that occurred in time, the consumers’ preferences. Consumers are paying ever more attention to the environmental conditions under which potatoes are grown. Today’s consumers want potatoes that have been grown according to environmentally friendly methods. That is why more and more Dutch potato growers are starting to use integrated or biological cultivation methods. In integrated cultivation, the growers try to minimize the use of fertilizers and crop protection products and use only those that affect the environment as little as possible.
But here we see a problem, and that’s the fact that these potatoes aren’t well resistant to diseases, and potato breeders are constantly searching for new varieties that are resistant to this.
Most of the people are familiar with the Dutch potato called “Bintje” but did you know that there are more than 250 different potato varieties?? I didn’t, and I have to admit that I can only come up with about 5 different varieties that I use in my cooking, depending on the season and what kind of recipe I’m making.
For this recipe I use starchy, fluffy potatoes, like “Zeeuws Roem”. This type you won’t find abroad, but the best potato that you can choose for baking is for example, Russet Potatoes.
This week we are going to bake potatoes, the Dutch way! And that’s easy, believe me, and the result: you’ll love it!
What do you need:
2 lbs Russet Potatoes
1 tablespoon paprika powder (you can use also smoked paprika)
salt
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely cut
Start with peeling the potatoes and add them to a large pan, fill with cold water until the potatoes are half covered in water. Bring to a boil (lid closed) and boil for 12 minutes.
Drain and let them cool.
Cut them into pieces. How large or small as you desire, but keep in mind that bigger chunks need a longer time to bake.
Melt butter in a large pan with a thick bottom, and add the olive oil. Add the potatoes and the paprika powder and salt. Carefully toss it until all potatoes are covered.
Now you need to set the temperature to medium and don’t close the pan. Stir carefully every 5 minutes to make sure the potatoes will bake on all sides.
This will take 25 minutes. A few minutes before they’re done, you can sprinkle the fresh parsley over it and give it a last toss.
And here you have real fluffy and crispy potatoes, the Dutch way!
As Always – Bon Appetit