Prices are in euro (valid in Hania). All
ingredients are Greek or locally sourced; those marked with * are
considered frugal here because they are cheap and/or people have their
own supplies.
At the supermarket in a small town in Holland, I was astounded to see so many packets of potatoes in the fridge section. The potatoes were all ready to be cooked. No dirt, no skin, no eyes, just pure white raw potato gleaming in the packet, cut in all shapes and sizes. Similarly, in the home of my London friends, the only potatoes to be found were the bagged ready to heat and eat type.
If you peel potatoes and don't place them in water, they lose their white colour. The surface will turn a dirty grey and the potatoes will look rotten and wholly unappetising. Something must have been placed in those packagings (or the potatoes will have undergone some kind of treatment) that allows them to remain lily white.
As yet, I haven't got myself round to picking up bags of ready to cook potatoes. It doesn't sound natural or even cost-efficient. Since the Potato Movement started in Greece, the potato has dropped in price considerably. Nevertheless, Cretan supermarkets stock mainly ready to cook potatoes, some in the form of fresh boil-in-the-bag (cleaned, with their jackets, from France), as well as frozen potatoes cut as chips that are ready to fry or seasoned potato chunks that go into the oven as is. Potato mash powder is also widely available, even though potato mash is very easy to make.
I had a delicious mash flavoured with spicy horseradish mustard at the Ladywell Tavern in London, with leek and onion slivers incorporated into the mash, which I wanted to recreate in my own kitchen.
You need:
600g of potatoes (~ 0.30 cents)
1 teaspoon of mustard (optional - you can buy really good cheap Greek ones now)*
1-2 glugs of olive oil*
salt and pepper*
a few slices of crisp-fried onion*
Peel the potatoes (for a cleaner whiter look to your mash; if you boil them with the jackets on, the potatoes will discolour slightly on the surface). Cut into even medium-sized chunks and place in a pot with plenty of
water. Make sure there are at least 5cm of water above the top of the
potatoes. Boil till tender.
When the potatoes are cooked, drain them well and place them in a bowl. Add the oil, mustard and seasonings, and blend all the ingredients with a fork till the mixture is smooth and lump-free. Finally, mix in the onion.
Total cost of the meal for four people: about €3, together with the sausages; about 75 cents per serving.
©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.
At the supermarket in a small town in Holland, I was astounded to see so many packets of potatoes in the fridge section. The potatoes were all ready to be cooked. No dirt, no skin, no eyes, just pure white raw potato gleaming in the packet, cut in all shapes and sizes. Similarly, in the home of my London friends, the only potatoes to be found were the bagged ready to heat and eat type.
If you peel potatoes and don't place them in water, they lose their white colour. The surface will turn a dirty grey and the potatoes will look rotten and wholly unappetising. Something must have been placed in those packagings (or the potatoes will have undergone some kind of treatment) that allows them to remain lily white.
As yet, I haven't got myself round to picking up bags of ready to cook potatoes. It doesn't sound natural or even cost-efficient. Since the Potato Movement started in Greece, the potato has dropped in price considerably. Nevertheless, Cretan supermarkets stock mainly ready to cook potatoes, some in the form of fresh boil-in-the-bag (cleaned, with their jackets, from France), as well as frozen potatoes cut as chips that are ready to fry or seasoned potato chunks that go into the oven as is. Potato mash powder is also widely available, even though potato mash is very easy to make.
I had a delicious mash flavoured with spicy horseradish mustard at the Ladywell Tavern in London, with leek and onion slivers incorporated into the mash, which I wanted to recreate in my own kitchen.
 |
| Gravy is not a Greek culinary phenomenon. My rudimentary gravy was made with a piece of leftover lamb roast, mashed into a water-and-oil mix. The sausages |
600g of potatoes (~ 0.30 cents)
1 teaspoon of mustard (optional - you can buy really good cheap Greek ones now)*
1-2 glugs of olive oil*
salt and pepper*
a few slices of crisp-fried onion*
 |
| Mustard made in GR, NL and F (left to right) |
When the potatoes are cooked, drain them well and place them in a bowl. Add the oil, mustard and seasonings, and blend all the ingredients with a fork till the mixture is smooth and lump-free. Finally, mix in the onion.
Bread isn't really necessary with this meal, but bread is never missing from the traditional Greek home. While in Germany, we bought some Krakow sausages (the packet contained 5 for €5.95).
Mash can be eaten on its own, drizzled with some lemon juice and olive
oil. It makes a good evening meal. My kids especially like it after they
come home from their basketball sessions. As a lunch meal, it's perfect
with sausages (LIDL sells good quality cheap Greek-made German-style
sausages). And some more crispy fried onion (slice them in thin rounds
and cook them in a frying pan with very very little olive oil, stirring
constantly until they become crispy).
©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.
Did you see the ready made mash in supermarkets in London? Marks and Spencer do several as does Waitrose and I think Sainsburys. I must confess to having tried them in the past. They microwave really well. Now I no longer have a m/wave and don't live near a store that stocks them. I am into baked potatoes now - I cut not too large pots them in half, then rub cut half and other parts with olive oil and bake them with cut side down on pan. Takes a lot less time. Then smash them on side of plate when done and they come out lovely and fluffy.
ReplyDeletei saw a lot of weird and wonderful stuff in both sainsbury and m&s - the range of ready-prepared food is way off the scale compared to what is prepared sold in cretan supermarkets - i have to say that it takes a bot if getting used to, to eating like this
ReplyDeleteThus the peeled potatoes are not brown, they are treated with low doses of sulfite, citric acid and ascorbic acid alone or in admixture thereof. This prevents the enzymatic browning. The potatoes are then packed and the total residual air is removed from the pack and by neutral gas such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide alone or replaced in the mixture. The gases prevent prevent browning and / or the multiplication of microorganisms. Peeling the potatoes is not made with a peeler or knife, but with steam or with the use of chemicals that trigger the skin.
ReplyDeleteIt is for these procedures take only certain varieties of potatoes by the way, and I guess that with Cretan potatoes not feasible. ;-)
does it make the potato taste or smell different??
DeleteI ate those potatoes in Germany and I think they did not taste different.
Delete