The Ultimate Comfort: Why We Can’t Quit Mashed Potatoes

There’s just something magical about taking a regular old potato and boiling the heck out of it and then covering it in a whole lot of butter.

Mashed potatoes are basically the cozy blanket of food – the warm hug on a rainy Tuesday. Mashed potatoes are the unsung hero that steals the show from turkey on Thanksgiving, meatloaf night, and chicken parm on a Tuesday. But what’s the reason behind our need for mashed potatoes?

From “Devil’s Apple” to Dinner Table

You would never know it today, but back in the 1700s, Europeans were frightened of potatoes – thought they were poisonous or at least only edible by peasants. It took a French pharmacist by the name of Antoine-Augustin Parmentier to prove to the world that potatoes are indeed a miracle food and that they’re legit by serving potato purée to the French aristocracy and telling them it’s food fit for kings!

Well, after that moment in history when people realized that potatoes are basically a blank slate for flavor, there’s just no turning back!

Fluffy vs. Creamy: Pick Your Fighter

Every cook is a Purist or a Realist at heart. Purists want their spuds mashed until they’re as light as air, passing through a ricer three times to get that perfect fluffiness. Realists prefer a rustic mash, skins on, a bit of lumpiness, and a ton of garlic to ward off vampires.

But regardless of whether you’re a Purist or a Realist, there are three things that make a mash truly soulful:

– The Potato: Russet potatoes make a fluffy mash, Yukon Golds make a nice buttery mash.
– The Temperature: Warm up that milk and butter before it meets the spuds. Cold dairy products = bad mash.
– The Love: (a.k.a. a pinch of salt and as much black pepper as humanly possible).

Why This Recipe Works

This recipe avoids the wallpaper paste problem of mashing spuds into oblivion. Instead, it uses a method to make a creamy spud dish that soaks up every bit of flavor it can get. Whether it’s drowning in gravy or being devoured straight out of the pot at midnight (no judgments), this is the method to use again and again.