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To Boil Irish Potatoes
Old potatoes must be nicely peeled and dropped in boiling water, covered with a lid and boiled hard half an hour. Then drain off the water and set by the fire. This makes them mealy.--Mrs. S. T.
A four-line method whose whole point is the last step: driving off surface moisture so the flesh falls apart dry rather than sitting wet. The instructions around it need a little adjustment.
- "Irish potatoes"Southern usage distinguishing the ordinary white potato from the sweet potato, which in Southern kitchens was often called simply "potatoes." No special variety is meant, though a floury type — russet, King Edward, Kennebec — will give the mealy result the recipe is after. Waxy new potatoes will not.
- "Old potatoes"Stored potatoes from the previous season, drier and higher in starch than freshly dug ones. They cook drier, which suits the mealy result the recipe wants.
- Boiled hard half an hourToo long and too violent for most modern potatoes. A hard rolling boil batters the outsides to mush before the centres are done; bring to a boil, then hold at a bare simmer. Whole peeled medium potatoes take 20 to 25 minutes, quartered ones 15 to 18. Test with a skewer rather than the clock.
- Dropped in boiling waterStarting whole potatoes in already-boiling water cooks the outer inch well before the middle. Starting them in cold water and bringing the pot up together gives a more even result — a change in practice, not a correction of a mistake, since uniform small potatoes fare well enough either way.
- "Set by the fire"The hinge of the recipe. After draining, return the pan to low heat uncovered for a minute or two and shake it occasionally; the residual water steams off and the surfaces go floury. Covering them at this stage traps steam and undoes the whole thing.
- SaltNone is called for, which was probably assumed rather than intended. About a tablespoon of salt per four quarts of water seasons the flesh as it cooks.
- YieldReckon on 6 to 8 oz of peeled potato per person as a side dish, rather more if they are to be mashed.
Housekeeping in Old Virginia (1878), compiled by Marion Cabell Tyree, gathered contributions from some 250 Virginia housewives, credited variously by initials alone in the manner of "Mrs. S. T." here, by full name, or by place. The result reads less like an authored cookbook than a neighbourhood's collective memory written down, and short entries of this kind — a technique rather than a dish — sit alongside the recipes. The insistence on "mealy" reflects a period preference for potatoes that burst floury and dry, the standard by which a boiled potato was judged before the creamy, waxy styles of the twentieth century gained ground; drying the drained potatoes over residual heat remains the standard professional method for achieving it.