No. 2803

Potatoes, Saratoga

Pommes de Terre Saratoga

Mince the potatoes very finely in the machine, or cut thinly with a knife; lay them in cold water for twelve hours, changing it several times, then drain and fry in very hot white lard; when finished they should be exceedingly white and dry.

← No. 2802 Potatoes, Sarah Potatoes & Sweet Potatoes No. 2804 Potatoes Sauted →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer's chip is a two-day proposition on paper, but the method is sound and the long soak is doing real work. A few notes on translating it.

The hinge: rinse until the water runs clearThe twelve-hour soak with several changes exists to strip surface starch, which is what makes chips stick together, brown unevenly and go leathery. Modern practice gets the same result in 30 minutes to an hour of cold water with two or three changes; what matters is that the final water is clear, not the clock.
Dry them completelyRanhofer's "exceedingly white and dry" begins before the fat. Drain, spread on towels and blot until no moisture remains, or the slices will steam rather than crisp and the fat will spit.
"The machine"A mandoline or the slicing disc of a food processor. Aim for about 1/16 inch — thin enough to be translucent at the edge. Uniform thickness matters more than any particular number, since thick and thin slices in the same batch will not finish together.
White lardRefined lard, pale and comparatively neutral; Ranhofer does not say why he specifies it. Refined peanut, sunflower or vegetable oil behaves much the same way; ordinary supermarket lard is fine but slightly more assertive.
"Very hot"Ranhofer gives no temperature; roughly 350–375F suits. Hotter and the outside colours before the interior moisture leaves, giving a chip that softens as it cools.
Fry in small batchesA large handful drops the fat temperature sharply. Add enough to cover the surface loosely, stir once to separate, and lift them out when the bubbling quiets — that slowing is the water leaving, and it is a better signal than colour.
ColourRanhofer wants them white, not golden. Salt them the moment they come out of the fat, while the surface is still wet enough to hold it.
YieldThe recipe gives no quantity. A pound of potatoes makes roughly four servings as a garnish and takes several batches in a domestic pan.

A Little History

Saratoga chips take their name from Saratoga Springs, New York, the fashionable spa and racing resort with which they were associated from the mid-nineteenth century; the story of a cook slicing potatoes paper-thin to spite a guest who complained his fries were too thick is told of Moon's Lake House and is traditional rather than documented, as is the usual dating of it to the 1850s. What is certain is that by the time Charles Ranhofer compiled The Epicurean in 1894 from his decades at Delmonico's, "Saratoga" had become the standard restaurant term for the thin fried chip, listed here in sequence among dozens of other potato preparations rather than singled out as a novelty. The dish was still a kitchen product then — commercial bagged potato chips were a twentieth-century development — and the twelve-hour soak reflects a brigade that could start a garnish the day before service.