The Mexican Potato Mystery
Thanks Julie, Kay, Steve, Kathleen, Sharon and Rachel. I am not alone, it’s clear.
1. Agree with Julie. McCain to the rescue for French fries.
2. Agree with Kay and Sharon. The tiny potatoes are usually good. The finishing with Mexican seasonings I think for most of us comes from Diana Kennedy, at least it does for me. Problem is that unless you have the patience of Job they are no good for mashed, baked, pommes ana, pancakes, etc etc.
3. Agree with Kathleen that the good ones make nice potato salad and OK pancakes.
4. And Sharon’s right, I shouldn’t even be contemplating baking this kind of potato. If you get a good one, though, they are OK as stuffed baked potatoes.
Sounds like – at least in part – the type of potato. A mealy potato – think a Russet Burbank – will (should!) bake well, and emerge dry and fluffy. A waxy potato – the Red Bliss being a classic of the type – will bake or boil ok, but wit…h more than a little handling or stirring will become gummy. It has to do with the structure of the starch in the different types of potato (similar thing is true with rice types).
5. Sharon again, confirming my suspicions about storage.
The other problem is storage: cold storage converts the longer chain starches to sugars, so the resulting cooked potato has a gummy texture and a sweetish (at least to me) flavor. You can leave them in a dry, darkish, well-ventilated room temperature area for a few days and then have a go. If cold storage is the problem, this should rectify it: the sugars will revert back to their starchier relatives. Plants in the Solanaceae family are also very sensitive to an array of mosaic and other viruses which can also cause development – and consequent texture and flavor – problems.
Problem is, even though I keep my potatoes in a covered basket (Oaxacan, so pretty, such lucky potatoes) in the pantry, they don’t seem to revert.
6. Agree with Kathleen and Sharon that it may be a soil or climate problem.
7. I remain puzzled about the economics of this. Consumer power is not great in Mexico so the potatoes aren’t returned (can you even imagine trying that?) But you would think at least the big buyers or the big producers would give some thought to the problem. But then again, the stores are filled at the moment with inedible, mushy California peaches, so perhaps not, at least not as long as there are suckers like me who will try and try again.
Dear Rachel,
It might also be that the local farmers have been cultivating further generations from industrial patatoe hybrids. In today’s agronomy, plant patatoes are not supposed to procreate naturally, but are a result of specialized hybrid breeding.
Incidence of “glass patatoes” (low starch content) is much higherwith F2 (further generation) patatoe races.
Then, supermarkets sell food that ‘looks’ edible. Because of low consumer criticism (which occurs much more in classic open air ‘personalized’ markets) supermarkets don’t bother with intrinsic quality, as long as buying price and looks are good (that’s a worddwide problem)
I think this my be it, Nick.
Hi Rachel,
Wow, I have never even given this a thought. Having grown up in D.F. in the 60s and 70s I ate potatoes pretty much all the time, and I never encountered any problems with enjoying their taste or cooking them properly. The kind my mom always buys are the Red Bliss types. Depending on the recipe she is making she goes for the tiny ones (up to marble size for certain preparations) or larger ones for mashing, soups, stews, etc. I don’t think I ever saw a Russet until I moved to Texas.
I think that perhaps it is not that you are a gringa, but that you are preparing gringo recipes. As you surely know, baked potatoes are not prominent in Mexican menus, nor are potato salad and potato pancakes. Try making tortitas de papa, or croquetas de papa con atun. One of my childhood staples was a potato casserole that mom learned from her French grandmother: boil the potatoes until just done, peel and slice thick. Layer in Pyrex with dots of butter, crema, queso, and ham. Season with salt and pepper and bake until bubbly. She calls them “papas a la Cacheux”. I’m homesick now…
Hi Claudia, thanks for the thoughts. Ask your mother. I think it’s a recent problem. I had no problems for my first ten years in Mexico. And no, it’s not that I am preparing gringa recipes. Whatever the recipe, if you boil potatoes they are not supposed to be glassy or black.
Papas a la Cacheux sounds great.
Claudia: I agree with you. Why do I feel like Rachel is asking a relativst’s trick question?