It's National Potato Day! We celebrate the humble vegetable that not only tastes delicious but is also incredibly versatile. Potatoes remain South Africa’s most popular carb and can be transformed into a variety of dishes. It can be boiled and mashed, baked, or deep-fried.
Potatoes were first cultivated in regions of South America sometime between 5 000 and 8 000 BC. From that point forward they spread all over the globe to become one of the primary staple crops of many cultures and are now a favourite part of global cuisine, with several different forms of preparation to be found in virtually every recipe book.
In celebration of this day, some of the chef lecturers at Capsicum Culinary Studio have shared their favourite potato recipes that you can also try at home today. Below are the recipes.
Potato, onion, and corned beef pie - courtesy Chef Angelique, Cape Town campus
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
For the pastry
400g cake flour
200g cold butter
30ml ice-cold water
Pinch of salt
For the filling
400g potato, cooked in salted water and cut into chunks
2 large onions, sliced thinly
1 carrot, chopped
30ml butter or oil
340g or 1 tin corned beef cubed (or any leftover cooked meat)
5ml thyme
5ml garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
For the pastry: Grate the cold butter into the flour then toss to coat butter. Add a pinch of salt and enough cold water to make a firm dough. Do not overwork the dough, large chunks of butter in the pastry will make it beautifully flaky!
For the filling: Heat a pan with the butter or oil and sauté the onions with a pinch of salt on medium heat until translucent. Add the rest of the ingredients and fry gently for 5 minutes. Set aside the filling to cool slightly.
To assemble: Preheat the oven to 190˚C. Lightly oil a pie dish, roll out the pastry, and line the bottom of the tin. Spoon the cooled filling on top and cover with a top layer of pastry.
Crimp the edges of the pastry to seal the pie and cut a small cross on top to let steam escape while baking (and to prevent your pie from exploding!).
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the pastry is golden and delicious.
Rest the pie in the tin for about 5-10 minutes before serving
Best mashed potato – courtesy Chef Samukelisiwe Mabugani, Rosebank campus
Ingredients
1kg medium potatoes
125g salted butter
500ml cream
250ml full cream milk
1ml smoked paprika
1ml salt
1ml ground black pepper
1 sprig of rosemary
1 sprig of thyme
Method
Peel and quarter the potatoes, put in a pot and cover with lightly salted water and bring to boil for 25 to 35 minutes or until soft.
Drain the water and transfer the potatoes into a bowl.
Add the cubed butter to the still-hot potatoes and season with paprika, salt, and pepper then gently mash together while adding your cream and milk to the mash until you get a fine smooth consistency.
Sprinkle over the finely chopped fresh herbs and serve.