Secrets to the best pie and mash

Potatoes are a Yorkshire Handmade Pie’s best friend! chipped, baked, fried or boiled they are one of the most versatile ingredients on the planet and can be used to make soups, ice-cream, and even vodka!

We love mash potato at Yorkshire Handmade Pies and we know it is so important to get it right, so here are some tips and facts about the humble mash potato dish!

• Is your mash potato a bit gloopy and gluey? Easy to solve! Soaking and rinsing cut parboiled or steamed potato pieces helps to wash away the starch molecules called amylose, which is responsible for this. The end result is very fluffy amazing mashed potatoes.
• Pie and mash is actually a Cockney traditional dish, originating in the East End of London in the 18th century. It is a working class meal traditionally made with eels, and served with a parsley liquor made using water from the preparation of the stewed eels.
• Best spud for the job? The common tale is that floury varieties such as Maris Piper or King Edward are the best, although the Potato Council suggests the waxy Desiree produces a lovely velvety mash.
• The first vegetable to be grown in space was... Yes, you’ve guessed it: the Potato! Grown in 1995 it is hoped that the technology used to grow them will be able to feed future astronauts on long space voyages.
• For a creamy taste and texture, don’t let the potatoes cool after they've been boiled and drained. Get them mashed as soon as possible and make sure to add the fat (in our case butter) to the potatoes first before any liquid.
• When adding liquid make sure it is hot and do it in small glugs, don’t pour all the liquid in at once, you need to let the potato absorb it as you are stirring.
• According to the Guinness World Book of Records the biggest potato grown weighed 8lb 4oz and was grown by Peter Glazebrook in Newark, Nottinghamshire in 2010.
• For extra taste, whilst boiling throw in a couple of stock cubes, garlic cloves, onion or celery. This really helps them to pick up more flavours in the first step of cooking. Make sure to keep tasting whilst mashing and adding seasoning to make sure it is perfect.
• Make sure to use a potato masher or ricer and don’t over mash! Potatoes are starchy and over mashing makes them gloopy and gluey - most definitely do not use a food processor either!
• A potato has more Vitamin C than orange, more potassium than a banana and more fiber than apple.

And of course we can’t leave you without our best ever mashed potato recipe!

1kg Maris Piper potatoes

50g unsalted butter

100ml milk

Salt & pepper to taste

1. Peel and chop the potatoes so they are all the same size.
2. Cook in a large pan of boiling salted water over a medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a fork can pierce them easily.
3. Drain in a colander, tip back into the pan and mash well.
4. When the potatoes are almost smooth, add the butter, half the milk and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
5. Mash again until smooth, adding the other half of the milk then taste and season again, if needed.
6. Serve next to a Yorkshire Handmade Pie.