Classics
Robuchon mashed potato
The most famous French mashed potato: silky smooth, with almost as much butter as potato. Joël Robuchon’s secret is passing it through a sieve and beating in cold butter.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Total
- 50 min
- Servings
- 6
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
Robuchon made it with ratte potatoes and 250 g of butter per kilo. Never use a blender — blitzed potato turns to glue. Push it through a ricer, then a fine sieve. This is the side to our bœuf bourguignon.
Method
- 01
Wash the potatoes and boil them in their skins in salted water for 25–30 minutes until tender. Cooking in the skin keeps them from soaking up water.
- 02
Peel them hot and pass them through a ricer back into the pan. Dry them over low heat for a minute or two, stirring.
- 03
Off the heat, beat in the cold butter cube by cube until fully absorbed. Then add the hot milk a little at a time until the purée is smooth and glossy.
- 04
For an utterly silky texture, push the purée through a fine sieve. Season with salt and serve at once.
Never use a blender or stick mixer — the starch turns it gluey. Keep it warm over a bain-marie.
Rather taste than cook?
We cook galettes and crêpes and pour cider every day at Fresh Market.