There has long been the question of whether it is better to boil or to steam new potatoes. I have listened to all the arguments. My conclusion is that it matters not one jot. Mash is another matter, and I’d certainly steam a potato if I need a dry-textured spud to pat into gnocchi. But a tiny Jersey Royal, cooked whole and in its skin, can handle a quick dip.I cook new potatoes in much the same way I do pasta: in plenty of deep, furiously boiling water. This is not the time to overcrowd the pan or skimp on the sea salt. I can cut back on the salt elsewhere. Small potatoes can be cooked in as little as eight minutes. If I’m steaming them, then I like to toss them, hot and straight from the steamer, in butter to which I have added a crushed anchovy.
It is worth mentioning that much of what is sold as “new” is nothing of the sort. “Small” would be nearer the truth. The texture of a true new potato is buttery, almost fudgy inside. Look for those with skins that flake. If you can’t remove the skin with a good firm rubbing of your thumb, then it’s probably not worthy of the name.
The smell of a bag of new potatoes is distinctive: dark, earthy, cool and damp, like the smell of a deep well. Many of those offered seem to have no smell at all, partly, I suppose because supermarkets insist on washing them, despite the fact that tumbling your expensive Jerseys around in a drum of water steals the essence of “freshly dug” from them.The floury flesh of large, main-crop potatoes is good for soaking up a dressing, crumbling deliciously as they plump with mayonnaise. But I like the firm and buttery flesh of a new potato for a summer salad, too. You can slice or crack them open with the back of a spoon, showing just enough flesh to let the dressing seep in. Use olive oil mashed with thyme or basil; yogurt thinned with oil and spiked with tarragon; or, as I did this week, cream infused with garlic leaves and black pepper. If I can’t find ramsons, then I’ll use the young heads of green garlic, crushed flat with the side of a knife, instead.
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