tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36230402.post179577829446232618..comments2024-01-31T08:25:30.086+00:00Comments on Sceptical Cook: Gratin dauphinoisNicholas Cleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04768734712635376841noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36230402.post-89983840759462694022007-03-29T08:47:00.000+01:002007-03-29T08:47:00.000+01:00I love the David quote. My tastebuds are rather cr...I love the David quote. My tastebuds are rather crude: I always err on the side of overdosing on an ingredient, not being one for subtle hints. Perhaps if the surface of your gratin dish is slightly abrasive, rubbing a clove on it would release flavour; but my dishes are smooth.<BR/><BR/>I think that some starchiness is part of the appeal of the dish, giving body to the liquid. I never bother to wash the potatoes first. Potatoes such as King Edwards go mushy in a gratin, whereas Charlottes retain a pleasing texture.<BR/><BR/>That's a good point about not needing to heat the gratin in a saucepan first -- although it may take half an hour or more to come to simmering point in the oven. The potatoes in my pan are a disorderly jumble, which I arrange as best I can.Nicholas Cleehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04768734712635376841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36230402.post-2473195526155892012007-03-28T23:31:00.000+01:002007-03-28T23:31:00.000+01:00Funnily enough I cooked this dish just the other d...Funnily enough I cooked this dish just the other day. Out of habit, I always wash the starch off the potatoes by putting them in a saucepan of water (once sliced) and letting cold water run slowly into it.Then I pat them dry with a tea towel (this takes ages as you have to do them in small batches). It makes sense with starchy potatoes, but maybe it isn't so necessary with waxy ones (as I used the other day). What do you think? The only way to test it, of course, would be to cook two gratins with identical ingredients. I don't usually heat the potatoes and cream first before putting them in the gratin dish - I just cook them from cold. I quite like doing this, because it means you can layer the potatores in the pan more neatly, and also season between each layer. Finally, what do you think about the old rubbing the gratin dish with garlic trick? Elizabeth David said something amusingly derisory about this practice (though in reference to salads not gratins): 'The grotesque prudishness and archness with which garlic is treated in this country has led the the superstition that rubbing the bowl with it before putting the salad in gives sufficient flavour. It rather depends on whether you are going to eat the bowl or the salad.'WillSkidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12213225893041524636noreply@blogger.com