Staffordshire Fine Foods

What goes better with a great sausage than great mash? More mash of course.

This is a simple recipe that requires only one special tool, a food mill (moulin). If you don’t own one of these, then a traditional masher will do. The reason I prefer the moulin is that there is no pressure on the potato and it will accept the other ingredients more readily. Plus, it starts you off with a more fluffy texture so you get an idea of what extra you need to add.

Boil a large pan of water, with plenty of space still left for the addition of the potatoes. You need about 8oz or 250g of potato for each person. Here is the first secret here, don’t peel the potatoes, just make sure they are clean. Keeping the skin on stops them from becoming too crumbly and helps to retain their moisture. Drop the potatoes into the boiling water and leave. To test they cooked insert a skewer, once it goes through with little give, the cooking is done. Drain the pan and plunge the potatoes into cold water to make them easy to hand peel. The peeling should be just a case of taking hold of a piece of loose skin and pulling away from the potato.

Once done, cut into big chunks, then feed through moulin on the coarsest plate you have. If you don’t have a moulin, use a masher or fork, gently. Don’t be tempted to use a food processor, this will create a stodge. Add about a teaspoon of unsalted butter per portion. Stir, test texture and then add hot milk until you are happy with the consistency. Finally, add seasoning.

You don’t want the mash too moist, it still needs to be able to soak up any cooking juices, sauce and gravy.