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Share: * * * * * * Posted on: 12-2017 The author adds potatoes to simmering rosin. CC Clarissa Clifton Clarissa Clifton is the author of One Hearth, One Pot: For Love of Food and History. Turpentine and its waste product rosin are used for violin varnish, paint thinner, salves such as Vicks, and household cleaners like Pine Sol. Rosin was even used as a cure, dubious at best, for hook worms. But it is rosin that has made a name in the culinary world for baking potatoes to perfection. I had my first rosin baked potato in Portal, Georgia, during their Catface Turpentine Festival, and I became hooked on rosin baked potatoes. Rosin, which can be hard to find in large quantities, can be purchased at the Catface Festival. Testing PotatoesTesting Potatoes Photo credit: Matthew Johnson, Assistant Director at The Archibald Smith Plantation Rosin baked potatoes have a very humble beginning in the Southern pine forests of North Carolina and Georgia. Enslaved workers would create slashes in the pine tree that resembled the whiskers of a cat or catfish. The workers would tie a container beneath the slashes to catch the pine sap. Once the container was full it would be taken back for processing in a still. Yes, the same type of still that would also make moonshine. The still would process the pine sap into turpentine and the waste product of rosin would drip into a vat. I have no idea who looked at this vat of rosin and decided to use it to cook lunch. Bless whoever did look and see rosin as a liquid oven to bake a potato. Now there are some folks trying to revive the turpentine industry in Georgia. If you are interested in cooking rosin potatoes at home you can order rosin potato kits on Amazon. It comes with a large stock pot and rosin in its hard form. The stock pot can be misleading as it implies it is safe to do this on your stove top. I would not suggest this at all for cooking rosin potatoes. You should order a metal tripod from which you can suspend the pot. You can get metal tripods from almost any blacksmithing or historical re-enactor site like Townsends. Also, remember any pots or utensils used are to be used only with rosin from that point forward. I use an old cast iron pot that Smith Plantation has on hand, and a skimmer I order from Townsends. The rosin is reusable. so after cooking the potatoes, the pan should be removed from the fire and set aside to cool and harden. I also leave the rosin on my skimmer so that I don't confuse it for another spoon when doing cooking demonstrations. Once you learn how to make rosin potatoes you really should invite neighbors and friends over. They will be impressed with your knowledge of history as well as your ability to make the best potatoes they have ever eaten. [slotte] Rosin Coated SpoonRosin Coated Spoon. Photo credit: Matthew Johnson, Assistant Director at The Archibald Smith Plantation Rosin Potatoes Finished Rosin Potato Print This Recipe * Cook 1 1/2 hours * Servings As desired; potatoes will be cooked 3 at a time Ingredients * Cast iron pot (should be deep enough to easily hold rosin without fear of boiling over) * Rosin (amount should equal two 1-gallon paint cans of solid rosin, more if your pot is larger) * Fire pit * Tripod * Wood * Newspaper cut or ripped into squares * As many potatoes (white or sweet) as you desire (to be cooked three at a time) * Butter, bacon, onions or whatever you desire to spread or sprinkle over potatoes Preparation 1. Start a fire in a pit and place the tripod over it. Make sure the tripod is securely hammered into the ground to avoid the rosin pot tipping. 2. Place the rosin into the pot, and put the pot of solid rosin over fire so it will melt. Check with a spoon to make sure that the rosin has completely melted on the bottom. 3. Once the rosin has melted, drop the potatoes into the pot. Begin by cooking three at a time until you are comfortable with your pot of rosin. You will see bubbles in the rosin as the water is being forced out of the potato. Watch carefully, adjusting the heat as necessary, to be sure that the rosin will not boil over into the fire. 4. Wait for the potatoes to float to the surface of the rosin, which will take about 1 hour. (Total cooking time will be about 1 hour and 30 minutes.) You can test a potato by touching it with a long handled metal spoon. The potatoes are hard initially but as they rise they become softer and almost spongy when touched. DO NOT BREAK THE SKIN; if you break the skin, you cannot eat that potato. 5. Once the potatoes rise to the top, which should take about 1 hour, allow them to continue cooking for another 30 minutes. Scoop one potato out of the rosin and wrap in newspaper. The rosin will instantly adhere to the newspaper. You cannot eat the skin. After a few minutes split open the potato through the newspaper and push the ends of the potato inward. If done you should get a nice fluffy little cloud of potato in the middle. Now you will know exactly how long it will take and if you can do more than 3 potatoes at a time. This is where you gain finesse. 6. If you want to make mashed potatoes that have a good potato flavor, leave the potatoes in the rosin until the ends begin to wrinkle. Wrap them in newspaper and split the potato open so that you can scoop out the insides. Add butter, cream, whatever you like for seasoning. Then mash or whip together. You will have produced a mashed potato dish that has real potato flavor in it. See More: * gluten-free * legumes & vegetables CC Clarissa Clifton Clarissa Clifton is the author of One Hearth, One Pot: For Love of Food and History. Her focus of food history is on Southern poverty food. Southern poverty food is a term coined post Civil War and relates to food that was looked down on by those in the elite 10 percent both in and out of the South. Clarissa falls into the 90 percent that called it simply food. Southern poverty food not only related to how food was seasoned but the inventive ways it was prepared, ranging from roasting meats over saplings to baking chicken in cabbage leaves to rosin potatoes. Clarissa has made it her life mission to study the food that 90 percent of Southerners ate before and after the Civil War. Courtesy photo Read more from Clarissa Clifton [james-k-po] [james-k-po] The Cook's Cook A Community of Cooks, Food Writers & Recipe Testers * About * Advertise * Privacy Policy * Submission Guidelines Connect With Us * * * * (c)2024 The Cook's Cook LLC ^ Search [ ] Foodeos Introducing Foodeos Video Sharing Click here to Learn More