[HN Gopher] The almost lost art of rosin potatoes
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       The almost lost art of rosin potatoes
        
       Author : classichasclass
       Score  : 21 points
       Date   : 2024-10-30 02:20 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (thecookscook.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (thecookscook.com)
        
       | stewartbracken wrote:
       | if you break the skin, you cannot eat that potato
       | 
       | Be careful out there
        
       | AStonesThrow wrote:
       | A truly exhaustive history lesson:
       | https://bittersoutherner.com/feature/2022/the-elusive-roots-...
       | 
       | This was linked by Gemini, which happily chirped that rosin
       | potatoes can be great!
        
       | MostlyStable wrote:
       | I'm someone who loves doing weird culinary things, and has, in
       | the past, gone to relatively extreme amounts of effort to make
       | something at home rather than buying it (or at least...to try
       | making it at home). I am probably in the top 1% or more of people
       | willing to expend time and effort on weird food things.
       | 
       | And yet even for me, spending 1.5-2 hours to get 3 baked
       | potatoes, which are supposedly just....really nicely baked
       | potatoes?...seems like a lot.
       | 
       | I'm glad that there are people out there preserving weird old
       | historical cooking methods, but I feel no compulsion at all to
       | actually try this myself.
        
         | ajkjk wrote:
         | The article linked in another comment offers this by way of
         | justification:
         | 
         | > "Because none of the potato's flavor or aroma compounds can
         | escape, you get the most intense potato flavor you've ever
         | experienced," Brock says. "And they're steaming in their own
         | water, which is why you get a totally unique texture."
        
         | CoastalCoder wrote:
         | Same for me, although I'm probably in the top 20%, not top 1%.
         | 
         | For us in New England, I wish there were an easy way to see if
         | the difference is worth the effort.
        
       | opwieurposiu wrote:
       | Note that rosin is very flammable, but I guess so is cooking oil.
        
       | UniverseHacker wrote:
       | This is interesting history, but I am skeptical that this is safe
       | to eat, or better than a regular potato. If people are interested
       | in trying unusual potato cooking methods, I'd recommend making
       | Syracuse Salt Potatoes instead- they are excellent and easy.
        
       | Jedd wrote:
       | Absolute best baked (what some people mistakenly call roast)
       | potatoes I've ever had were in a small restaurant in Cornwall,
       | England.
       | 
       | They were almost definitely locally grown, doubtless extremely
       | fresh, and almost definitely an heirloom variety. (And I
       | acknowledge that food always tastes better when you're on
       | holiday.)
       | 
       | We were told the preparation was pretty simple: 'boil in a strong
       | stock until almost fully cooked, then dry and coat in goose fat,
       | and then bake until they look good'.
       | 
       | (Apart from being much faster than conventional baked potatoes,
       | and much much faster & safer than this rosin preparation, there's
       | little risk of getting sick from this method.)
        
       | acyou wrote:
       | This is so dumb, I can hardly believe that it is real. I would
       | need to talk to someone who had experienced it firsthand to fully
       | believe.
       | 
       | Water (stew) is... in every aspect possible a superior cooking
       | medium.
       | 
       | How could this ever have been economical? How hard is it to make
       | a cooking fire, or share a rosin melting fire with a cook pot?
       | 
       | I think it's essentially an old sarcastic joke, that people took
       | too literally?
        
       | MisterBastahrd wrote:
       | So basically, I could probably take superfine salt and a sous
       | vide bag, toss the potato in a bag with the salt, cook until
       | done, and it'd have the same effect only that I can wash the
       | potato and eat the entire thing afterward.
        
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       (page generated 2024-11-01 23:00 UTC)