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Pommes de Terre Chatouillard
Created by Chef Juliette
Long potato ribbons, washed, dried, and fried in two baths until they billow into crisp golden curls: a demanding little lesson in thickness, temperature, and the courage to transfer them at once.
Pommes de Terre Chatouillard (long puffed potato ribbons) teaches one clean principle: the first bath cooks and sets the ribbon; the second, hotter bath can only puff what the first has prepared. Begin with uneven or damp potatoes and no flourish of the fryer can repair the geometry. Exact thickness matters more than bravado.
The original recipe assumed a dedicated frying station, two cauldrons of fat, a basket, stretched linen, and a hand free to make the transfer without delay. For one cook, one stove, one evening, two heavy saucepans, two thermometers, a wire spider, and a rack do the same work. Perfectly squaring every potato, maintaining separate baskets, and draining on stretched linen are brigade scaffolding. The long cut, the washing, the thorough drying, and the two distinct oil baths from Pommes de Terre Soufflées (No. 2221) are the dish and must stay.
When they succeed, the ribbons curl into crisp, hollow lengths with pale golden walls and bronzed tips, splendid beside a roast and gone from the platter almost immediately. The step that decides everything is the first bath: wait until each ribbon is flexible, cooked through, and floating, then carry it directly into oil that is fully hot.
Ingredients
straight-sided starchy potatoes, preferably Russet
Quantity
4 large, about 2 lb (900 g)
peeled and lightly trimmed
cold water
Quantity
2 qt (1.9 L / 1.9 kg)
for washing the ribbons
refined peanut or sunflower oil
Quantity
3 qt (2.8 L / about 2.6 kg) for Pommes de Terre Soufflées (No. 2221)
divided between two pans
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| straight-sided starchy potatoes, preferably Russetpeeled and lightly trimmed | 4 large, about 2 lb (900 g) |
| cold waterfor washing the ribbons | 2 qt (1.9 L / 1.9 kg) |
| refined peanut or sunflower oildivided between two pans | 3 qt (2.8 L / about 2.6 kg) for Pommes de Terre Soufflées (No. 2221) |
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