Ecstatic Gaucho

Michael Caine came over as an charming, down-to-earth Londoner on the Desert Island Discs Christmas Special. He trotted out a few great stories and chose some surprisingly contemporary discs (he likes ‘chill out’ music).  As a self-confessed romantic, he told us he loves Christmas and its rituals. Apparently, one of the highlights of the festive lunch in the Caine household is the potatoes. This is because Sir Michael makes “the best roast potatoes in the world” according to his mate, the film director and food critic, Michael Winner.

Presenter, Kirsty Young asked how he prepared these perfect spuds and he gave out a few tips. As his wife is a vegetarian, he uses no animal fat, so here’s Michael Caine’s recipe for unforgettable roast potatoes:

• Pre-boil potatoes “otherwise they’ll be no good”
• Drain and let them steam until “absolutely dry”
• Replace saucepan lid and shake “so that they go all fluffy”
• Place in cold olive oil (”so it [the fat] soaks in”) with rosemary and sage – then roast

I never cook them, so it’s all new to me, but a quick search reveals that rival cooks generally agree about this stuff. Everyone says par-boil them, Jamie Oliver reckons for five minutes, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall says seven and Delia Smith 10. Drying and shaking seems to be essential for all the chefs.  Delia seems to think that it’s best to roast the potatoes for 50 minutes. So, possibly Sir Michael’s most original contribution to the art of the roast is the temperature of the oil – cold – and not a lot of people know that.

Tags: Christmas, Delia Smith, Desert Island Discs, Hugh Fearnley_Whittingstall, Jamie Oliver, roast potatoes, Sir Michael Caine, vegetarian recipes

This entry was posted on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 11:39 pm and is filed under Radio, Scran. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.