From ‘heartbreak soup’ and ‘burning love’ spuds, there’s more to the potato than mash

Potatoes have had a bad rap recently – the latest indignity is the attempt by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans committee to declassify them as vegetables – largely thanks to their high starch content, and our predilection for munching them deep-fried. Which, to be fair, isn’t the spud’s fault. While I’m not immune to the crisp, fatty charms of the Quality Chop House’s confit potato, Sue Quinn’s Aussie potato scallops or Jeremy Lee’s sublime chips, there’s more to the potato than crunch.

It might not be quite the weather here for a classic potato salad, but I wouldn’t say no to Yotam Ottolenghi’s roasted potato skin and iceberg lettuce dish, which would be a good way to use up the leftovers after making his spicy potato hash, or Joël Robuchon’s buttery pommes puree, or my own colcannon, which is a complete meal in itself. (Did you know that potatoes are a fair source of vitamin C and, when eaten with the skin, as in Tim Anderson’s baked potatoes with butter and salmon roe, a decent source of fibre?)

Though I haven’t quite got round to making his Norwegian potato porridge, I can recommend Magnus Nilsson’s Danish “burning love” potatoes with bacon – a deliciously simple one-bowl wonder. And January is, of course, the season of soup, too – it might be a while yet until we can enjoy the satisfaction of pegging out washing on the line, but you can get much the same effect by arriving at work with a pot of homemade broth for lunch. Anja Dunk’s heartbreak potato soup or Rachel Roddy’s peppery rocket and potato soup would fit the bill. For peak potato, pair it with Dan Lepard’s dill and potato bread.

If your palate is craving as much warmth as your toes, then Sanjay Kaul’s vada pav, the Mumbai battered potato burger topped with hot and tangy chutneys, delivers in both the spice and stodge departments. And should you have small people to feed as well, Meera Sodha’s potato, coconut and peanut tikkis with pea chutney (pictured top) is specifically designed to get them involved in the preparation – “Smashing potatoes? Joy! … Trying to get peas, which are bouncing and sliding all over the table, into a blender (one by one)? Hilarious!” (Even as a larger person, that does sound like fun.)

Finally, one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve ever eaten contained mashed potato. Sadly, I’ve never been able to persuade my friend Harry to part with her recipe, but I hope this gives you the confidence to give Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s “lovely, puddingy” potato lemon cake a try. Save the skins – they make lovely crisps for when that new year health kick is finally abandoned.

Fine rinds | Here’s your regular reminder to save Parmesan and similar hard cheese rinds. I finally tipped those I’d been hoarding for months into a pan of softening beans, and the flavour they gave the resulting broth was astonishing. There’s no need for stock; I just stirred in some caramelised onion and garlic and a handful of shredded greens, and dug in.

Live and let churn | As something of a butter connoisseur (read: someone who eats it like cheese), I’ve sampled most brands available in my vicinity, and my longstanding favourite supermarket version is the deliciously salty Sainsbury’s West Country Farmhouse butter. It used to be marketed as whey butter, meaning it’s made using the cream left over from cheesemaking, but this fact has been relegated to the small print – thankfully, the slightly acidic, cultured flavour remains the same.

Hot fat | Hot Fat, a collection of deep-fried joy from Russell Alford and Patrick Hanlon (AKA the GastroGays), beautifully illustrated by Nicky Hooper, is one of a series from Dublin-based publisher Blasta Books that offers an accessible snapshot of modern Irish food culture. It also includes Lily Ramirez-Foran on tacos and Kwanghi Chan with the first Irish-Chinese cookbook on the market. And, yes, Hot Fat does feature a recipe for spice burgers.

Carbonara for a cold day | It takes a lot to get me off the sofa on a cold January evening, but when I heard Luciano Monosilio, Rome’s “king of carbonara”, was cooking at Carousel this week, I knew it was my professional duty to go. The turnip tops with anchovies and egg were good, and the sweetbreads perfectly caramelised, but the carbonara was divine: peppery and unfathomably creamy. Happily, I now have the recipe (turns out he uses a bain-marie), so won’t need to leave the house again until spring.