After chatting above about French cookbooks I took down a favorite, Richard Olney's SIMPLE FRENCH FOOD (1974). Some of the best recipes in the book are hidden in parentheses among Olney's eccentric rambling, as in this paragraph about rinsing potatoes:
"The question of rinsing potatoes or not is not one of personal preference; it is dictated by the type of a given preparation. One of my preferred garnishes for grilled or roast meats or fowl is a potato paillasson (sometimes called pommes Dauphin: a mass of potatoes passed through the medium blade of a Mouli-julienne, well rinsed in a couple of waters, rapidly drained, spread out on a towel, rolled tightly up, squeezed dry, and packed into a heated omelet pan containing lots of butter, cooked covered over a low flame for 20 minutes or until the bottom is golden crisp, flipped--or unmolded onto a plate and slipped back into the pan to which a bit more butter has been added--and cooked, uncovered, for another 18 or 20 minutes before being slipped onto a hot serving platter). Repeatedly, friends who have asked for the recipe have complained that it does not work for them and repeatedly, after stubborn questioning, they have admitted refusing to rinse and dry the potatoes "because all that chi-chi doesn't really make any difference." In fact, that chi-chi is responsible for the voluptuous smoothness contained cleanly within the still sharply defined julienne texture (assuming the potatoes to be not of an inferior, mealy, soup variety). Left unrinsed, the inside of the cake will be unpleasantly glutinous and the outside will stick to the pan (one friend, thanks to Teflon, had no trouble with sticking but the outer casing, falling short of golden crispness, seemed to be of gray leather). Any raw potatoes, cut to whatever form, that are destined to be sauteed should be well rinsed and wiped dry if only to prevent sticking"
Whew. I used 4 russet potatoes (a 2-1/2 lb. bag from Trader Joe's) and about a half stick of butter in all (I'd use a little more for company.) I grated the potatoes in the processor, did "all that chi-chi," added a little salt, and used a plain 9" cast-iron skillet. It worked perfectly, and it was to die for.
"The question of rinsing potatoes or not is not one of personal preference; it is dictated by the type of a given preparation. One of my preferred garnishes for grilled or roast meats or fowl is a potato paillasson (sometimes called pommes Dauphin: a mass of potatoes passed through the medium blade of a Mouli-julienne, well rinsed in a couple of waters, rapidly drained, spread out on a towel, rolled tightly up, squeezed dry, and packed into a heated omelet pan containing lots of butter, cooked covered over a low flame for 20 minutes or until the bottom is golden crisp, flipped--or unmolded onto a plate and slipped back into the pan to which a bit more butter has been added--and cooked, uncovered, for another 18 or 20 minutes before being slipped onto a hot serving platter). Repeatedly, friends who have asked for the recipe have complained that it does not work for them and repeatedly, after stubborn questioning, they have admitted refusing to rinse and dry the potatoes "because all that chi-chi doesn't really make any difference." In fact, that chi-chi is responsible for the voluptuous smoothness contained cleanly within the still sharply defined julienne texture (assuming the potatoes to be not of an inferior, mealy, soup variety). Left unrinsed, the inside of the cake will be unpleasantly glutinous and the outside will stick to the pan (one friend, thanks to Teflon, had no trouble with sticking but the outer casing, falling short of golden crispness, seemed to be of gray leather). Any raw potatoes, cut to whatever form, that are destined to be sauteed should be well rinsed and wiped dry if only to prevent sticking"
Whew. I used 4 russet potatoes (a 2-1/2 lb. bag from Trader Joe's) and about a half stick of butter in all (I'd use a little more for company.) I grated the potatoes in the processor, did "all that chi-chi," added a little salt, and used a plain 9" cast-iron skillet. It worked perfectly, and it was to die for.