Duchess potatoes (french: pommes de terre duchesse) consist of a

purée A purée (or mash) is cooked food, usually vegetables, fruits or legumes, that has been ground, pressed, blended or sieved to the consistency of a creamy paste or liquid. Purées of specific foods are often known by specific names, e.g., apple ...

mashed potato Mashed potato or mashed potatoes (American and Canadian English), colloquially known as mash (British English), is a dish made by mashing boiled or steamed potatoes, usually with added milk, butter, salt and pepper. It is generally served as a ...

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

yolk, and butter, which is forced from a piping bag or hand-moulded into various shapes which are then baked in a high temperature oven until golden."Duchess Potatoes"
''Cook's Country'', 2010. They are typically seasoned similarly to mashed potatoes with, for example, salt, pepper, and

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...

. They are a classic item of

French cuisine French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the re ...

, and are found in historic French cookbooks.

History

The first known recipe for the dish was published in '' La Nouvelle Cuisinière Bourgeoise'' in 1746. The phrase ''à la duchesse'' became an appellation in

for any dish incorporating a mashed potato/egg yolk mixture. Recipes for duchess potatoes have been published in American cookbooks since at least 1878. In her 1896 cookbook,

Fannie Farmer Fannie Merritt Farmer (23 March 1857 – 16 January 1915) was an American culinary expert whose ''Boston Cooking-School Cook Book'' became a widely used culinary text. Education Fannie Farmer was born on 23 March 1857 in Boston, Massachusetts, ...

described the creative potential of duchess potatoes, writing: "Shape, using pastry bag and tube, in form of baskets, pyramids, crowns, leaves, roses, etc. Brush over with beaten egg diluted with one teaspoon water, and brown in a hot oven." In 1902, the Boston Cooking School published a duchess potatoes recipe in its magazine. French cookbook author

Auguste Escoffier Georges Auguste Escoffier (; 28 October 1846 – 12 February 1935) was a French chef, restaurateur and culinary writer who popularized and updated traditional French cooking methods. Much of Escoffier's technique was based on that of Marie-Antoi ...

described duchess potatoes in his highly influential cookbook ''

Le Guide Culinaire ''Le Guide Culinaire'' () is Escoffier's 1903 French restaurant cuisine cookbook, his first. It is a classic and still in print. Escoffier developed the recipes while working at the Savoy, Ritz and Carlton hotels from the late 1880s to the time ...

'', first published in 1903. During the Great Depression, the U.S. federal government cooperated with a dozen state agricultural agencies to improve potato breeding. The U.S.

Bureau of Home Economics The Bureau of Home Economics, later known as the Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics, was a division of the US Department of Agriculture that supported homemaker activities in the early 20th century. The bureau developed recipes, collec ...

encouraged consumers to try less common potato dishes, such as duchess potatoes.

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

led to domestic food shortages in the U.S., especially of butter, meat and canned foods. In January, 1943, first lady

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

released menus for nine family meals served at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

. One dinner included

meatloaf Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat that has been combined with other ingredients and formed into the shape of a loaf, then baked or smoked. The final shape is either hand-formed on a baking tray, or pan-formed by cooking it in a loaf pan. ...

and duchess potatoes. In 1949, the ''New York Times'' was promoting duchess potatoes surrounding roast chicken or roast fish as an elegant but inexpensive dining alternative to beef. When

Craig Claiborne Craig Claiborne (September 4, 1920 January 22, 2000) was an American restaurant critic, food journalist and book author. A long-time food editor and restaurant critic for ''The New York Times'', he was also the author of numerous cookbooks and ...

graduated eighth in his class from the

École hôtelière de Lausanne The École hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL, ) is a hospitality management school in Switzerland. The school is consistently regarded as the best hospitality school in the world. It trains students whose goals are to obtain managerial careers in the ...

in 1954, his final examination included preparing fish in white wine, with

velouté sauce A velouté sauce () is a savory sauce that is made from a roux and a light stock. It is one of the " mother sauces" of French cuisine listed by chef Auguste Escoffier in the early twentieth century, along with espagnole, tomato, béchamel, and ...

hollandaise sauce Hollandaise sauce ( or ; ), also called Dutch sauce, is a mixture of egg yolk, melted butter, and lemon juice (or a white wine or vinegar reduction). It is usually seasoned with salt, and either white pepper or cayenne pepper. It is well kn ...

and duchess potatoes. In September 1959, US President Dwight Eisenhower had a meeting with Soviet Premier

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

at Camp David. The dinner included

prime rib A standing rib roast, also known as prime rib, is a cut of beef from the primal rib, one of the primal cuts of beef. While the entire rib section comprises ribs six through 12, a standing rib roast may contain anywhere from two to seven ribs. ...

and baked

red snapper Red snapper is a common name of several fish species. It may refer to: * Several species from the genus ''Lutjanus'': ** ''Lutjanus campechanus'', Northern red snapper, commonly referred to as red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico and western Atlanti ...

. Duchess potatoes were among the side dishes. When Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the

Shah of Iran This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...

, visited Washington, D.C. in April 1962, he hosted a six-course dinner for President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

at the Iranian embassy. The main course was pheasant, and duchess potatoes were also part of the meal. In June 1966, King Faisal of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

visited Washington, D.C. President Lyndon Johnson hosted a state dinner at the White House, and the menu included filet of sole almondine, roast sirloin and duchess potatoes.

References

{{Potato dishes Potato dishes Baked foods French cuisine

History

See also

References