Weeks 4 & 5 Continued...

So other than my slight disaster of a dinner party (at least that's how I saw it, no matter how great of a time my company had), weeks 4 & 5 at chef school were dedicated to potato and vegetable cookery.  For potato cookery, we learned about the different uses for the different types of potatoes - generally categorized as either waxy or starchy/mealy.  Waxy potatoes, such as the well-known red-skinned potatoes, are low in starch content, and thus hold their shape well after cooking.  Waxy potatoes are most often used as boiling potatoes, in potato salads, and in such dishes as scalloped potatoes. 
Potatoes with a high starch content, on the other hand, bake well and yield light and fluffy mashed potatoes.   Russet potatoes, used for french fries and recognized as the classic baked potato, are highest in starch, while Yukon gold potatoes (another popular example of a mealy potato) are also high in starch and thus good for baking and mashing, but have a much smoother and creamier texture, and a slight buttery flavour.  In addition, classic long white potatoes have a medium starch content, and are the kind of potato most people keep in their pantry as an all-purpose.

I found this list of potatoes (courtesy of foodsubs.com) and their use very informative:

Best for baking:   russet potato

Best for potato salads, gratins, and scalloped potatoes:   Yellow Finn potato, new potato, red-skinned potato, white round potato, and purple potato

Best for mashing:   russet potato, Yukon gold potato, Caribe potato, and purple potato

Best for soups and chowders:   Yukon gold potato, Yellow Finn potato, red-skinned potato, white round potato, and purple potato

Best for pan-frying:  red-skinned potatoes, white round potatoes, new potatoes, and fingerling potatoes

Best for French fries:   russet potato, purple potato, Bintje potato

Best for purees:  fingerling potatoes

Best for roasting:   new potatoes, Bintje potatoes

Best for steaming:  new potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes

Best for potato pancakes:   russet potato, Yukon Gold potato

In class, we learned how to make Savoyard(e) potatoes, the perfect french fries, and we also learned how to pipe potatoes.  To pipe potatoes, you have to first make Duchesse potatoes, which are like mashed potatoes (without any added liquid) to which you combine two egg yolks.  It is crucial to pipe potatoes when they are still hot, as they stiffen as they cool.  Piping potatoes is certainly something that takes quite a bit of practice.  Chef Mac made it look so incredibly easy, but warned us that we would all have quite a bit of trouble.  It would be impossible for me to go into accurate detail about the whole procedure, and probably pointless considering no one pipes potatoes in the culinary world anymore - it being seen as outdated and old-fashioned.  I will however say this: piping potatoes is a lot harder than it looks, especially if you've never done it before! We piped little cone-shaped mounds, and we piped little bird's nests that we then filled (with a tomato concassee and shallot mixture). 
To make the prefect french fries, one MUST use russet potatoes, due to their starchy texture, and one MUST first blanch the fries before frying them to give them colour.  This two-step process is critical, as it insures the creamy/mealy, soft texture one finds in the middle of a french-fry.  One deep-fries the cuts of potatoes at a temperature of around 250 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-15 minutes, or until the fries are soft to touch.  Then, when ready to serve, you want to fry them again at a temperature of about 375-400 degrees Fahrenheit to get the nice crispy, golden finish fries generally have. 
Savoyard potatoes are like scalloped potatoes that are cooked in broth, rather than milk or cream.  You thinly slice the potatoes, either with a mandolin or a chef's knife, and then layer them carefully in a pan/casserole dish with swiss or gruyere cheese.  You cover them in broth and place them in an oven at 400-450F and leave tem until they are cooked through and the gruyere has become a gratinee. 

While I admit these potato dishes were important base steps in learning how to cook a wide variety of potato dishes, I can't help but think about how little we've learned that will actually be relevant in the field.  We are learning the classic french style of cuisine, an incredible foundation for our future cooking techniques as chefs, but how often will we make piped or savoyard potatoes when we're working in a restaurant? Likely, not often.