Don't Sweat the Aubergine

you prepared to go to avoid glueyness in your mash? Method 1, with its two stages of cooking, is recommended by Heston Blumenthal and Jeffrey Steingarten. Some day, when my diary is empty, I might try it.
    Glueyness comes from starch gel that has leached from broken-down cells. After 40 minutes in 70°C water, the cells expand; when you put the potatoes into cold water, the cells bond, and are less likely to rupture. Then you can cook and mash the potatoes safely.
    2 • Peeling . Jeffrey Steingarten is reassuring on this point. It is not true, he says, that most of the nutrients are in the skin or immediately below it. There are plenty in the rest of the potato. That is welcome news, because it means that there is no good reason to follow those who tell you to cook the potatoes in their skins. How large are these cooks’ saucepans, which can accommodate, say, half a dozen large King Edwards and the water to cover them? Because the potatoes are big, their outsides cook some time before their interiors do. Then there’s peeling the hot potatoes, a task that I am not dextrous enough to accomplish without scorching myself and getting little sticky bits of peel all over the place. By the time I’ve peeled six potatoes, they are almost cold; as you may have noticed, cold potatoes firm up. You have to bash them up harder, breaking the starch cells: result, gluey mash.
    3 • What potatoes, and how many? Select a floury, maincrop variety, such as King Edward and Maris Piper. Some say that Desirée, which may be a little waxier than other maincrop varieties, do not mash so well, but I’ve had perfectly acceptable results with them.
    The term ‘waxy’ is used to describe the firmer consistency of new potatoes. Joel Robuchon, creator of the most celebrated mashed potato in the world, uses a waxy variety. Waxy potatoes contain less starch; but I, lacking Robuchon’s skill (and not wanting to use as much butter and cream as he does), have found that they produce a more gluey result, perhaps because mashing them requires greater force.
    I use about 900g potatoes for 4 people, with a fairly indulgent 75g or so of butter.
    4 • Slicing the potatoes . If you leave them whole, the outer part of the potatoes will be overcooked before the inner part has softened; the cells in the overcooked potato will be likely to break. If you cut up the potatoes into tiny pieces, you risk overcooking and waterlogging them; you’ll also lose a good many nutrients to the cooking water. Slices should cook more evenly than would chunks.
    5 • A cold water start . See Boiled potatoes, here .
    6 • When they’re ready . The potatoes you’re going to mash have to be soft, of course; but you need to catch them at the moment between their getting tender and falling apart. As I say above, starchy cells in overcooked potatoes will break, leaking gluey stuff into your mash.
    7 • How to mash . Drain the potatoes, then return them to the hot pan for a minute, to allow some water to evaporate. Don’t bash them about and break up starch cells. Then mash.
    Delia Smith suggests you mash potatoes with a handheld, electric whisk. I am sure that Delia has never made gluey potatoes in her life, but I do not recommend her technique; again, it risks smashing the starch cells, releasing the gel. Certainly, you must never try putting the potatoes into a food processor. The blades will convert them into wallpaper paste.
    A hand-held masher has the drawback of forcing you to mash portions of potato several times as you seek to obliterate all the lumps. Several experts recommend potato ricers; but I don’t possess one. I use a food mill ( see here ), which produces a smooth, unsticky result. Joel Robuchon, apparently, forces his milled mash through a sieve.
    Reheating mash needs care: while it will withstand a beating from a wooden spoon, it will turn pasty if you cook it again. Put it on to the lowest heat, with a heat disperser preferably, and stir it regularly and gently; warming it in the oven may be a safer option. Don’t reheat for longer than 10 minutes.
ROAST POTATOES
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HOW TO MAKE THEM
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    Turn on the oven to gas mark 6/200°C, put some fat 1 into a roasting pan and put the pan on to a high shelf. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Meanwhile, peel and cut up your potatoes 2 into pieces of whatever size and shape you like. Add them, and salt, to the saucepan, bring the water back to the boil, and simmer for 5 minutes. 3 Drain, put the potatoes