By Karen Hursh Graber, writing from Mexico
From a 10,000-year-old cave in central Peru to the trendy modern menus of Europe, the humble potato has taken a culinary journey with some significant stops along the way—one of which was Mexico.
Although the presence of wild potato plants in Mexico indicates that the country lies within the potato’s area of origin, it was not grown there until the 16th century, when Spanish explorers brought cultivated varieties from South America, where it was considered the major sustenance food of the Andes.
The fifth largest crop in the world (after wheat, corn, rice and sugar cane) is known scientifically as solanum tuberosum, and in Spanish as patata or papa, its original name in the Quechua language of the Incas.
Although there are over 4,000 varieties of potatoes, the ones most commonly used in Mexico are the thin-skinned alpha and, more recently, small new potatoes, both red and white. A marble-size potato, known as papa cambray, can be found in many Central Mexican markets, including Mexico City’s Mercado San Juan, where many restaurant chefs source ingredients.
A VERSATILE STAPLE IN RESTAURANT KITCHENS
Potatoes show up on Mexican menus as bar snacks and appetizers, soups and side dishes. They are widely used as a filling for masa-based favorites such as tacos and taquitos, gorditas and molotes. Their mild flavor offers a blank canvas for the addition of stronger ones (chiles and chorizo, for example), while their smooth texture complements street snacks ranging from soft, steamed tacos de canasta to crispy, fried molotes poblanos.
Tortitas de papa, or potato cakes, are another specialty of street stands and market stalls, where customers gather around to get them hot off the griddle. Seasoned with onion and queso fresco, they can be served with salsa, with crema and extra cheese sprinkled on top, on their own or as a side dish.
These beloved, and quintessentially Mexican, potato street foods are often adapted or reinterpreted in restaurants as appetizers or small plates. Examples include the potato tacos dorados and flautas at Café Rama in San Miguel de Allende, and the potato tacos de canasta, sometimes called tacos al vapor, at Puebla’s El Mural de los Poblanos.
And the chistorra envuelta en patata, or potatoes stuffed with sausage, at Mexico City’s J, by Chef Jose Andres, has essentially the same flavor profile as the potato and chorizo molotes of Oaxaca, which are torpedo shaped and less crunchy than their Puebla counterparts.
Andres’ J restaurant has several potato offerings, featuring a food that was brought to Europe by the Spaniards, and brought back to the Americas in new and sophisticated ways. A menu section at J, called Spain Meets Mexico, features queso fundido, or cheese fondue, with salt-crusted papas arrugadas (or “wrinkled potatoes”) for dipping.
Other items on the menu are tortilla de papa, a Spanish tortilla made of potato foam, eggs, and the Mexican flor de calabaza, or squash blossom; potato croquettes filled with Spanish sausage and goat cheese; and patatas bravas, a Spanish tapa that has been reinterpreted in Mexican homes and restaurants as papas bravas con chile de arbol. At Entre Tierras in Puebla, they are served as a side dish, and at Oaxaca’s Expendio Tradicion, they are a bar offering, flavored with the local chilhuacle chiles. Also in Oaxaca, Origin restaurant tosses the potatoes with a different regional chile, the cuicateco.
Another popular restaurant dish is papas quebradas, also known as papas reventadas or papas rotas, meaning “broken potatoes.” These twice cooked potatoes, first boiled and then flattened and fried with seasonings, are usually served as a side, such as the accompaniment to the beef arrechera at Casa Oaxaca Café.
Small, baby new potatoes are often combined with herbs and presented as side dishes with main courses, such as the grilled octopus with baby potatoes and cilantro at Mexico City’s Raiz; the achiote chicken with rosemary potatoes at the city’s Zefiro; and the pork leg with new potatoes at Puebla’s La Textileria. Zefiro also serves papas encurtidas, or potatoes in vinaigrette, with fish, reinterpreting the familiar bar snack, this time as a side dish. The versatility of potatoes means that they can appear just about anywhere on a menu, except dessert.
They often show up in soups, like the sopa poblana at Entre Tierras, which contains potatoes, leeks and poblano chiles, making a Mexicanized version of vichyssoise. And at Puebla’s Toscalia, a cream of potato soup with leeks and bacon is on the menu.
POTATO TIPS FOR RESTAURANT KITCHENS
Economical, versatile, and a good foil for stronger flavors, potatoes have earned a place in several Mexican menu categories. Here are a few tips for using them in your restaurant:
- Use potatoes in place of rice, especially with grilled meat and poultry. Fresh herbs such as cilantro, parsley and rosemary add color and taste to potato sides without overwhelming the flavors of the entrée. Serve potatoes in vinaigrette as they do in Mexico, not just as a bar snack, but as a table snack, along with the chips and salsa.
- List tortitas de papa as a separate side, the way many restaurants do with fries and baked potatoes—both now standard dishes on many menus in Mexico. Offer a choice of Mexican toppings such as poblano chile strips, chicharron or queso fresco as baked potato toppings.
- When buying potatoes, keep their intended use in mind. Idaho and russets work best for baked potatoes, while smaller, firmer new potatoes make for attractive plating with meat and poultry, as well as for salads such as the Mexican standard potato salad known as ensalada rusa.
- Store potatoes in a cool, dry place. Avoid refrigeration, which will turn them brown on the inside, and keep potatoes out of sunlight, which will promote sprouting. Do not wash potatoes before storing, as moisture will cause spoilage. A perforated bag, whether paper or plastic, is best for extending shelf life.