“Orlan­do” Potatoes

(serves four)

4 medi­um potatoes

1 shal­lot, chopped very finely

sea salt and pepper

duck or goose fat, olive oil or clar­i­fied butter.

This divine recipe is adapt­ed from my friend Orlan­do Mur­rin’s heav­en­ly “A Table in the Tarn: Liv­ing, Eat­ing and Cook­ing in South­west France,” a mem­oir of his time as a hote­lier in France.  His ver­sion are quite small and there­fore very quick­ly cooked.  Our ver­sion are larg­er, for a sub­stan­tial side dish.

Peel the pota­toes and cut them into very small match­sticks, whether on a man­dolin or by hand, first slic­ing the pota­toes very thin­ly length­wise, then pil­ing the slices and slic­ing them very thin­ly the oppo­site direc­tion.  Set aside until you are about 10 min­utes away from want­i­ng to eat.

When ready to cook, you will find that the pota­toes have giv­en off a quan­ti­ty of water.  Drain the pota­toes thor­ough­ly and squeeze as dry as you can by plac­ing them on a tea-tow­el — twist­ing and wring­ing as much as pos­si­ble. Mix with the shal­lots and plen­ty of seasoning.

Heat 2 tbsp fat in a large fry­ing pan and put in 4 hand­fuls of pota­to, shap­ing as rough cir­cles. Mod­er­ate the heat if nec­es­sary, but after 3–4 min­utes they should have start­ed to stick togeth­er and the under­side to go brown. Flip them over using a palette knife or spat­u­la and cook the oth­er side the same way. They will not be very tidy or reg­u­lar but they will taste delicious.