I Say Potaato

'You Say Potato', by Elgy Gillespie (Wolfhound £5.99)

This book is a pure blast of culinary passion on the noble subject of potatoes (cor, the passion is breaking out all over Megabytes ­ see Paul Flynn's article), which is just as one would expect from a member of a cookery writer's club called ­ wait for it ­ the Bitchin' Kitchen Vixens.

Of course, many will remember Elgy Gillespie as a sharp prose shooter for The Irish Times for many years, and since she moved to San Francisco ­ where she teamed up with the BKV's ­ that sharpness hasn't dimmed a jot. Just look at the way she describes her friend's 'Lox Soup Isadora', a delightful shot of Jewish penicillin with spuds and salmon, as 'a typical Bubbula-type soup, quick and insultingly good'. Demon!
So, you can take the London-Irish girl out of Ireland, but you can't take the spuds out of an Irishwoman's kitchen, no matter where in the world it may be.
The recipes here are stunningly good because they are not just fun, they are useful and practical; every student should have a copy of 'You Say Potato!' just so they can struggle through campus life. A smashing book, and at this price a complete steal, so buy one for a friend.

Japanese-American Potato Salad

Do you remember that hilarious stuff out of a tin that used to be known as 'Russian Salad'? It was the one exotic touch in the dreary salads of my childhood ­ those terrible, exhausted compost heaps that included weathered, caterpillar-gnarled exterior leaves of elderly iceberg lettuces, beetroot slices out of jars, and huge lumps of salty ham. But how I adored that Russian Salad! I even secreted tins for furtive midnight feasts with a jealously guarded Bunty. But now my pal Hawaiian Rose whips up this variation with a flick of her practised wrist. She calls it 'Japanese-American' because it's popular in the Japanese-Hawaiian circles where she lived as a little girl in Hawaii.

450g or 1lb potatoes (all-purpose)
1 medium carrot
2 green onions (scallions), sliced
225g or 8 oz or half cup frozen green peas, uncooked
Salt and pepper

Dressing
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender but still firm. Drain, peel and cut into smallish cubes. Shred the carrot on the serrated hole of a grater. Toss the potatoes with the carrot, green onions and peas. Mix the dressing and stir it into the potato mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds over the salad before serving.