Michael Caine’s recipe for perfect English roast potatoes

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Actor Michael Caine has been involved in several restaurant ventures

But he also loves to cook.

In his autobiography(see below) he doesn’t only give us stories from his fascinating life and career, he also passes on some of his favourite cooking tips.

To make proper English roast potatoes, he says, the important thing is to choose the right variety.

He strongly recommends Maris Piper.

He admits though that Mayan Gold, although slightly more tricky to use, are ‘more classy’.

To proceed, take  roasting tin and add plenty of olive oil, a couple of cloves of garlic and a bunch of fresh rosemary.

Set aside to allow the flavours to mingle.

Boil the potatoes. For Maris Piper, boil for ten minutes, but if you are using Mayan Gold, reduce the time to just five minutes. Strain them and allow them to dry.

Then you’ll need to thoroughly dry the pan that you used for boiling the potatoes, add the potatoes and shake the pan until the surface of the potatoes is broken up and they look fluffy.

Now remove the rosemary and the garlic from the olive oil in the roasting pan. Add the potatoes and ensure that they are evenly coating with oil.

At this stage the oil is still cold, you haven’t pre-heated it.

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Michael says that this is the stage at which he can hear chefs objecting but he insists that this is the method. Sprinkle celery salt over the potatoes and place the roasting tin into the over which should be preheated to 180ºC.

These will need to cook for one anda half hours.

If you’re going the ‘classy’ route and using Mayan Gold potatoes, then these won’t take as long- about an hour.

He describes these potatoes as ‘a wonderful treat’.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jackie Jackson, also known online as BritFlorida, is a highly experienced designer and writer. British born and now living in the USA, she specialises in lifestyle issues, design and quirky stories. You can see a wide range of articles here, or visit her website Tastes Magazine. See The Writer’s Door for more information.