"Never trust a person who doesn't like potatoes."
Raghavan Iyer was joking, but only a bit.
The Mumbai-born author, cooking instructor and restaurant consultant had potatoes on his mind, as he should while on a book tour with his new volume. The spectacularly named "Smashed, Mashed, Boiled and Baked – and Fried, Too! (Workman, $16.95, 250 pages) is as delightful as its title, an immersion into Iyer's obsession with the lowly spud, which he pushes to its creative limits.
The author of five books on Indian or Asian cooking — and a James Beard Award winner — has shifted gears in this new publication to focus on an ingredient that finds its place at dinner tables throughout the world.
You know the predictable potato drill for Americans: potato soup, potato salad, hash browns in the morning, mashed on the holidays, fries all day. In another author's hands, these recipes would be limited to the perfect way to prepare the vegetable.
Iyer offers that, too, of course, but given his mastery of flavors and wizardry with spices, we're in for a treat. Think Cheesy Tarragon Tots, Water Chestnut Potato Potstickers, Moroccan Potato Stew With Saffron Biscuits.
He stuffs chiles rellenos with potatoes, builds "nests" of the shredded vegetable to hold a stir-fry and creates layers for lasagna with slices that sub for pasta. He steams potato-chive buns and bakes a savory version of Danish aebleskivers. The recipes go on to include 75 ways you never dreamed of preparing the world's favorite vegetable.
And still, all those recipes later, in a recent interview not far from his Minneapolis home, he reached for a French fry at a restaurant.
