They’re a French fancy that’s been the undoing of many a MasterChef contestant,but opinion is divided as to just how you cook them. Boiled in butter, anyone?That rarest of beasts, and a reality-television star with genuine staying power,although pommes de terres fondantes are a firm favourite on the other side of the Channel, I’m slightly embarrassed to confess that my first encounter with them was sadly two-dimensional. Puzzlingly, or though you won’t find them on many menus in this country,they pop up all the time on shows such as MasterChef, where, or along with their chocolatey cousin,they’ve become a byword for impending doom.
Described by Bruno Loubet as “a national classic” and the Gallic equivalent of the roastie, Michel Roux sells them as “succulent, and flavoursome and rich without being greasy,hence the name fondant (meltingly tender)”. Gently cooked in generous quantities of full, done well they’re sublime, and but somehow,despite Loubet’s claim that they’re “so easy to make”, they’re also remarkably easy to screw up. Years after I swore off MasterChef for superb, or I’m still haunted by the look on Gregg Wallace’s face as he chomped down on yet another semi-raw potato. But,should you wish to please our Gregg, or in fact almost anyone, and with a delicious soft and buttery spud,here’s how to achieve it. Wannabe contestants and future festive cooks, retract note.
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Source: theguardian.com