Pommes de terre a l’économe

Fried balls of mashed potato, minced meat, and herbs

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City/Region: France

Time Period: 1794-1795

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Antoine Augustin Parmentier had many food-related achievements under his belt, including working to extract sugar from sugar beets, creating new forms of refrigeration, and making a more edible version of hardtack (*clack clack*). He is best known, however, for his tireless campaign to legitimize and popularize the potato. And it worked!

These potato balls from the French Revolution remind me of the dish hachis parmentier, a casserole similar to a shepherd’s pie. Minced meat is combined with mashed potatoes and herbs, then they’re dipped in egg and flour and fried. Delicious! If you’re not too fussed about historical authenticity, use some bread crumbs or panko for the coating and you’ll get a crunchier crust.

“Pommes de Terre à l’Économe
When the Potatoes are cooked and peeled, mash them well with a wooden spoon, make a minced meat, boiled or roasted, put a little butter, salt, pepper, parsley, chives, chopped shallots, one or two eggs: put your Potatoes in as large a quantity as you have minced meat, mix everything together, form medium-sized balls, dip them in a little egg white that you have reserved from those you have used, flour them and fry them: serve them garnished with parsley or with a sauce.”

— La Cuisinière Républicaine, by Madame Mérigot, 1794-1795

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Ingredients:

• 2 lbs (1 kg) starchy potatoes, I used Yukon gold
• 1 lb (450 g) cooked meat, I used leftover roast
• 3 tablespoons (45 g) butter
• 1/4 cup minced parsley
• 1/4 cup minced chives
• 1/4 cup minced shallots
• 1 teaspoon salt, more or less to taste
• 1 teaspoon pepper, more or less to taste
• 2 eggs, separated
• Sifted flour, for coating
• Lard or other oil, for frying

Instructions:

1. Peel and cut the potatoes into about 1” cubes. Boil them until tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Mince the meat fine. A food processor works well for this.
3. Drain the potatoes, then return them to the pot and mash them.
4. In a large bowl, mix the meat with the butter, salt, pepper, parsley, chives, shallots, and 2 egg yolks. Add the meat mixture to the potatoes and mix until evenly combined. You want about the same amount by volume of potatoes as you do meat, but this doesn’t need to be exact.
5. Roll the mixture into balls a little bigger than a golf ball.
6. Heat 2 to 3 inches of lard or oil in a pot to 370°F (185°C).
7. As the oil heats, whisk the egg whites until it starts to froth. Dip each ball into the egg white, then into the flour, making sure that they’re fully coated.
8. Fry 3 or 4 at a time for about 3 minutes. Remove them to a wire rack set over paper towel to drain.
9. Serve them forth.

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