Nah, we have both riced and mashed -- they're two different things. Riced potatoes are only very roughly mashed up rather than done until they're perfectly smooth; the little potato bits that result look sort of like rice grains. It's mainly a texture difference, and the two are served pretty much the same way.

Right.

A ricer is a food or grain mill, but operating on the "squeeze hard and push cooked bits through tiny holes for total smoothness" principle, instead of the "turn handle and grind" principle. Semantics, really. (edit: you have to put them through a ricer several times for total smooth - one time leaves ricey-sized bits)

Deena, hysterical filk, but what is"Courtship of Eddie's Father", please? I have no reference point damnit.

It's very important that you pronounce it "Neff Orf" if yuo want the proper Windsor cred.

But she didn't, did she? Truly, I'm remembering vaguely that that was why everyone was so finger-pointy and snickering behind their hands about it. Little Princess Posh-Knickers and her own accents for that phrase.

Today is my neglect everything but writing day, and what am I writing? Filk! Bad Television Theme Song Filk! Ya'll have utterly corrupted me.

Oh, The Courtship of Eddie's Father is a 60s television show. Bill Bixby was the father, Brandon Cruz the son. A single dad, japanese housekeeper, theme song played over them dancing in waves at sunset and buying ice cream, or something like that. I loved that show when I was a kid.

Ricers go against all laws of God and mashed potatoes. The only thing a ricer should be used for is making applesauce, and if you're putting potatoes in your applesauce, either you're Iron Chef Morimoto or you're doing it wrong.

(Potatoes were the big ingredient on Iron Chef recently. All the commentators were like, "That's guaranteed to bring out the natural flavor of the potato!" Ha ha ha.)

ugh, sounds like lumpy custard. I'll stick to mashed potato, thanks.

t Homer mmmm .... mashed potato t /Homer

I use the ricer for mashed potatoes when, and only when, the potatoes are being used in another recipe - in shepherd's pie, for instance, where the amount of butter in minimal and the texture important because they're baking for half an hour afterwards, to be browned.

For just eating? Good old fashioned wrist destroying mashing is best, I find.

Ricers go against all laws of God and mashed potatoes. The only thing a ricer should be used for is making applesauce, and if you're putting potatoes in your applesauce, either you're Iron Chef Morimoto or you're doing it wrong.

Oh, is that what a ricer looks like? Yeah, we used that for applesauce, but not potatoes.

(Learn something new every day. Mmm, homemade applesauce.)

Freak that I am, I hate mashed potatoes (and, really, anything that soft and mushy). On the other hand, I adored the Iron Chef Potato Battle.

Nigella reckons a ricer is the best way to make mash. Nigella can't be wrong.