Hey Brad, here is a thread on salt potatoes. I think I had these at just about every clambake I went to growing up in Central NY (and that's a lot of clambakes!).
Cheeseburger
203 Posts
Posted - 07/29/2006 : 18:22:30
While salt potatoes have been mentioned on this board before, I haven't seen a discussion about them. OK, so I went to Dinosaur BBQ in Manhattan today and I should be raving about the brisket or hot links. Instead the lowly side dish of salt potatoes got me excited (I don't get out much). A little research and I found some interesting intrigue.
http://www.cnybj.com/fullstory.cfm?article_id=3415&return=frontpage.cfm and a place that will ship the real thing
https://secure3.nyhost.net/~hannibaliga/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=30 Adjudicator
Filet Mignon
4285 Posts
5/20/2007
Posted - 07/29/2006 : 18:51:36
"Salt potatoes are small potatoes boiled in salt water and served with melted butter. The side dish dates to the 19th century and is alleged to be a creation of Irish immigrants working in Syracuse’s salt industry. While creating the product that made Syracuse the “Salt City,” workers boiled their potatoes in the abundant brine. The method survived the decline of the area’s salt business and remains a local favorite."
I don't see a lot of issues concerning this. Boiled potatoes and butter
fabulousoyster
Double Cheeseburger
569 Posts
Posted - 07/31/2006 : 12:43:20
Kozel, if salt potatoes interest you, try a Salt-Baked potato also, using Idahos.
Al-The Mayor-Bowen
Administrator
7882 Posts
Posted - 07/31/2006 : 12:49:52
We love those salt-water-boiled and well-buttered little red devils ! One of our favorite ways to enjoy spuds!
They make a great potato Salad, also!
billyboy
Cheeseburger
391 Posts
Posted - 07/31/2006 : 14:57:26
Oh, yeah! I grew up near Syracuse and live in NYC now. Most of my friends down here couldn't imagine what I was talking about. I had salt potatoes at every clambake and cookout growing up. I was soooooo happy to see them on the menu in Harlem! Love the spicy twist on them too!
Sundancer7
Administrator
7972 Posts
Posted - 08/01/2006 : 06:25:40
quote:
Originally posted by fabulousoyster
Kozel, if salt potatoes interest you, try a Salt-Baked potato also, using Idahos.
I am not sure if what I do qualifies as a salt baked potato but I take a potato of choice, oil it down, cover it with salt and pepper, take rings of onions and bell peppers, cover it in aluminum foil and bake it for about a hour at 425F.
The residual gravy with the onions and peppers and olive oil is super over the finished product.
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN
Greyghost
Double Cheeseburger
567 Posts
Posted - 08/01/2006 : 08:01:19
The only salt potatoes I recall are potatoes that have been heavily salted before being packaged. I bought a bag years ago to experiment with this novelty. My assumption was that this was an old fashioned method of preserving potatoes. I also assumed that one would want to decrease the salt as much as possible. With these assumptions I treated them much as one would a country ham; long soaking in water then boiled. They were still very salty, I could not imagine why one would want even more salt added to them.
These do not seem like the salt potatoes being discussed here as there is no mention of them being pre-salted in the thread. Are they the same or is what I bought a different product entirely?
MapEat
Junior Burger
7 Posts
Posted - 08/02/2006 : 16:19:43
Hi Greyghost, the pre-salted potatoes you describe are definitely not "salt potatoes," as eaten in Central and Northern New York state. (They sound interesting though -- I'm curious what they were all about. Doesn't seem like you'd have to 'salt' potatoes to preserve them, does it?)
I grew up about 60 miles north of Syracuse in the 1980s, and then as now, salt potatoes are an omnipresent summer side dish, particularly at outdoor picnics and get-togethers. I remember often seeing big vats of the things boiling on top of a gas grill, right beside the hamburgers and hot dogs.(And often trying to eat them on styrafoam plates with plastic forks -- not the most handy.) I took them for granted and didn't realize they were a regional item until I moved away. Incidentally, my family's not Irish, nor do we have any Syracuse roots. I thi
Adjudicator, saying salt potatoes are are just potatoes and butter is like saying french fries are just potatoes and frying oil. First off, the salt is really important. You boil the taters in super-salty water. This changes the texture of the skins, which come out kind of perforated and slightly brittle. The flavor of the potato flesh is already good, since they're small, 'new' potatoes, but somehow the salt-cooking enhances it. I'm not sure how else to explain the essence of salt-potato-ness. Can anybody else help?
My mom and aunts always served parsley butter -- a little pitcher of melted butter with mounds of chopped parsley drowning in it -- at the table with salt potatoes. There's no more perfect summer meal in that region than home-battered and -fried Lake Ontario perch side-by-side salt potatoes smashed on the plate and covered in parsley butter.
John A
Double Chili Cheeseburger
1761 Posts
Posted - 08/03/2006 : 08:25:17
quote:
Originally posted by Al-The Mayor-Bowen
We love those salt-water-boiled and well-buttered little red devils ! One of our favorite ways to enjoy spuds!
They make a great potato Salad, also!
Try them with garlic butter.
John
billyboy
Cheeseburger
391 Posts
Posted - 09/08/2006 : 03:06:37
Here's a c;assic serving of salt potatoes I had last month at the New York State Fair in Syarcuse. Salty with a nice pool of butter to drown them in:
Just like I remember at all the clambakes I went to as a kid!
TheHotPepper.com
Cheeseburger
313 Posts
Posted - 09/08/2006 : 04:11:51
The one's at Dino's rock!
Jimeats
Double Chili Cheeseburger
1879 Posts
Posted - 09/08/2006 : 05:01:37
I do the same as Sundancer with the exception of, I wrap a couple of slices of bacon on it and add fresh garlic. If you buy those bakers at Costco it becomes a meal in itself. They come out great on the grill. Chow Jim
roossy90
Filet Mignon
4724 Posts
Posted - 09/08/2006 : 13:58:31
quote:
Originally posted by Adjudicator
"Salt potatoes are small potatoes boiled in salt water and served with melted butter. The side dish dates to the 19th century and is alleged to be a creation of Irish immigrants working in Syracuse’s salt industry. While creating the product that made Syracuse the “Salt City,” workers boiled their potatoes in the abundant brine. The method survived the decline of the area’s salt business and remains a local favorite."
I don't see a lot of issues concerning this. Boiled potatoes and butter
I do that all the time..I didnt know I was supposed to call them "salt Potatoes".. I just called them boiled potatoes...
Pardon my Faux Paux.
Edited by - roossy90 on 09/08/2006 13:59:28
quote:Originally posted by Brad_Olson quote:Originally posted by billyboy
I always love the mini iceberg wedge with Bar-B-Blues dressing and the Syracuse style salt potatoes.
I'm not familiar with this style of potato but in the photo they look interesting...could you explain it, please? Thanks!
Brad
