Secret To The Best Mashed Potatoes Comes From Central New York

How can you have the best of the best mashed potatoes imaginable? Central New York cooks weigh in to share their top secrets.

Mashed potatoes won't betray you, they won't hurt you. They are only there to build you up. How do you make the best mashed potatoes?

First- A Brief History Of Mashed Potatoes

Where did this dish from the food Gods come from? According to Kings River Life, sources have conflicting points in history when we started mashing potatoes:

Some sources say the actual recipe for mashed potatoes originated in 1771 when a French man named Antoine Parmentier held a competition on ways to make potatoes. Other sources say that it was the English who came up with mashed potatoes and gravy, somewhere in the 1600s."

Some sources also credit the Incas. The Food We Know is one of those sources:

They were first a staple for the Inca Empire, and for the Spaniards who conquered the Incas and remained in Latin America mining silver. Sailors who returned to Spain from the Andes brought potatoes back along with the silver, and historians have speculated that potatoes not eaten on the voyages were taken ashore and planted before the end of the 16th century."

 

What Are The Delicious Secrets Of The Best Mashed Potatoes?

According to You Gov, mashed potatoes are the 2nd most popular American dish. That must mean there are a billion different ways to enjoy them. What are your secrets to a successful bowl of mashed potatoes? We asked this question to Central New York on social media and got the following answers: