McCain Goose Fat Potatoes

Sun 18 Nov 2007

Yes, you read that right - McCain roast potatoes basted in goose fat. And yes, you'd be right if you thought this wasn't quite an Eating Leeds type thing. Still, I'll give almost anything a try and we decided to try these out with some lamb chops, roast potatoes and white cabbage spiced up with caraway seeds.

Since I can't recall eating any roast potato out of the freezer before I have nothing against which to compare these. They are marketed as an easy, quick alternative: a store cupboard stand-by (but in your freezer).

Now, I am a lazy potato roaster (heat oil in roasting dish, put potatoes in, leave for about an hour, turn every now and then - they always seem to come out ok) but I know plenty of people par-boil for a fluffy, rough edged, crisp potato - in which case these will definitely save you time. They can go straight in the oven in their container or (according to the instructions) you will get crispier potatoes if you empty them on to a baking tray.

The potatoes looked impressive (the slightly blurry photo doesn't do them justice!) and certainly they were crispy with fluffy, smooth centres. To me they were almost more like potato croquettes in goose fat. We both quite liked the flavour but found it salty (they get an amber traffic light for salt). Something that is also worth pointing out is that these potatoes do contain wheat (they are actually covered in a batter) - which is not something I expected in a roast potato!

A 400g pack costs about £2. This seems pretty pricey: at the market you can usually pick up 5lb of potatoes for about 50p and a quick search shows that goose fat is around £2.50 for 300g. But then, I don't think these are pretending to be an economical option!

You can probably tell I'm a little unconvinced but I also know that in the real world the enthusiasm with which I approach food preparation is not exactly normal. With Christmas just around the corner, these are no doubt going to be quite a winner. And if you find yourself suddenly, randomly having to cater for extra people having a pack in the freezer certainly won't go astray!

tagged with: potato, mccain

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