My madeleine!

When I think of what my madeleine or food that is connected with me, for whatever reason I think of mashed potatoes. I have no idea when I first ate potatoes, most likely when I was a small child since they are mashed, but they have always been a food that I have loved and considered a comfort food. My dad always jokes that I am the meat and potatoes girl while my brother is the veggie boy; I guess that might have been helped along by my love for mashed potatoes.
While potatoes did come from South American natives originally and were brought to Europe by some of the first explorers, potatoes are often associated with Ireland. Since potatoes are not a new food and mashed potatoes have been around for most likely just as long, there isn’t really any way to determine who first had the idea to mash the starch.
Most mashed potato recipes are made with milk and/or butter and sometimes cheese to keep the potatoes moist but I am not a part of the norm and prefer them made with the potato water that they were originally cooked in. Obviously water doesn’t give quite the creamy texture or flavor but that was what I was raised on and so that I the way I take my potatoes! Due to this pickiness of mine I often don’t enjoy potatoes that are made commercially as much as I enjoy ones that are homemade, especially by my family. While I can eat, and sometimes enjoy, mashed potatoes that are made with more ingredients than simply water and seasoning, my one absolute is that they have to be made with “real” potatoes. I will not eat mashed potatoes that are instant and made from flakes; even if the flakes are dried potatoes I find the texture and flavor to be drastically different and not for my palate.
I am fortunate enough to enjoy a food that is well known in the culture that I am a part of and is at least known, if not well, in many other cultures across the world. Though my pickiness may limit me, mashed potatoes are my madeleine, the food that I have had for so long I don’t remember the first time and that when they are good, I thoroughly enjoy!