The Humble Potato

I'm from Idaho so I know a thing or two about potatoes. My grandfather was a foreman of a farm for decades, where they grew potatoes.  I joke with my new family here in the UK that potatoes run through my veins and I need at least a weekly intake so I don't die! (A bit melodramatic I know.)
Growing up, potatoes were served at least once a day in our household.  Mostly because my mother and aunt who worked at a potato warehouse received a free 10 lbs bag of potatoes each payday.  So we had 20 lbs of potatoes to use every 2 weeks.  Thanks to my mothers ingenuity and the constant supply of potatoes even in the tough times we didn't go hungry.  Maybe got a bit bored with the diet of potatoes and bologna but there was always at least one meal on the table each day.  Bless my mother and her amazing ability to turn the potato into a million different things. Sure we had the usual: baked, fried, and mashed.  But when the pantry allowed she unleashed her creativity and we had things like colcannon, potato soup (Nana's secret recipe), potato au gratin, scalloped potatoes, potato bread, gnocchi, potato hash, potato pancakes made from leftover baked potatoes, and more. My mother's potato repertoire was endless.  She kept us alive on potatoes, and even though I've probably eaten my weight in potatoes at least 100 times over I still love them.
It wasn't just my household that revolved around potatoes, my grandparents were very much meat and potatoes people.  Of course being a foreman of a potato farm leads

to a lot of free potatoes so my grandmother put all those potatoes to good use. I remember many a meal at my gram's house consisting of meat, fried potatoes, and a side of veg and I loved it every time.  When I stayed with my great grandmother to keep her company and look after her the potato diet continued, my favourite of hers being hash browns and potato soup.  She made the most wonderful hash browns. Golden and crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy inside. Never clumpy or greasy, just potato perfection.  My Nana's potato soup will forever be my absolute favourite of all time and nothing compares to it. It is also a guarded secret family recipe.  I remember when Nana and I would do our monthly shopping trip to the local Kmart we would almost always stop into the cafe for lunch and I would always have the same thing, mashed potatoes and gravy.  So you can see that my love of the potato is deeply rooted.
Lucky for me I moved to another country where the potato also plays a big role.  Enter the British potato, lovely baked ((known as a jacket potato here) with filling such as baked beans and cheese, coronation chicken,  tikka masala, and on it goes), roasted potatoes so crispy on the outside and deliciously soft and fluffy inside served with Sunday roast, the occasional mashed, but on the top of the list is the chip.  Oh the chip shop chip! The fact that there is something even called a chip shop (aka chippy) should tell you something. British chips are; well; they are amazing!!! If your American, take everything you think you know about the chip (known there as a french fry) and toss it out the window.  I'm not talking about McDonald's, Wendy's, or any of those fast food versions that sell over processed, mashed potatoes formed to look like a stick, I'm talking about real potatoes cut fresh and fried.  Back home there are only two places that I know of that have a fighting chance against the British chip; Five Guys and Tastee Treat. Both delicious, but there is just something about the British chip.  Not overly greasy, perfectly crispy on the outside, fluffy inside, scooped onto a piece of paper sprinkled with salt and wrapped tightly.  You can also get them in a paper cone of chips with a wooden fork and eat them then and there.  One of my favourite treats is fish and chips from our local chippy. Due to allergies I get my fish grilled rather than deep fried but come on lets face it, the meal is mostly about the chips.
I've been craving chips for nearly a week now and I'm fairly certain I'm going to cave soon (especially after writing this post). Luckily I had potatoes last night in the form of gobi aloo so I have some potatoes coursing though my veins and I'm not at risk from potato withdrawals for the next 48 to 72 hours.