Mashed Potato

We had mashed potato (along with other things) for dinner last night. Mashed potato is a comfort food in our household, along with P&H soup & porridge for brekky, are favourite winter time foods. Every time I make mashed potato I am transported in time and space to Yanghsuo, China. 

It was December 1992 and we were on our honeymoon in China. I had the equivalent of Bali belly, but rather, China belly and couldn't eat any of the yummy delicacies on offer. The only food I craved, of all things, was mashed potato! It is a comfort food to me and when feeling ill, seems to have some magical healing properties that makes me feel better. 

Potato is not a staple food of China as no doubt you already know. Rice is. Potato is not used in their cooking with any popularity so finding potatoes can be somewhat of a challenge. When we lived in Tainan, Taiwan, I was soon given the title of, 马铃薯 太太 pronounced, Malingshu Tai Tai (Mrs Potato) by the morning market ladies, as I would come and buy all their potatoes! They charged me a ridiculous price for them too, but I didn't care, as long as I got my potatoes! 

Yangshuo sits nestled on the Li River surrounded by picturesque volcanic peaks

So here we were in Yangshuo, China, a beautiful, beautiful part of the world, feeling crook as a dog on our honeymoon! And all I wanted to eat was mashed potato. We went to a few restaurants asking in our limited Chinese if they could make, 'mashed potato'. With a few rejections, we found somewhere that could. I still remember the lovely young waitress (she looked only about 12yrs old) being so hospitable, sweet and kind, finding it very odd that 2 westerners would order such a strange and boring dish when they had such exotic other dishes on offer. 

But it was the best mashed potato I have ever eaten. We were of course a little dubious as to how the mashed potato would be made and presented, but we were not disappointed! They had put crushed garlic in it, true to Chinese cuisine, garlic is in everything. We went back everyday we were in Yangshuo and ordered a plate of mashed potato! So we have been eating mashed potato with garlic every since. 

It was when I started singing the Wiggles song, Mashed potato, Mashed potato, in the shower on my own, that I realised it was time to go back to work. Anyone else who has had toddlers in the past two decades would have grown up on a stable diet of the Wiggles also and their songs have a funny way of getting stuck in ones head! We would happily sing-along together my four and I to the Wiggles in the car, or on TV, but on my own, just taking it a little too far! 

Cherishing funny family memories and family favourite foods. If you live in Queensland, enjoy your Ekka show day holiday.