Wednesday, March 06, 2013

l'aligot

One of my absolute favorite things, un vrai aligot de l'Auvergne. I have been doing a lot of cooking lately and I did this last week...this is the ultimate winter potato and cheese experience! Pretty basic ingredients: I used a form of cheese that is like a young cheddar, as in the video below, it was a Tomme Frais de Larzac, but you could use a more aged cheese as well. I have made it using a youngish Cantal, which is very much like a white American cheddar type cheese. You also need a clove or two of garlic and milk and of course, potatoes. You can see the magic happen in the video below. As you start to work the mashed potato and the cheese it develops a "ribbon" or in the vernacular, le ruban de l'amitie. The technique is fairly simple but really theatrical if you have an audience!
Okay, got that? A little something you can try at home, but if you want to be macho, here's how the big boys do it!

2 comments:

bj said...

MAN! I got hungry as HAY-ull watchin' her make those cheesy mashed potatoes! I love the way (correctly) she adds the ingredients one at a time and mixes them in after adding. Izzat a side dish, or the main course? Looks filling as all get out and I'd prolly just cut some crusty bread to go with it ... and some wine. Thanks for the recipe ... I'ma try that shit! petite version de pot, naturellement….

microdot said...

It often is a main course...we eat a lot of really heavy stuff in the winter. The Auvergne starts less than a kilometer from here and I can see the peaks of the Massif Central in the distance. I also make something called Tartiflette....potatoes, onions, reblochon cheese, cream and white wine and of course the kind of bacon we call lardon...I have to post that recipe. Tartiflette is a regional recipe from the Alps, but it is really popular here, so popular that a few years ago, McDonalds featured a McTartiflette burger...don't ask...I never did.