A Fiend for Food

Pommes what?

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FRENCH CLASSIC SLICED POTATO DISHES

Pommes Anna? Boulangere? Lyonnaise? They're all starting to blur into one for me, and I still mix them up, no matter how long I cook. Recipes for each are plentiful on the internet - first, slice your potato, etc. - but I find myself having to look up the different versions each time before deciding what I want.

So here's a quick guide to the main classic sliced potato dishes in a single place. I've listed them in order of the number of ingredients.

	Pommes Anna. The simplest of all sliced potato dishes, because it's just potatoes and butter. Lots and lots of butter. Recipes vary, but commonly the potatoes are sliced and fried gently in butter. They are then layered in an oven dish, with each layer getting a good seasoning and another coating of clarified butter. Baked until soft, the dish should, traditionally, be set firmly. They are sliced into potato cakes (almost like a tortilla Espagnol) and served with roasted meats. Consider their popularity and use similar to that of our roast potatoes. Beware variations on this recipe: pommes anna are valued for their simple beauty, un-garnished and unadulterated.
Pommes Boulangere. "Baker's potatoes" apparently, seemingly because the dish was baked in a cooling bread oven. Well perhaps. Either way, they're delicious and next up the line in terms of ingredients and complexity. Boulangere is sliced potatoes, seasoned and layered in a baking dish, covered in hot chicken stock and cooked in the oven. I've taken to: greasing the dish with a little butter first and topping off with a little duck fat for extra richness; using a shallow, wide dish to avoid it turning into potato soup; and reducing the temperature and increasing the cooking time so that the potatoes cook more gently and evenly. Recipes often call for the layers of potatoes to be alternated with layers of sliced onions - and they are right for a good dish does it make. However, if we are sticking to the classic recipe, leave the onions out.
	Pommes Lyonnaise. Very similar to boulangere potatoes, but (and like the variant suggested at the end) they must be cooked with onions to be Lyonnaise. The name, which obviously comes from the city of Lyon, can be applied to several dishes that are cooked with onions, but is most traditionally reserved for that of sliced potatoes. This time, the potatoes should be sauted along with the onions in clarified butter. They shouldn't go anywhere near the oven, but you may find that the potatoes require the lightest par-boil in advance to get the best results. Season and serve and that is it.
Pommes Sarladaises. A slightly more complex variant in that the ingredient list has moved up to four: sliced potatoes, duck fat, garlic and parsley. Despite the claim of some recipes, this is not pommes anna with the butter exchanged for duck fat. The method is not even close, and the results very different. Slice the potatoes, of course, and fry them in duck fat, turning the potatoes to lightly colour them all over. But when coloured, they stay in the pan with the heat turned down, are covered with a lid and cooked very gently, poaching them almost, until they are soft and delicious. Seasoning is in the form of very finely chopped parsley and garlic, which, along with salt, should be gently stirred into the potatoes before serving. From the Dordogne department of France - particularly around the town of Sarlat, from which they apparently draw their name - sarladaise potatoes are often served with duck confit.
	Pommes Dauphinoise. The most ubiquitous of all the pommes dishes, but also the most complex. Butter and oven dish and rub a cut garlic clove all over it - actual garlic in the dish can overpower it. Slice the potatoes and layer them with seasoning in the dish. Cover with heated cream, or, if you're feeling in the mood for something a bit lighter, milk and cream, and bake in the oven until the potatoes are cooked and the top golden. Traditionally not topped with cheese, but feel free. Gruyere is probably the best bet.
Pommes Savoyarde. OK, so it's more often know as tartiflette, but that wouldn't have fitted with the "pommes" theme. It's also got the most ingredients of any of these dishes - potatoes, cream, lardons, cheese and sometimes onions as well - and is well on the way to being a stand-alone dish rather than an accompaniment. Saute some lardons first, with sliced onions if you wish (although originally not), and then slice your potatoes. Layer the potatoes in a buttered baking dish, seasoning each, and scattering them with lardons and cubed Reblochon cheese. It should be Reblochon because the dish was invented relatively recently by the Reblochon producers' cooperative to promote their product. Thoughts of keeping the dish true to the "traditional" recipe can be happily dismissed therefore. But don't be put off: this is firmly established dish the Savoie-specialist restaurants of Paris and will no doubt become a classic in time.