Salt Potatoes?

[grislyatoms]

Just heard of these recently, they sound interesting. Apparently they have been popular in New England for some time.

Small new potatoes boiled in salt-saturated water and served whole with melted butter.

The reviews make them sound really tasty.

http://foodgeeks.com/recipes/recipe.phtml?recipe_id=6273

[mtnbkr]

Interesting.  Might have to give them a try.

Chris

[K Frame]

I've had them many times like that. Most often they're done with fingerling potatoes.

[280plus]

Salt Peanuts? Bear with the beginning and watch this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RF7E4JnyUo

[Gewehr98]

I never get tired of that snare drum brush duel between Steve Smith and Jeff Hamilton! 

[280plus]

Me neither. 

[Manedwolf]

Just heard of these recently, they sound interesting. Apparently they have been popular in New England for some time.

Small new potatoes boiled in salt-saturated water and served whole with melted butter.

The reviews make them sound really tasty.

http://foodgeeks.com/recipes/recipe.phtml?recipe_id=6273

Use Maine new potatoes. :9

And...yeah, popular for just several hundred years, give or take.

[roo_ster]

Really, is there any reasonably prepared combination of taters, salt, and butter that can taste bad?

[erictank]

Just heard of these recently, they sound interesting. Apparently they have been popular in New England for some time.

Small new potatoes boiled in salt-saturated water and served whole with melted butter.

The reviews make them sound really tasty.

http://foodgeeks.com/recipes/recipe.phtml?recipe_id=6273

Been eating them (infrequently) since I was a small kidlet in the Syracuse, NY area - very popular at the State Fair and at Dad's volunteer-fire-department field days.  I make them (again, infrequently) now to go with steak, usually, the wife and kids love them (Lori comes from the Ithaca NY region, so she's familiar with them from childhood, as well). 

I generally use a big pot filled 2/3 full of water or so (maybe 5 quarts or so, I don't measure it), plus a CUP (not a pound) of salt, for a 24-oz container of new (red) potatoes, and it comes out virtually perfect. VERY tasty stuff - and not terribly good for you, hence the infrequent preparation  .

[CNYCacher]

Salt potatoes are bite-size "young" white potatoes scrubbed and boiled in their jackets. Salt is added to the water to the point of saturation, giving them their name, and unique flavor and texture. After cooking, salt potatoes are served with melted butter.

Salt potatoes are a regional dish of Central New York, typically served in the summer when the young potatoes are first harvested. They are a staple food at fairs and barbecues. In this region, potatoes specifically intended to be made into salt potatoes can be purchased by the bag along with packages of salt during the summer months. Hinerwadel's is the most popular brand.[1] Bags can be bought, usually around $5 in most supermarkets.

The Syracuse, New York area has a long history of salt production. Salt springs located around Onondaga lake were used to create consumable salt that was distributed throughout the northeast via the Erie Canal. Salinated water was laid out to dry on large trays. The salt residue was then scraped up, ground, and packaged. Salt potatoes were created in the nineteenth century by Irish immigrants working the springs who cooked their potatoes in the salty brine. The first packaged salt potatoes were sold in the 1960s.

Having grown up in and around Syracuse, I never knew that this wonder of culinary wonders was a local thing.  I was at a company picnic in Eagan, MN during an internship as a junior in college when I asked "Where are the salt potatoes?" 

Around here, barbecues and all manner of outdoor eating simply does not take place without a big batch of salt potatoes.  You can't walk into a super market here in the summer without bumping into a huge display of them.  Hundreds of 5-lb bags, salt packet included, will be stacked right by the door.  You'll still find them somewhere in most stores all year round as well.