On Food and Cooking

all of them involve cooking the potatoes
whole or in pieces, crushing them to a more or
less fine particle size, and lubricating and
enriching the particles with a combination of
water and fat, usually in the form of butter
and milk or cream. Some luxurious versions
may be almost as much butter as potato, or
include eggs or egg yolks. Mealy types fall
apart into individual cells and small
aggregates, so they offer a large surface area
for coating by the added ingredients, and
readily produce a fine, creamy consistency.
Waxy potatoes require more mashing to
obtain a smooth texture, exude more gelated
starch, and don’t absorb enrichment as easily.
The classic French pommes purées, pureed
potatoes, are made from waxy potatoes, pieces
of which are pushed through a fine sieve or
food mill and then worked hard — to the point
of having what an eminent French cookbook
writer, Mme Ste-Ange, called a “dead arm” —
first alone and then with butter, to incorporate