Cheesy mashed potatoes have been part of the all-American culinary vernacular for as long as I can remember. Michel Bras has made aligot potatoes famous in restaurants. Perhaps my first exposure to making the cheesy mashed was during my first professional job at a country club, making the filling for twice-baked potatoes. My first introduction to aligot potatoes was at Clio when Ken asked the kitchen what they were. No one knew, and he sent us home that night with the assignment of finding out what they were. Back then, it was much more difficult to do culinary research. It actually took us several days to root out what the preparation of potatoes was, and I believe it was several months later before we learned of Michel Bras and his “trademark” on the preparation. For those without the ability to use a search engine, aligot potatoes are a blend of potatoes and Laguiole cheese combined to create a stringy, stretchy potato puree. At Michel Bras’ eponymous restaurant, his mother still makes the potatoes for the patrons. Enough with the backstory. The other day, it became cold for a brief moment, and I was struck with the craving for aligot potatoes. Unfortunately, we had no Laguiole or Cantal cheese on hand, but we did have my heartthrob, smoked mozzarella, and so I went to work. The potatoes were cooked, riced, and enriched with butter. When they were close to butter saturation, I started folding in smoked mozzarella. The result was a potato preparation reminiscent of aligot but with a very non-traditional twist. It is extremely delicious and is now a staple in our repertoire.
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