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Food · World Cuisine
The Potato Quiz: 12 Questions Only a Certified Carb Lover Can Ace
Hasselback or scalloped? Gnocchi or latkes? Chips or crisps? Twelve questions about the world's most important vegetable — and the wildly different dishes humanity has made out of it.
The potato is one of about a dozen foods that genuinely changed human history. There are thousands of varieties, dozens of major national dishes made from it, and a truly astonishing number of ways to cut, cook, and serve the same starchy tuber. Here are twelve questions — some easy, a few mean — for the people who think they know their spuds.
Question 0 of 12
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Question 1 of 12
Which potato dish is sliced paper-thin and deep-fried until crisp and salty?
Potato chips. Or "crisps" if you're British. Invented in 1853 in Saratoga Springs, New York, allegedly as revenge against a diner who kept sending his fries back for being "too thick."
Question 2 of 12
What's the Italian name for the small dumplings made by mixing mashed potato with flour?
Gnocchi. Pronounced "NYO-kee," not "guh-NOTCH-ee." A staple in northern Italy, traditionally made with a fork-print on each piece so sauce clings to the ridges.
Question 3 of 12
Which potato dish is sliced accordion-style — almost all the way through, but not quite — before roasting?
Hasselback potato. Named after the Hasselbacken restaurant in Stockholm, where it was invented in the 1950s by a culinary student. The accordion cut gives you crispy edges on every slice while keeping the interior tender.
Question 4 of 12
Which potato dish layers thin slices in a baking dish with cream (and often cheese)?
Scalloped potatoes. Technically, "scalloped" refers to the sliced-and-creamed version, while the version with cheese is called "au gratin." In home cooking, the terms have mostly blurred together.
Question 5 of 12
How are tater tots actually made?
Grated, formed, deep-fried. Tater tots were invented in 1953 by the Ore-Ida company as a clever way to use up the leftover scraps from making French fries. They've outlasted the company's other innovations by a lot.
Question 6 of 12
What makes "curly fries" curly?
A rotary blade. Specifically, one that spiral-cuts a whole potato around its core. The result is one long, continuous curl, which gets cut into smaller ribbons before frying. Arby's popularized them in the 1980s.
Question 7 of 12
What's the typical base of classic American-style potato salad?
Mayonnaise. The German version (Kartoffelsalat) is vinegar-based and arguably older. The American mayo-based version took over in the early 20th century and is now the default at any US summer cookout.
Question 8 of 12
Traditional hash browns are made from potatoes that are:
Grated or shredded. The word "hash" actually comes from the French hacher, meaning "to chop." Classic hash browns are grated or shredded, pressed flat, and griddled crisp on both sides.
Question 9 of 12
What's the difference between steak fries, French fries, and shoestring fries?
The thickness. Shoestring is thinnest (matchstick-width). French fries are the medium standard. Steak fries are thick-cut — wider and softer inside. "Waffle," "crinkle," and "wedge" fries are all also technically just cut-shape variations.
Question 10 of 12
What's the main technical difference between mashed potatoes and whipped potatoes?
Whipped are beaten with a mixer. Which is also why they can go badly wrong — overbeating releases the potato's starch and turns the whole thing into glue. Mashed by hand is harder to ruin.
Question 11 of 12
Which variety of potato is traditionally considered best for a classic, fluffy mash?
Russets or Yukon Golds. They're "starchy" or "all-purpose," which lets them break down into a fluffy, airy mash. Red and new potatoes are "waxy" — they hold their shape, which is great for salads and roasting, but makes for a gummy mash.
Question 12 of 12
"Boxty," "rösti," and "latkes" are all regional versions of what dish?
A potato pancake. Boxty is Irish, rösti is Swiss-German, and latkes are a Jewish dish traditionally eaten at Hanukkah. Three cultures, three names, almost the same crispy griddled grated-potato disc.