Calabria: ‘mpacchiuse’ potatoes.

Serves 4

1 kg Sila potatoes
250 g Tropea red onion
60 g extra virgin olive oil
Salt

Calabria: ‘mpacchiuse’ potatoes. Peel the potatoes and cut them into slices of about 3 millimetres. Peel the onion, cut it first in half and then into slices of less than half a centimetre. Pour the oil into a pan, add the potatoes and season with salt. Cook for 8/10 minutes with the lid closed without stirring. Add the onions and continue cooking for a further 20 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the potatoes do not stick to the bottom. Complete cooking without the lid for another 15 minutes over medium heat, without stirring the potatoes very often. Serve the ‘mpacchiuse potatoes on a serving dish while still hot. This dish dates back to 1600 when the Discalced Carmelite friars introduced the potato to Calabria from the New World. The ingredients are poor (potato and onion) but their combination cooked in this way takes the taste of both to very high levels. The main characteristic of the Sila potato is the high percentage of starch it contains, so if you cannot find Sila potatoes, look for one with plenty of starch inside. For a classic and traditional pairing, choose a dry and fresh white wine, perhaps a Greco di Tufo or Falanghina, which go well with the delicate flavours of the potatoes.