Hash browns

I’ve always believed that the humble hash brown is the unsung hero of the British breakfast, despite its American roots in the late nineteenth century. When you buy a box of shop-bought hash browns for around two pounds, you’re paying for a highly processed disappointment. They are essentially reformed potato dust held together by palm oil, dextrose, and a litany of stabilisers, resulting in a greasy, cardboard-like puck that lacks any real potato flavour. Making them from scratch is a revelation. The secret lies entirely in the technique: grating the potatoes, extracting every last drop of moisture, and shaping them with nothing but a little flour and seasoning. The most common pitfall is failing to squeeze the potatoes dry; if they are wet, they will steam instead of fry, leaving you with a soggy, disintegrating mess. I prefer to grate them, salt them heavily to draw out the water, and then wring them out in a clean tea towel until they are practically bone-dry. Once shaped, freezing them individually on a tray before bagging them up means you can fry them straight from frozen whenever the craving strikes. There is a profound satisfaction in transforming a few cheap, humble spuds into a crispy, golden masterpiece that shatters perfectly on the outside and yields to a fluffy, steaming interior. It is a testament to the fact that with a little patience and zero shortcuts, you can easily outshine the freezer aisle.

Storage times are a guide — always use your judgement and store food safely.