While we cook all year round, this is the season in which we enter into a cooking frenzy. In addition to preparing our daily regular meals, we also have to cook to entertain and for the potluck events we will attend. Some of us will be able to get away with making our “specialties”, you know, that one dish for which we are well known and on other occasions, we will be scratching our heads wondering what the heck to make.
The holidays are all about tradition so I rarely fuss about trying new dishes. I find that task to be stressful at this time of the year with everything else one has to do; therefore, I opt to add twists and switch out one ingredient or ingredients for others.
Such is the case with this mashed tania. Tania is a ground provision that looks like eddo but is not. The skin on tania while hairy, tends have a shine as opposed to the eddo that is matted and hairy.
This year, how about mixing and switching things up like I did here. Instead of using regular English potatoes to make mashed potatoes, I used tania. Each ground provision used this way will yield different textures when cooked and mashed, in this case, tania is drier than English potatoes, which I do not mind at all. The addition of butter, cream, milk, Greek yogurt or sour cream can all enhance the texture (and flavour) to suit your taste. Besides, the nutrition value is better. Of course the addition of any, a combination, or all of the aforementioned ingredients will increase the caloric value.
Before I get to the recipe, here are some combinations and swap outs that you can make when thinking of making mashed potatoes.
- Equal portions of sweet potatoes and English potatoes
- All white or yellow-flesh sweet potatoes
- Two-third portion of English potatoes and one-third portion of eddoes (with this combination, the mash is amazingly creamy)
- Breadfruit and English potatoes
Apart from the dairy add-ins, roasted garlic, finely chopped scallions/green onions, parsley, caramelized onions and a variety of cheeses can be incorporated into the mash.
Tania Mash
INGREDIENTS
- 3 pounds tania
- Water
- Salt to taste
- Ground white pepper (black can work too)
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- Thinly sliced scallions/green onions
DIRECTIONS
- Peel tania, cut into large chunks and add to a pot. Cover the tania with water, cover the pot and place on high heat and bring to a boil. When the pot comes to a boil, add salt to taste. Cook until a knife inserts easily.
- Drain cooked tania well and add back to hot pot. Add ground pepper and mash until smooth.
- Transfer mashed tania to a serving dish, drizzle with melted butter, garnish with scallions and serve hot.
NOTE
- Leftover mashes can be mixed with an egg, formed into balls or patties and fried. If the mash is plain (as this one is), herbs, and finely chopped cooked meats can be added to the mixture before frying.
