Aligot

Before You Start

Young tomme fraîche only. Mature cheese will not stretch.

A ricer, never a processor.

Beat hard for several minutes. It changes suddenly.

Cooking Aligot

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1. Boil the potatoes in salted water 25 minutes, until completely soft. Drain and steam dry for 2 minutes.

   Mark done Start 2 min timer

2. Pass them through a ricer straight back into the hot pan. Never use a food processor.

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3. Beat in the butter over low heat until it disappears, then the warm cream and the garlic.

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4. Add the tomme a handful at a time over low heat, beating hard with a wooden spoon after each.

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5. Keep beating. After 4 or 5 minutes the mixture will change character and become elastic and glossy.

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6. Lift the spoon: it should draw long ropes that do not break. Beat in the salt and pepper.

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7. Serve immediately, straight from the pan, while it is still stretching.

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Why It Works

Only young, unripened tomme fraîche stretches — a mature cheese has broken down proteins that will not form the long strands aligot is made of, and Cheddar or Gruyère simply give you cheesy mash. The potatoes must also be riced rather than mashed and kept genuinely hot, because the beating has to be vigorous and sustained for several minutes and a cooling mixture will never come together.

Leftovers, Reheating and Keeping

Best immediately. It sets hard and loses its stretch permanently on reheating.

If You're Missing Something

• In a sauce, full-fat crème fraîche can usually take the place of the double cream; single cream is thinner and more likely to split if it boils, so keep it below a simmer.
• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

What to Serve Alongside

• Toulouse sausage
• A green salad
• A glass of Marcillac

Nutrition per Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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