POTATO RIBBON.—­Potato ribbon is simply ordinary fried potatoes, in which the raw potato is cut in the shape of a ribbon.  You take a potato and peel it in the ordinary way.  You then take this and, with not too sharp a knife, peel it like apple, making the strip as long as you can, like children sometimes do when they throw the apple peel over their shoulders to see what letter it will make.  You can go on peeling the potato round and round till there is none left.  These ribbons are thrown into boiling oil, and must be removed as soon as they begin to turn colour.  When piled up in a dish they look very pretty, and with a little pepper and salt, and a squeeze of lemon-juice, make an excellent meal when eaten with bread.

POTATO SAUTE.—­This dish is more frequently met with abroad than in England, except in foreign restaurants.  It is made by taking the remains of ordinary plain-boiled potatoes that are not floury.  These are cut up into small pieces about the size of the thumb, no particular shape being necessary.  They are thrown into a frying-pan with a little butter, and fried gently till the edges begin to brown; they are served with chopped parsley and pepper and salt.  The butter should be poured over the potatoes, and supplies the fatty element which potato lacks.

POTATOES A LA MAITRE D’HOTEL.—­These are very similar to potato saute, the difference being that they are not browned at the edges.  Small kidney potatoes are best for the purpose.  These must be boiled till tender, and the potatoes then cut into slices.  These must be warmed up with a spoonful or two of white sauce (see WHITE SAUCE), to which is added some chopped parsley and a little lemon-juice.  A more common way is to boil the potatoes, slice them up while hot, and then toss them about in a vegetable-dish lightly with a lump of what is called Maitre d’hotel butter.  This is simply a lump of plain cold butter, mixed with chopped parsley, till it looks like a lump of cold parsley and butter.  When tossed about squeeze a little lemon-juice over the whole and serve.

POTATOES, NEW.—­New potatoes should be washed and the skin, if necessary, rubbed off with the fingers; they should be thrown into boiling water, slightly salted, and as a rule require from fifteen to five-and-twenty minutes to boil before they are done.  During the last few minutes throw in one or two sprigs of fresh mint, drain them off and let there dry, and then place them in a vegetable-dish with the mint and a little piece of butter, in which the potatoes should be boiled to give them a shiny appearance outside.

New potatoes can also be served with a little white sauce to which has been added a little chopped parsley.

POTATO BALLS.—­Mash some boiled potatoes with a little butter, pepper, salt, chopped parsley, chopped onion, or still better, shallot, and add a few savoury herbs.  Mix up one or two or more well-beaten eggs, according to the quantity of potato, roll the mixture into balls, flour them, and fry them a nice brown colour, and serve.