Tipsy Potatoes

Source: Martha McCulloch-Williams, 1913

History

"Tipsy Potatoes" is recorded in Martha McCulloch-Williams's "Dishes & Beverages of the Old South" (1913). Rather large potatoes are peeled and cut across into round slices about half an inch thick, packed into a baking dish "with plenty of sugar, and butter, mace, yellow lemon peel, pounded cloves, and a single pepper corn." Half a cup of boiling water goes in, and the dish bakes covered until a fork pierces; then it is uncovered, a glass of rum added, and kept hot but not too hot until serving.

The single peppercorn is the detail worth keeping — a cook's touch, not a measurement, in a dish otherwise built on sugar and spice.

The historical record does not document a specific earlier origin for this particular preparation.

"Dishes & Beverages of the Old South" is a mixture of recipes and plantation reminiscence. McCulloch-Williams was a white writer born near Clarksville, Tennessee, who grew up on a plantation before the Civil War; the book's dedication is "to our Mammys," and much of the cooking it records is the work of enslaved and formerly enslaved Black women it does not name.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Choose rather large potatoes, peel them, and cut across into round slices about half an inch thick. Pack these slices in a baking dish with plenty of sugar and butter, mace, yellow lemon peel, pounded cloves, and a single pepper corn. Add half a cup of boiling water, cover the dish, and bake until a fork easily pierces the potatoes.
  2. Uncover the dish, add a glass of rum, and keep hot (but not too hot) until serving time.
  3. Alternative preparations: Use half a pint of claret in place of the boiling water. Or mix a glass of sherry with a spoonful of cream and add it to the dish five minutes before serving. Sweet cider, lemon juice, or orange juice may also be substituted for the alcohol, though the author notes that rum or whiskey is superior to all other options.

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