Here are a few things I thought I knew about mashed potatoes. Cook them in boiling water. Add the butter before the milk or cream so that the fat coats the potatoes and protects them from being overworked. Treat them gently. I was wrong on all counts.

Chef Julia Totzauer at L’Office, a Paris bistro, recently gave me a lesson in pommes purée. We headed downstairs to a small galley kitchen—it is amazing how many chefs produce great food in tiny kitchens—and she started by baking unpeeled potatoes on a bed of salt to fully dry them out. She sieves them while still hot, dries them out in a saucepan, and then whisks in hot salted milk, and not gently. Then, in goes the butter which is cold, not melted or warm. And, once again, a bout of serious elbow grease whisking. How can this produce great mashed?

Well, I can only say that it does produce a super smooth, silky, luscious puree of potatoes that, I hate to admit it, was better than the mashed I had been making for the last half century. The most remarkable thing about this recipe is the texture—it is not fluffy; it’s super smooth, delicate, silky and a version of mashed potatoes that can be streaked artistically across a dinner plate instead of being plopped down in a big dollop as if one is standing in line in a mess hall.

We made only minor adjustments, dispensing with the bed of salt and using a potato ricer instead of sieve. We added a bit of white pepper to the milk along with the salt. (Adding salt to the milk distributes it more evenly according to Julia.) It can be made up to three days in advance and then reheated gently without adding additional liquid.

As I said, they do it all wrong but it turns out great.

Chris Kimball

Christopher Kimball is founder of Milk Street, which produces Milk Street Magazine, Milk Street Television on PBS, and the weekly public radio show Milk Street Radio. He founded Cook’s Magazine in 1980 and was host and executive producer of America’s Test Kitchen until 2016. Kimball is the author of several books, including "The Yellow Farmhouse" and "Fannie’s Last Supper."