Marco Pierre White’s ‘1 second’ method makes potatoes ‘extraordinary’

Marco Pierre White has revealed the ‘one second trick’ everyone can use to perfect their boiled potatoes. A staple in many recipes, boiled potatoes are popular as they’re simple yet tasty.

However, families might not realise there’s a simple method they can use to level up their spuds, and it takes no time at all. Marco Pierre White shared the tip during a demonstration for BBC Maestro, which was later shared on the channel’s TikTok page.

The chef and TV personality said that you should ‘treat water like a sauce’, and this involves seasoning it and tasting it. The video was titled: “Marco Pierre White reveals the secret to perfectly boiled potatoes.”

In the clip, the expert explained: “So there’s our potatoes, peeled to perfection. Lemon juice, not to flavour them, to retain that colour. Salt. Dissolve the salt in the water and then taste the water, don’t just take it for granted throwing some salt in. Perfect. On the stove. Treat water like a sauce.”

He continued: “Taste, taste, taste because if you underseason them at the beginning, they’re going to be underseasoned at the end. So question why we’re doing what we’re doing.

“It takes a second of your life, but the difference it makes to your life is extraordinary. Because when you eat something in life, it’s all about the emotional impact it has on you.

“It’s about where it takes you. Boiled potatoes, we place the lid on simply just to bring them to the boil. Then there’s no need for the lid. When you check potatoes, check several of them, I reckon they will take about 10 more minutes. But when you cook potatoes, remember, the potato is the hero. It’s all about the potato. It’s about making potatoes taste of potato.”

The video proved to be very popular with social media users on TikTok. The post earned over 300,000 views and 14,000 likes. One fan commented: “Marco Pierre… A true maestro!”

However, another viewer said: “My wife cooks them unpeeled, unsalted. Peels them off and salts later. They come up like campfire potatos. Best ever.”

In another video for BBC Maestro, the chef turned his attention to zucchini. He told viewers: “One of my favorite cuisines in the world is Italian. There’s always one irresistible side and that’s called a zucchini fritte. So let’s show you the secret of making the perfect zucchini fritte.

“Two slices from each side. Then I just cut them. They don’t have to be 100% perfect. As you see, I leave the skin on and drop them into full-fat milk and just drain them. So just work the batons of milk-soaked courgettes, and what we’re making is the finest of batters.”

He concluded: “There we are. Let’s give it a little shake and dust off the excess flour. Right. We’ll submerge them now. So after about 4 minutes of cooking, drain them onto a cloth. Just season with table salt very quickly, and there we have it.”