Hello and happy Monday!

First of all, a big welcome to all my new subscribers. I’m seeing this newsletter grow by the day, and I can’t begin to tell you how happy it makes me. I appreciate it immensely when you share my posts or take the time to comment—it truly keeps me inspired to continue bringing you content I hope you’ll enjoy.

To celebrate this growth, I’ve reduced my yearly subscription to just $30 until the end of June. And first-time subscribers will get an additional 10% discount on top of that. Don’t forget: when you subscribe, I’ll send you a free PDF copy of my mini cookbook, Plant-Based Eating With Joie de Vivre.

But now on to today’s post, which was inspired by a rather busy weekend—finishing the editing for the July/August issue of DUTCH, finalizing an interview with an artisan for the Homo Faber Guide, and prepping for next week’s trip to Puglia, where I’ll be one of 12 international wine judges at the annual Radici del Sud event.

To say I’m excited is an understatement. Not only is this an immense honor, but it’s also a golden opportunity to learn more about Italian wines, explore more of beautiful Italy, and meet some of my international colleagues. Luckily, aside from some lingering inflammation, my foot is healing well—which is a huge relief, as I really can’t afford to miss these kinds of opportunities.

For those interested, make sure to follow me on Instagram, where I’ll be posting lots of behind-the-scenes footage from the seven-day event, which I’ve heard described as a “wine-tasting marathon.”

Between prepping for the event and winding down my other tasks, I haven’t had much time to cook fancy meals, so I’m resorting to easy dishes: soups (which I batch cook), simple pastas (see my Instagram for the orecchiette con cimi di rapa I made yesterday), and meals made with the humble potato.

I was reminded of the potato’s numerous culinary virtues a few summers ago when I discovered a seemingly simple dish at one of the market stalls in the Provencal town of Vaison-la-Romaine. Next to a selection of cooked vegetables, I spotted what looked like röstis, the traditional Swiss pancakes made with grated potatoes and often served with eggs, cheese, and other hearty toppings. These palm-sized patties, however, called “criques” and hailing from the Ardèche, needed no embellishments, I was assured by the vendor. I purchased two, frankly not expecting much more than grated, fried potatoes, but my biases were soon dispelled. Once you bite through their golden and crisp outer layer, criques taste like garlic-infused, fluffy mashed potatoes. Truly, they are a work of culinary artistry—one of the many—with potatoes in the leading role.

Potatoes are indigenous to the Andes region of South America and were introduced to Europe by the Spaniards in the 16th century. Originally met with suspicion, they were believed to be poisonous and better suited as pig feed. Luckily, toward the end of the 18th century, potatoes gained acceptance as a highly nutritious food source. In fact, in 1787, Antoine-Augustin Parmentier (French army pharmacist and one of the greatest potato advocates) was said to have organised a sumptuous potato banquet at Les Invalides in Paris in an attempt to prove their nutritional and gourmet merit.

Throughout history, this humble tuber has been one of the most versatile ingredients in cooking, forming the cornerstone of diets across the globe in all their wonderful shapes and colors. While in the Western world, we are fond of the white varieties, for example, in Asia, Africa, and South America, preference is given to the sweet potato. Especially intriguing and chock-full of anthocyanins (pigments with powerful antioxidant properties found in purple, dark-red, and blue foods) is the beni imo, a purple sweet potato that is one of the staples of the Okinawan diet, believed to be one of the healthiest in the world.

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Nevertheless, thanks to the war on carbohydrates in recent years, potatoes are sometimes unfairly shunned when, in fact, it isn’t the potato that is unhealthy or fattening, but rather the way it is prepared. A baked sweet potato, brightened up with a spritz of lemon or lime, topped with a dollop of yogurt and garnished with finely chopped chives or dill, cannot be put into the same category as a cone of salty, deep-fried potatoes (as delicious as this certainly is from time to time). Naturally low in fat, potatoes are a great source of fiber, potassium, and vitamins B and C. Plus, they are so budget-friendly.

Perhaps one of my favorite potato dishes is a focaccia of purple vitelottes. Unlike the sweet and starchy beni imos of Japan, vitelotte potatoes have a distinctly nutty taste and a denser texture. Simply make your favorite focaccia bread recipe and crown it with a layer of paper-thin slices of vitelotte potatoes that have been coated in a peppery olive oil mixed with crushed garlic. Scatter with rosemary and sea salt flakes and bake as usual. Cut into small squares, the potato focaccia is a handsome accompaniment to a robust vegetable soup, but it’s also delightful on its own, warm out of the oven and paired with a rustic Chianti.

But now on to those criques ardéchoises…

This is one of those recipes that shines with its rustic simplicity. It only calls for five ingredients, and it’s perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. For breakfast or brunch, I would recommend serving them as is. For lunch, try them with a green salad. Come dinnertime, they’ll be a gorgeous side dish next to roast vegetables.

Criques ardéchoises
Makes 4