Salt Potatoes

[Forevermarypoppins]

My friend from Syraruse, NY described them to me once, so I know of them but never ate them.

 

[DLgal]

I don't like boiled potatoes in any form. I bake/roast all my potatoes by coating with light olive oil and generously sprinkling kosher salt all over them before roasting at 400. They come out amazing with crispy skin every time. I love salt and they have the perfect amount. This is how steakhouses always make potatoes.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Salt potatoes are an upstate New York thing, I think they started in Syracuse. My wife and her mother introduced them to me when we first started dating. You can use any small potato and boil them in heavily salted water, you don't even need a special "salt potato" kit or anything. We use kosher salt when we make them (which is usually only a few times every summer)

And dip them in melted butter as you eat (instead of tossing). In fact, I would argue they are better as cold leftovers.

Great with speedies, another upstate New York staple.

 

[focusondisney]

I’m outside of Buffalo & in my 60’s. I first remember seeing salt potatoes at food stands at local fairs & carnivals when I was in my late teens or early 20s. Our grocery stores have carried them as long as I can remember. I never realized they were a regional thing.

 

[QueenIsabella]

The only time I had salt potatoes was at a restaurant in upstate NY. They were so salty as to be inedible. We complained to the waitress--nobody in our party of 10 could eat them--and she just kept saying, "They're salt potatoes." Yeah, sure, but does that mean they're supposed to be so salty that you can't eat them? One person in our group said that salt potatoes referred to a certain type of potato, like a russet or a Yukon Gold. They were so unpleasant, I never bothered to check that and see (maybe she meant the potatoes coming with a salt packet, like some mentioned?).

 

[FlightlessDuck]

The only time I had salt potatoes was at a restaurant in upstate NY. They were so salty as to be inedible. We complained to the waitress--nobody in our party of 10 could eat them--and she just kept saying, "They're salt potatoes." Yeah, sure, but does that mean they're supposed to be so salty that you can't eat them? One person in our group said that salt potatoes referred to a certain type of potato, like a russet or a Yukon Gold. They were so unpleasant, I never bothered to check that and see (maybe she meant the potatoes coming with a salt packet, like some mentioned?).

This is a case of ordering something you don't know what is.

 

[QueenIsabella]

This is a case of ordering something you don't know what is.

Well, they came as a side with the meal. I had seen potatoes with a slight sheen of salt on them before, but never had issues with them tasting overly salty. And you could choose to eat the skin or not.

 

[AndreaDM]

My exH is from Syracuse (and moved back there), and the only thing I miss about going there to visit his family is stopping at Wegman's and loading up on salt potatoes. Not a thing here in NEOhio, I've tried myself with small potatoes and a lot of salt, but it's just not the same as buying those bags. And yes, dipping in melted butter is key! They are great the next day sliced and fried with peppers and onions.

Rumor has it they were given away (or maybe sold) in bars to make the patrons thirsty so they'd buy more beer!

Don't be jealous, but I've been to the salt museum there lol, it was a way to spend 3-5 minutes.

 

[firefly_ris]

I hadn't heard of it before I moved to Buffalo. I don't think I've ever personally made them.