Chef Juliette
Suet Dumpling
Boulettes au suif, poached beside salt beef, turn equal weights of flour and finely chopped suet into tender, rich dumplings. Keep the beef liquor at a bare tremble and the old garnish works beautifully at home.
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Pommes de Terre Macaire
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2228, Pommes de Terre Macaire, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Pommes de Terre Macaire turns baked potato and butter into one broad, deeply bronzed galette. Fork the pulp, never sieve it, because the craggy tenderness inside is the dish.
Side Dishes
French
Weeknight
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
15 min
Active Time
1 hr 25 min cook•1 hr 40 min total
Yield4 servings
Pommes de Terre Macaire (a forked baked-potato galette) teaches a severe little truth: texture is the dish. Bake the potatoes until their pulp is dry and fluffy, work it with a fork and 1½ ounces of butter for each pound of pulp, then stop while it still holds ridges and small irregular crumbs. Sieve it and you lose Macaire before the pan ever gets hot.
The classical entry assumes Dutch potatoes understood by the market, hot baked potatoes arriving for service, clarified butter already waiting, and an omelet pan in practiced hands. At home, floury russets give the same dry pulp, while a 10-inch skillet and a flat plate handle the turn. Having a cook hold potatoes and butter for service is brigade scaffolding and can go; baking them now, keeping the exact butter ratio, working by fork, and browning in clarified butter are the dish and must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Done properly, the galette arrives butter-gold at its edges and deeply bronzed across both faces, with a tender middle that still tastes unmistakably of baked potato. The turn is the only dramatic moment, and even a crack can be pressed together in the hot pan. Before you touch the pan, remember the step that decides everything: fork it, never sieve it.
Pommes de terre Macaire belongs to the Parisian classical repertoire, where potato preparations were distinguished by their shape, texture, and finishing method before traveling from grand dining rooms into bistros and home kitchens. Its name is generally linked to Robert Macaire, the celebrated theatrical rogue, following a Parisian habit of attaching stage names to dishes, although no single kitchen holds an uncontested claim to the naming. Unlike a grated potato cake, Macaire begins with baked pulp, worked by fork and browned as one broad galette.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
floury baking potatoes, such as russets
Quantity
4 large, about 2½ lb (1.15 kg) total, to yield 2 lb (900 g) baked pulp
scrubbed and dried
unsalted butter
Quantity
6 tablespoons (90 ml / 85 g)
softened and cut into small pieces
clarified butter
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g)
divided
fine sea salt
Quantity
1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml / 9 g)
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.6 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| floury baking potatoes, such as russetsscrubbed and dried | 4 large, about 2½ lb (1.15 kg) total, to yield 2 lb (900 g) baked pulp |
| unsalted buttersoftened and cut into small pieces | 6 tablespoons (90 ml / 85 g) |
| clarified butterdivided | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) |
| fine sea salt | 1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml / 9 g) |
| freshly ground black pepper | ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.6 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •10-inch (25 cm) well-seasoned carbon-steel or nonstick skillet with sloping sides
- •Flat heatproof plate or lid slightly wider than the skillet
- •Large dinner fork
- •Thin, broad metal spatula
Instructions
- 1
Bake the potatoes dry
Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Prick the potatoes once or twice, set them directly on the center rack with a baking sheet beneath, and bake for 60 to 70 minutes. They are ready when the skins feel dry, the potatoes yield completely under gentle pressure, and a skewer passes through without resistance. Do not wrap them in foil; trapped moisture gives you damp pulp, and damp pulp cannot form the tender, craggy middle Macaire requires.
- 2
Fork in the butter
Split the potatoes as soon as they can be handled safely and scoop the hot pulp into a wide bowl. Measure 2 lb (900 g) of pulp. If your yield differs, keep the source ratio exactly: 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) softened butter for every 1 lb (450 g) pulp. Season with the salt and pepper, break the pulp apart with a fork, then lift and turn in the butter a few pieces at a time until absorbed. Leave ridges, soft lumps, and loose flakes. If the mixture begins smearing against the bowl, stop and spread it out for a minute so excess heat and moisture can escape; then fold it only once or twice more. Ça se rattrape before it turns gluey, not after.
A ricer, sieve, mixer, and food processor all make the wrong texture here. The fork is not a quaint detail; the word galette describes the shape, while the forked baked pulp gives Macaire its character. - 3
Form the galette
Heat a 10-inch (25 cm) sloping-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the clarified butter and swirl until it runs freely and shimmers, without smoking. Distribute the potato by forkfuls across the pan, then spread it into an even galette about ¾ inch (2 cm) thick. Level the surface gently but do not pack it hard. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, lowering the heat to medium once the edges begin coloring, until the underside forms a deep golden crust and the galette slides when the pan is shaken. If it clings, do not scrape at it; give the crust another minute to set, then loosen only the rim with a thin spatula.
- 4
Turn and brown
Take the skillet off the heat and lay a flat heatproof plate, slightly wider than the pan, over the galette. Holding pan and plate firmly with dry towels, invert them together. Return the empty skillet to the heat, add the remaining clarified butter, and slide the galette back with its browned face upward. If it cracks during the turn, do not surrender it. Ça se rattrape: slide every piece into the pan, draw the seams together with the spatula, and press lightly while the potato is hot; the second crust will bind it. Brown for another 7 to 9 minutes, until the galette moves freely and both faces are richly bronzed.
- 5
Rest and serve
Slide the Macaire onto a warm platter and let it stand for 2 minutes, just long enough for the crust to settle. Cut it into generous wedges and serve immediately beside roast chicken, a pork chop, or a simple pan-seared steak. Add no garnish and no sauce to the potato itself; butter, pepper, baked pulp, and a proper crust have finished the work. À table!
Chef Tips
- •The source calls for Dutch potatoes, a market description that does not guide most home cooks clearly. Choose floury, high-starch baking potatoes such as russets; their dry pulp is the honest equivalent. Waxy potatoes remain dense and damp, however carefully you fork them.
- •Clarified butter matters because its milk solids have been removed, allowing the galette to brown deeply without tasting burnt. To make enough, melt 4 tablespoons (60 ml / 57 g) unsalted butter gently, skim the foam, and pour off the clear golden fat while leaving the milky sediment behind.
- •Use a 10-inch (25 cm) skillet with sloping sides. A wider pan makes the galette thin and fragile, while a heavy cast-iron skillet turns the plate inversion into unnecessary athletics. Cooking well is not cooking fancy.
- •Macaire is best from the pan. Refrigerate leftovers for up to 2 days, then reheat them in a lightly buttered skillet over medium heat; a microwave softens the crust that you worked to build.
Advance Preparation
- •Clarified butter can be prepared up to 1 week ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Warm it only until fluid before cooking.
- •The potatoes may be baked up to 1 hour ahead and held, uncovered, in a 200°F (95°C) oven. Do not refrigerate or wrap them in foil; Macaire needs hot, dry pulp.
- •If necessary, hold the finished galette for no more than 15 minutes on a wire rack in a 200°F (95°C) oven. The rack protects the lower crust, but serving directly from the skillet remains better.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 245g)
Calories
455 calories
Total Fat
28 g
Saturated Fat
17 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
9 g
Cholesterol
75 mg
Sodium
890 mg
Total Carbohydrates
48 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
6 g
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