The silky potatoes bathed in sweet and garlic-tinted cream could be a meal on their own. Or serve them with a crispy, pan-fried fish fillet or with a bison pot roast or a simple roast chicken. If you decide to reserve the warm cream leftover from cooking the potatoes, it’s great over seafood or pasta.

There’s so much boiled food in Indigenous cuisine — it’s one of the main food preparation techniques. This dish is a fancy version of so much of the simple, boiled food that our communities eat, yet it’s an example of how truly good simple can be.
Preparation
Cooking
Skill level
Ingredients
- 4 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled or unpeeled, quartered (see Note)
- ½ medium white onion, thinly sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 2 cups (500 ml) whipping (35%) cream
- 1 cup (250 ml) half-and-half (10%) cream (see Note)
- 1 cup (250 ml) good-quality chicken broth
- Salt, to taste
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
Cook's notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
Instructions
- In a large pot, combine the potatoes, onion, garlic, whipping cream, half-and-half and broth. Bring to a simmer over medium heat — watch it carefully: it will make a mess if it boils over — and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes (when a toothpick or sharp knife slide in and out of the flesh cleanly, you know they are ready).
- Strain the cooked potatoes, reserving the warm garlic cream for another use, and transfer to a bowl. Season with salt and the chopped parsley. Serve steaming hot.
Notes
• You can substitute bintje or other creamy-white fleshed general purpose potatoes.
• A mixture of equal parts full cream milk and cream can be used instead of half-and-half.
Recipe and image from Tawâw: Progressive Indigenous Cuisine (House of Anansi Press, 2019).