The roast potato is a staple of the average English diet, and now students from two universities are claiming they have developed a mathematical way to achieve the ultimate roast potato.
Students from the Edge Hotel School at the University of Essex teamed up with mathematicians at the Samuel Whitbread School in Bedfordshire to create the “Edge Hotel School Method” for the perfect potato.
The secret lies in the way the potatoes are cut. Most people slice them into fourths, but the “Edge Hotel School Method” calls for the cuts to be at a 30-degree angle, which increases the potato’s surface area by 65 percent, according to ITV News.
Typical chefs would cut potatoes into fourths, but with this greater surface area the potatoes become crunchier and more flavorful when cooked. To achieve these optimal slices, cut the potato in half lengthwise, then slice each half at a 30-degree angle. There are still four slices of the same size, but the surface area is much larger.
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The team conducted taste tests with the general public and professional chefs, and the clear winner was consistently the potatoes sliced at 30 degrees — they were crispier, tastier and more appealing to the eye. According to ITV, chefs across the U.K. are already adopting this new technique.
Follow this method and you’ll have a potato Samwise Gamgee would be proud of.
