A little butter should be added to mashed potatoes, but it is not really essential.

Mashed potatoes can be served in the shape of a mould, that is, they can be shaped in a mould and then browned in the oven.

If you serve mashed potatoes in an ordinary dish, and pile them up in the shape of a dome, the dish will look much prettier if you score it round with a fork and then place the dish in a fairly fierce even; the edges will brown, but be careful that they don't get burnt black.
POTATOES, FRIED .-- The best lesson, if you wish to fry potatoes nicely, is to look in at the window of a fried fish shop, where every condition is fulfilled that is likely to lead to perfection.

The bath of oil is deep and smoking hot, and in sufficient quantity not to lose greatly in temperature on the introduction of the frying-basket containing the potatoes.

The potatoes must be cut up into small pieces, not much bigger in thickness than the little finger; these are plunged into the smoking hot oil, and as soon as they are _slightly_ browned on the outside they are done.