THE sheer amount of butter, cream and, of course, potatoes, used in the making of Poppy O'Toole's new cookbook is quite astounding.
Actually, the word Poppy uses, with a wicked laugh, is "heinous".
"Heinous amounts!" she says.
"We came into the studio to shoot the book and one whole fridge shelf was just blocks of butter, and another shelf was just cheese and cream. I was like, 'Wow, this is what dreams are made of. This is incredible.' There was, like, 50 kilos of potatoes under the counter, and then just cheese and butter everywhere. It was beautiful."
All of it was in service of The Potato Book, a collection of recipes that take the humble spud and elevate it to levels of previously unseen glitz and glamour.
There's whipped clouds of mash displayed in coupe glasses, confit garlic butter potatoes cooked over 15 hours and crisped into Turner Prize-worthy sculptures, and a potato cake that is a tiered, wedding cake alternative, complete with potato smiley faces - which Poppy, 31, now makes for her birthday each year.
"Potatoes are so not glamorous, so I really wanted to do them justice," says Poppy affectionately.
Her love of the starchy tuber is completely understandable.
"They've brought me everything," says Poppy, who is better known as Poppy Cooks on TikTok, where her potato videos first went stratospheric.
In lockdown, unable to do her day job as a Michelin-trained chef, Poppy began posting recipes online, and it's her potato ones that most struck a chord. Since then, her videos have totted up a colossal one billion views and launched her as a cookery book writer.
"It's quite unbelievable," she says, of having so many views.
The spud has changed her life.
"I have always been a potato fiend. I just didn't realise it could also be a career," she says.
The doyenne of the food world, Nigella Lawson, has dubbed Poppy the "High Priestess of Potato", ("I will never recover from that"), and she's even done a skit with Elmo from Sesame Street.
"They'd made their own special potato just for that, they didn't have a potato puppet prior, which is just like, wow! Elmo is iconic"
She's also able to work with chefs who she grew up watching and admiring, including Michel Roux Jr, who she did a YouTube potato cook-off with ("Hilarious,") and Rosemary Shrager.
"I loved her," says Poppy, "and now I'm at her birthday party! "It's like, 'what on earth is going on?!! And that's all genuinely down to potatoes."
The taters might have something to do with all this success, but really, it's Po...
Actually, the word Poppy uses, with a wicked laugh, is "heinous".
"Heinous amounts!" she says.
"We came into the studio to shoot the book and one whole fridge shelf was just blocks of butter, and another shelf was just cheese and cream. I was like, 'Wow, this is what dreams are made of. This is incredible.' There was, like, 50 kilos of potatoes under the counter, and then just cheese and butter everywhere. It was beautiful."
All of it was in service of The Potato Book, a collection of recipes that take the humble spud and elevate it to levels of previously unseen glitz and glamour.
There's whipped clouds of mash displayed in coupe glasses, confit garlic butter potatoes cooked over 15 hours and crisped into Turner Prize-worthy sculptures, and a potato cake that is a tiered, wedding cake alternative, complete with potato smiley faces - which Poppy, 31, now makes for her birthday each year.
"Potatoes are so not glamorous, so I really wanted to do them justice," says Poppy affectionately.
Her love of the starchy tuber is completely understandable.
"They've brought me everything," says Poppy, who is better known as Poppy Cooks on TikTok, where her potato videos first went stratospheric.
In lockdown, unable to do her day job as a Michelin-trained chef, Poppy began posting recipes online, and it's her potato ones that most struck a chord. Since then, her videos have totted up a colossal one billion views and launched her as a cookery book writer.
"It's quite unbelievable," she says, of having so many views.
The spud has changed her life.
"I have always been a potato fiend. I just didn't realise it could also be a career," she says.
The doyenne of the food world, Nigella Lawson, has dubbed Poppy the "High Priestess of Potato", ("I will never recover from that"), and she's even done a skit with Elmo from Sesame Street.
"They'd made their own special potato just for that, they didn't have a potato puppet prior, which is just like, wow! Elmo is iconic"
She's also able to work with chefs who she grew up watching and admiring, including Michel Roux Jr, who she did a YouTube potato cook-off with ("Hilarious,") and Rosemary Shrager.
"I loved her," says Poppy, "and now I'm at her birthday party! "It's like, 'what on earth is going on?!! And that's all genuinely down to potatoes."
The taters might have something to do with all this success, but really, it's Po...
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Birmingham Mail (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 22, 2025