Potato mash with cheese (a la aligot)

When Christmas comes, you walk in the markets and see some stalls where large pots of potato purée are being cooked and lifted for you to see the stretchy cheese. People line up to have a serving, which is perfect when it is cold. But. Aligot is not just about that. It is about what the potatoes are made in. Creamy and cheesy for those who enjoy a simple and flavourful comfort food. Of course, the best and most traditional way is to use Tome fraîche, but as good as it is, sometimes cheese such as Comté, Gruyère, or Beaufort work even better by giving more taste and character to the purée. No matter which cheese you use, do try to serve the purée right after it is made and try not to think about how much of everything that has gone into it.

1 kg floury potatoes
250 ml sweet cream 
450 g cheese*
70 g butter
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper

butter for serving
some freshly grated nutmeg

Place the potatoes in a pot, top with cold water, and season with salt. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are soft.

Drain the potatoes and push them through a sieve or potato ricer back into the pot. Mixing vigorously all the time, add the cream. Keeping the pot on medium heat, add 1/3 of the cheese and mix vigorously until the cheese melts. Add the next third and repeat until all the cheese has been added. It should stretch a bit. Season with salt to your liking. 

Serve immediately on a plate, topping with more butter, pepper, and nutmeg. 

• Traditionally when making aligot (purée with sticky cheese), it is customary to use cheese called Tome fraiche, which is hard to find outside France. So instead, you can use Comté, Gruyère, Beaufort, or even Fontina. They should be coarsely grated. 

PS. If you have some leftovers, you can reheat by adding a bit of water and mixing until the purée is hot. Add just a bit as at first it will seem that it is not enough and the purée is dry, but as the cheese melts, it gets soft. The biggest mistake is adding too much of that water at the beginning so you end up with soup.