Baby potatoes

Small waxy potatoes with a thin skin. Waxy means high amylopectin and low amylose, so they hold their shape through a long braise where a floury potato collapses. Halve them. Do not braise them whole. Intact skin is a barrier: starch granules gelatinise near 60 to 70 degrees C and release amylose, but that amylose can only leave the potato across a cut face. A whole potato sits in a braise rather than becoming part of it. Halved baby potatoes give more cut surface per gram than the same weight in 40 mm chunks. That extra surface thickens the sauce, which is useful when the braise is short of gelatin. Put them cut side down on the bed so the exposed face meets the liquid.