Celebrity chef Iain ‘Huey’ Hewitson revealed his secret to perfectly crispy roast potatoes every time – and even an amateur can pull it off.
Hewitson was a fixture on Australian TV for decades thanks to his popular afternoon cooking shows – and now he has made a surprise comeback on TikTok.
The beloved chef prefers smashed potatoes to fries because they’re ‘crispy, crunchy, and delicious’.
Hewitson’s simply recipe calls for baby potatoes, olive oil, sea salt, and chopped herbs.
‘First cook the baby potatoes until they’re tender and then smash them with a potato masher,’ the chef said.
Next, lightly sprinkle sea salt, chopped thyme or rosemary, and a few drops of olive oil onto each potato.
Put the dish in the oven at 220C for 30 minutes and then they’re ready to eat.
‘If you’d like, maybe add some finely sautéed bacon and some sour cream on top,’ Hewitson recommended.
Celebrity chef Iain ‘Huey’ Hewitson revealed his secret to perfectly crispy roast potatoes
Hewitson’s simply recipe calls for baby potatoes, olive oil, sea salt, and chopped herbs
There are several hacks for achieving delicious roast potatoes – with Jamie Oliver dubbing red wine vinegar his ‘secret ingredient’.
If you want to take your roast potatoes to the next level, a former MasterChef Australia contestant revealed that adding bicarb soda to parboiled potatoes before roasting is a ‘game changer’.
Stephanie Joy de Sousa said: ‘All I do is add a teaspoon of bicarb soda to my potatoes while boiling them… and I can confirm it 100 per cent works.’
Cooks who already relied on the ‘old school’ trick for crispy roast potatoes agreed that bicarb soda made them ‘outstanding’ every time.
One explained that the bicarb created a larger surface area on the outside of the potato which the hot oil could cling to, adding more crisp to the outer layer.
Others suggested parboiling potatoes the day before and leaving them in a fridge overnight would give similar ‘insanely crispy’ results.
But one cook has a more low key approach to the perfect roast spud.
Home chef Alex Hird said that she puts canned potatoes into an air fryer for 20 minutes to achieve the best batch of roast potatoes ever.
Hewitson began hosting the series Healthy, Wealthy and Wise in 1992, and went on to front the programs Huey’s Cooking Adventures (1997) and Huey’s Kitchen (2010)
Many younger Aussies have spoken of their joy at stumbling across Huey’s cooking videos online, saying they have ‘unlocked’ fond memories of watching him as kids.
Hewitson began hosting the series Healthy, Wealthy and Wise in 1992, and went on to front the programs Huey’s Cooking Adventures (1997) and Huey’s Kitchen (2010).
His last new cooking episode was broadcast on free-to-air in 2014.
Since getting the proverbial tap on the shoulder from commercial TV bosses, the Melbourne-based Kiwi chef has kept a low profile.
The 75-year-old previously told FEMAIL he felt ‘humbled’ by the instant success, adding that his philosophy on TikTok is no different to when he was on TV: to inspire and teach others how to cook.