Every family has their own unique take on the classic roast dinner.
From heaping mac and cheese alongside crispy roasties to debating the place of peas on the plate, everyone’s preferences can stir up strong feelings. However, one woman was left so shocked by her partner’s culinary request that she turned to Mumsnet for advice, questioning if it would be unreasonable to ignore his suggestion.
“Am I being unreasonable to think that boiled potatoes have no place on a roast dinner?” she queried, with an overwhelming 82% of voters agreeing with her.
She shared how, while preparing the Christmas roast, her other half was “confused” by her omission of boiled spuds in favour of roast potatoes alone.
“Who does this?!” she exclaimed, having researched online and concluded his preference was “wrong”. According to her, it’s his family tradition that included both boiled and roasted potatoes, which to her seemed odd, and she refused to compromise the quality of her roast with what she considered an inferior potato option.
The dilemma prompted her to seek a public verdict, stating if she were voted unreasonable, it would imply that serving both boiled and roast potatoes together is the norm.
An overwhelming majority agreeing that roasties can’t be beaten and should be the only potato on the plate. Only a small fraction opposed, including one who shared online: “We normally have two types of potatoes with a roast – roast potatoes of course and either mash or boiled potatoes or if in season jersey royals boiled. So I am with your husband on this one.”
Many shared their love of roast potatoes, with comments such as: “I agree with you entirely. Why have inferior potatoes served with roast potatoes when simply proving more roasties is the obvious solution?” Others agreed that filling up on anything less than roast potatoes is a waste: “No point wasting stomach and plate space with anything other than roast potatoes.”
A user joked: “Does he also want sweet corn and broccoli?” prompting another user to state: “Sweetcorn has no place on a roast dinner plate.”
One person confessed a love for all potato types but opposed mixing them in a meal: “Some people put mash on roasts alongside the roast ones. Also weird. But then, I’m a purist and don’t think there should be Yorkshire puddings unless it’s beef.”
However, not everyone agreed on this point. “Have to disagree on Yorkshire puddings…” a poster responded.