>Wait a minute - England is not known for having delicious food

EXACTLY! You guys, as I've said, still live off the myth, delivered by GIs during austere, rationed WW II that we eat crap and drink our beer warm.

>but every potato dish you have mentioned sounds absolutely scrumptious! I could go home and fix nothing but potato dishes for a week!

Well they beat just plain mashed spuds any day! :-)

>
>
>>>>>FWIW, I like mashed potatoes, too. In fact, there's not too much you can do to a potato that I wouldn't like.
>>>>>
>>>>>Tamar
>>>>
>>>>Potatoes marquise, duchess?
>>>>
>>>
>>>Not sure what those are.
>>
>>You whip up into the lightest, fluffiest, daintiest mash. Then in a piping bag and piped into a spiral cone, on a greased baking dish, then (in one of the variants at least) sprinkled with cheeses (or melted cheese painted on), then under the grill till they're brown/crusty/burnt on the outside shell - Yummy!
>>
>>>
>>>>Have you tried them with fennel?
>>>>
>>>
>>>I don't think I've ever had fennel. What does it taste like?
>>
>>It has a sort of aniseedy taste.
>>
>>Then there's Lyonaise:
>>
>>raw potato sliced incredibly thin (as thin as you can), then laid in strata with, I think, onion slices, and baked with a cheesy (or bechemail?) sauce. Something similar is the base for Lancashire hotpot, when they go caramelised, sweet and crispy (but not with the Lyonaise-style sauce)