<a href="https://food52.com/blog/24633-how-to-make-mashed-potatoes">For better mashed potatoes</a>, take a cue from potato chips. Salt-and-vinegar is one of the most popular flavors for good reason: These ingredients balance all the richness and heaviness. The same idea can be applied here. Traditional mashed potatoes are <em>all</em> richness and heaviness—butter! milk! potatoes!—but by bumping up the salt and adding a whisper of vinegar, the recipe feels new again. I like malted vinegar (probably from all the times I’ve shaken it over French fries), but white, apple cider, and rice work too. This recipe is inspired by <a href=”https://food52.com/recipes/54401-diane-morgan-s-classic-mashed-potatoes”>Diane Morgan’s Genius Mashed Potatoes</a>, which taught me to add the butter, <em>then</em> the milk, so the butteriness gets to the shine. Serve with a pat of butter on top if you want to gild the lily—I always do. About the type of potato: Most people prefer starchy Russets, because they yield extra-fluffy mashed potatoes. I oscillate between those and Yukon Golds, which have a golden color and an especially potato-y flavor. Pick your favorite (or, if you’re feeling rebellious, do a mix).