Mashed Potatoes — 11 Ways From Around The World!

St. Patrick's Day may have its roots in Ireland, but it is celebrated all over the world. Similarly, we might associate potatoes with Ireland, but they show up in the cuisines of many countries. And if you think the Irish were the only ones with the genius idea to boil and mash them, think again.

This fondue-like bowl of decadence from the Aubrac region of France has four magic ingredients: butter, cream, garlic, and cheese (traditionally a tomme from central France). Try it at a 25-seat, reasonably priced bistro named Chez Germaine in Paris.

A well of mashed potatoes filled with onion and cubes of bacon. There is a reason that the literal translation of this Danish dish is "burning love." Head over to the Michelin-starred restaurant at Skovshoved Hotel in Charlottenlund in the north of Denmark, which Condé Nast Traveler calls one of the world's hippest small hotels. 

You can fool yourself into thinking these chive-y mashed potatoes are healthy because they're mixed with rutabagas. In Scotland, turnips (in this case meaning rutabagas) and potatoes are called "neeps and tatties." If you're heading up to the Highlands, try them at The Old Bridge Inn in Aviemore, located in Scotland's picturesque Inverness-Shire county.

"With the greens and scallions mingled like a picture in a dream..." sings Mary Black in her song "Colcannon." The greens she is referring to are kale and/or cabbage. If you want to make this dish healthier, use cauliflower in place of the potatoes. You'll find very good colcannon at Packies in Kenmare, County Kerry, and just about everywhere else in Ireland.

This Indian snack food from Gujarat is like a vegetarian sloppy joe. The potatoes are mashed with dabeli masala (chiles, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, and cumin), then served inside a bun with tamarind chutney, roasted peanuts, sev, and pomegranates. You'll find them throughout the streets of Ahmedabad, but if you want to sit down, go to the town's Karnavati Dabeli Centre. 

Hachis Paramentier, a bed of minced meat capped with mashed potatoes, is not too different from shepherd's pie, except that the meat is more likely to be cooked in red wine and plated more rigidly (in a cube that stands on its own). One way to make it more French is to use ground duck and comté cheese — as the chefs do, sublimely, at Restaurant du Marché in Paris.

From China's Kunming region, these spicy mashed potatoes (translation: "old granny potatoes") get their name for being denture-friendly. Stir-fried with chiles, garlic, Yunnan ham, and fennel, they're a nice change from the mild flavors with which we normally see mashed potatoes prepared. 1910 La Gare Du Sud, a restaurant with an English menu (featuring pictures!), located in a converted railway station in Kunmig, serves the best version of this dish.

This Acadian specialty, also called "rapture pie," is made by grating potatoes, squeezing them through cheesecloth, replacing their lost moisture with a meat or seafood broth, and adding meat. Right by the coast in Little Brook, Nova Scotia, you'll find Évelina's — look no further.

A common item you'd find in the frozen aisles of Swedish supermarkets, but delicious nonetheless. These mashed potatoes (translation: "shoemaker's box") are served with beef medallions, gravy, bacon, and leeks. Romantic and situated right by the riverside in Stockholm, Rianns Krog serves them simple and classic.

Stamppot is similar to other dishes on this list: it's a combination of potatoes and vegetables, but this time, triple the vegetables. A combination of sauerkraut, endive, kale, spinach, and turnip greens is one way to go, and the other option is a much simpler duo of carrot and onion. In the Netherlands, a piece of smoked sausage called rookworst is usually added; in Belgium, the sausage is fried. Restaurant Haesje Claes in the heart of Amsterdam won't fail to deliver.

Hailing from the Andorran side of the Pyrenees, this hybrid of mashed potatoes and Savoy cabbage is topped with that favorite ingredient: bacon. It can be flattened and eaten like a pancake. Not a fan of cabbage? Try it with kale and Swiss chard. Travel to Bixessarri, Andorra, to eat the most authentic Trinxat at Hotel Parador De Canolich.