Aussie celebrity chef ‘Huey’ shares his secret for the perfect roast potatoes every time: ‘Genius’

Celebrity chef Iain ‘Huey’ Hewitson reveals his secret to perfectly crispy baked potatoes again and again – 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’s made a surprise comeback to TikTok.

The beloved chef prefers mashed potatoes to fries because they are “crispy, crunchy and delicious.”

Hewitson’s simple recipe calls for baby potatoes, olive oil, sea salt and chopped herbs.

“First boil the potatoes until they are done and then crush them with a potato masher,” says the chef.

Then lightly sprinkle sea salt, chopped thyme or rosemary and a few drops of olive oil on each potato.

Place the dish in the oven at 220C for 30 minutes and then they are ready to eat.

“If you want, you might want to add some finely fried bacon and some sour cream on top,” Hewitson recommended.

Hewitson’s simple recipe calls for baby potatoes, olive oil, sea salt and chopped herbs

There are several ways to prepare delicious roast potatoes, with Jamie Oliver calling 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 pre-cooked potatoes before roasting is a ‘game changer’.

Stephanie Joy de Sousa said: ‘All I do is add a teaspoon of baking soda to my potatoes while I cook them… and I can confirm that it works 100 percent.’

Cooks who already relied on the “old school” trick for crispy baked potatoes agreed that bicarb soda made them “excellent” every time.

One explained that the bicarb created a larger surface area on the outside of the potato for the hot oil to adhere to, making the outer layer crispier.

Others suggested parboiling the potatoes the day before and leaving them in the fridge overnight, which would yield similar ‘insanely crispy’ results.

But one chef has a more low-key approach to the perfect roast pudding.

Home chef Alex Hird said she puts canned potatoes in an air fryer for 20 minutes to get the best batch of baked potatoes ever.

Hewitson began hosting the series Healthy, Wealthy and Wise in 1992 and fronted the programs Huey’s Cooking Adventures (1997) and Huey’s Kitchen (2010).

Many younger Aussies have spoken of their joy at coming across Huey’s cooking videos online, saying they have ‘unlocked’ fond memories of watching him as children.

Hewitson began hosting the series Healthy, Wealthy and Wise in 1992 and subsequently fronted the programs Huey’s Cooking Adventures (1997) and Huey’s Kitchen (2010).

His last new cooking episode was broadcast for free in 2014.

Since receiving the proverbial pat on the back 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 than when he was on TV: inspiring others and teaching them how to cook.