British chef, TikTok star and self-described Potato Queen Poppy O’Toole shares her recipe for perfect gratin

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Whipped Dalgona coffee. Baked feta pasta. Leftover-salmon rice bowl. You don’t have to be obsessed with TikTok to know these recipes, so viral they’ve transcended the platform. With a captive pandemic audience, the app’s become a compulsively watchable, infinite scroll of soon-to-be trends — and a launch pad for the latest crop of suddenly famous food stars, like British chef Poppy O’Toole (@poppycooks).

In March 2020, O’Toole was freshly laid off from her job as a junior sous chef, with zero followers on TikTok and a why-not-try attitude. Creating tutorials with no-nonsense energy, charm and humour, plus skills sharpened by Michelin training and a decade in professional kitchens, she soon found her audience — now at 1.9 million followers (and counting). She credits the platform with making her dream come true: her first book, “Poppy Cooks: The Food You Need” (out Nov. 9). In the words of Nigella Lawson, it’ll “simply make you want to go skipping into the kitchen to cook.”

O’Toole’s first TikTok recipe to go viral was her two-ingredient recreation of a McDonald’s hash brown, which landed her in the tabloid press. Making food “easy frickin peasy” is still her thing, as is a preoccupation with humble, versatile spuds. If you love them as much as the self-described Potato Queen, follow these how-tos for her cheese-sauce-layered gratin (just one of more than a dozen potato dishes you’ll find in her new cookbook).

Bacon-y Garlic-y Potato-y

“Okay. This is my official statement on achieving the perfect potato dish: bacon, garlic and potato are the ménage à trois that is out here changing lives. It’s the modern-day throuple that’s right every time. Unless you’re veggie, that is — in which case, this dish is still a standout with just the garlic.”

For the cheese sauce

2 cups (500 mL) whole milk

2 oz (50 g) butter

2 1/2 oz (70 g) plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

7 oz (200 g) your choice of cheese, grated (I’d go for cheddar and double Gloucester, but a traditional Mornay sauce usually just has gruyere in there)

Pour milk into a medium saucepan and place it over a medium heat for 7 minutes, until warmed through. Set aside. Place a second, smallish saucepan over low-medium heat. Add butter and allow it to melt. Then, using a spatula or wooden spoon, gradually beat in flour, about a tablespoon at a time, until you have a thick paste. You don’t want the paste to start browning — if you’re worried, take the pan off the heat to slow things down a little as you add.

Once all flour is in, cook, stirring, until you have a doughlike consistency and paste is coming away from the sides of the pan. Little by little, add warmed milk, making sure you allow the first addition to fully incorporate into the paste before adding more. Keep mixing to avoid lumps — switch to a whisk if you need to.

Once all the milk is in and you have a smooth, thick sauce, season with salt and nutmeg. Add your cheese and stir to melt in and combine for the perfect cheesy sauce! If you’re not using the sauce straight away, transfer it to an airtight container (leave it to cool before you put the lid on).

For the gratin

4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced into 5mm-thick (1/4 inch) rounds