No roasted garlic, no extra virgin olive oil, and definitely no smoked gouda and chives. Cassel whips up a variety of flavored mashed potatoes, including blue cheese. His restaurant creates truffle mashed potatoes and even a potato mousse. It gets a little complicated once you get into elegant dining. His restaurant does not, typically, add anything like garlic or saffron to their mixing bowls.
People love the basics.
People may love the basics, but they ask for a little taste. Professor Alfred Bushway at the University of Maine explores the science of cooking potatoes. We've come too far, it seems, to return to the days of plain old mashed potatoes, without skin. We do possess that capability. Even Taylor at Good Eats can't hold out against the forces of change.