Potatoes Baked in Sea Salt

Of all the potato dishes I know, this is the easiest. Small new potatoes, or primes as they are called on the Ile de Ré, are washed, dried carefully, and then placed in a closed pot on a small bed of sea salt. As cooking proceeds, a reaction takes place. The hot salt releases an aromatic steam that penetrates the flesh of the potatoes, augmenting their flavor with that of the sea and keeping them moist.

Traditionally this dish is cooked in a diable charentais, an ungla