A few years ago in a luxury hotel in Morocco I discovered Pommes Ecrassee - these are not mashed but crushed, with butter and chives, and are delicious.

On Celebrity Masterchef, they are constantly complaining that the mashed potatoes are "lumpy". But I think there are three types of potatoes done in similar style - pureed (which must be smooth but tends to taste bland), mashed (which should be slightly lumpy) and ecrassee - my favourite, which is "crushed".

Any opinions?

It tends to be fork crushed and yes, add garlic, cream, some add nutmeg...

Puree done with cmetana (sour cream) can be absolutely wonderful.
I do fancy the idea of Pommes Ecrase,especially with garlic/nutmeg.

Using a ricer gives you very smooth mashed potato.

Maris Piper's everytime with warm milk, butter a bit of Dijon. It always annoys me in restaurants when they serve mash thats not hot.