Gourmet Potatoes

We've spent the weekend tasting gourmet potatoes. Thought you might be interested to see some of the varieties now available here in Oz. Would love to know what unusual potatoes are available in your part of the globe...



Back row : King Edward, Royal Blue, Nicola
Front row : Dutch Cream, Kipfler, Purple Congo (the one that looks like petrified dinosaur poop), and Bintje.

"C" I have been remiss about looking up these potatoes since your post. (Looks like everyone else has too) Anyway, these potatoes are not AFAIK) available here in the states, and there are a couple I would like to try. It looks as if they are all from either Down Under (OZ or Tas) or the UK and Holland. In particular I would like to try the King Edward, the Dutch Cream, the Bintje, and the Kipfler. I am not real fond of purple/blue meat potatoes, they just don't look right to me.

Most if not all of these potatos are available in the US. I have grown most of them including the dino poop. I stopped growing potatos a while ago and don't remember the seed company that I got them from but if I do I will post a link. Also you can sometimes find them at certain gourmet markets or farmers markets. I found my first blue potato probably a decade ago now at a Dean and Deluca's in Georgetown.

Most if not all of these potatos are available in the US. I have grown most of them including the dino poop. I stopped growing potatos a while ago and don't remember the seed company that I got them from but if I do I will post a link. Also you can sometimes find them at certain gourmet markets or farmers markets. I found my first blue potato probably a decade ago now at a Dean and Deluca's in Georgetown.

Brian,

I have of course encountered the purple and blue potatoes, and of course the Yukon Golds, but the others I have not seen here. I do not buy the colored as I don't like the color on the plate...my thing, not an indictment of the vegetable. Left to my own devices I would experiment more on lots of foods, but I have a spouse who is rather set in her ways. Can you imagine a serving of purple mashed potatoes? Nah, not for me, and I am probably more adventurous than many.

I do not buy them as I don't like the color on the plate...my thing, not an indictment of the vegetable.

I think the color is one of the best parts about the blue potato. Helps to liven up a plate that might other-wise be all white/grey. I guess it depends what you are eating, but even with salad or a green it provides a nice counterpoint. Not too many other foods that can give you the blue element to diversify a plate.

Can you imagine a serving of purple mashed potatoes?

Is that the only way you prepare potatoes?

Actually, the purple congos were so dry that mashing was really the only way to eat them. We did a detailed taste testing here.

Here's a photo of the various spuds mashed:


Clockwise from the Purple Congo are Bintje, Nicola, Dutch Cream, King Edward and Kipfler.

I'm sure there are different varieties in the US, which is why I asked the question.

I think my all round favourite was the Bintje, although everyone in the family had a different opinion - of course!

Celia

Actually, the purple congos were so dry that mashing was really the only way to eat them. We did a detailed taste testing here.

Here's a photo of the various spuds mashed:


Clockwise from the Purple Congo are Bintje, Nicola, Dutch Cream, King Edward and Kipfler.

I'm sure there are different varieties in the US, which is why I asked the question.

I think my all round favourite was the Bintje, although everyone in the family had a different opinion - of course!

Celia

See whaty I mean "C", those purples are just plain ugly! I think this is one of the most interesting/challenging posts is quite a while.

Bob, Brian, what are the gourmet varieties you get in the US? I'm sure they're very different to ours. Back in the old days in Oz, you could only buy white (sebago) and pink (pontiac) potatoes. Desirees, kipflers and royal blues are far more common these days, but the other varieties are really a specialist item...

Bob, Brian, what are the gourmet varieties you get in the US? I'm sure they're very different to ours. Back in the old days in Oz, you could only buy white (sebago) and pink (pontiac) potatoes. Desirees, kipflers and royal blues are far more common these days, but the other varieties are really a specialist item...

"C"
I don't know which (if any) of these are gourmet, but clicking the link will bring up a list of potatoes grown in the USA. Many of them I never see,but then I haven't made an effort to look either. here is the link: http://www.potatogoodness.com/Content/p ... _Chart.pdf

I am not sure if this is the same source I used for seed potatos or not. I thought the company was Milk Ranch and when I google them the links lead me here.

http://www.potatogarden.com/id68.html

By the way this confirms for me that what you are calling a purple congo I know as a purple Peruvian.

[Jenise]

Celia, what great looking potatoes--I'm especially impressed with the one that looks orange. I've never seen a potato that color. And like most of the American respondents here, I've had precious view different varieties of potatoes, at least knowingly. The average supermarket carries purple, Yukon gold, white, red and russet. We might actually be eating several varieties of each but unless one's buying at a farmer's market the exact variety is not displayed.

But I remember King Edwards from my time in England: they were often picked and sold as a new potato, about 1" or so diameter, and one could throw a handful of washed but not peeled KE's around a roast beef or chicken and ooh la la, were they great.

There's a Dutch Nugget potato in Canada that I'm equally enamored of but which isn't legal to bring back over the border because, ostensibly, they have earth on them and apparently we must not move dirt around (never mind that birds fly it back and forth ).

That purple congo of yours is the darkest, densest purple potato I've ever seen. The typical Peruvian purple we buy here, which might also be more a blue than an actual purple because cooked and mashed, the result is more a pretty blue-lavendar vs. the dark purple result you got here, are quite wonderful. They're lightly sweet, and I adore them baked served with just a bit of butter and chopped chives.

That purple congo of yours is the darkest, densest purple potato I've ever seen. The typical Peruvian purple we buy here, which might also be more a blue than an actual purple because cooked and mashed, the result is more a pretty blue-lavendar vs. the dark purple result you got here, are quite wonderful.

You sure? The purple congo's in the pictures look exactly like what I grew/cooked for many years and where supposedly purple peruvian's. They were much much darker than the All-Blues which did lighten up substantially like you note and were the other blue potato I grew.

Peruvian https://stores.myregisteredsite.com/user1433018/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PG&Product_Code=7SNPPV&Category_Code=

All-Blue https://stores.myregisteredsite.com/user1433018/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PG&Product_Code=7SNABL&Category_Code=CSP

Brian, what a wonderful website! Thank you. I can't believe all those different varieties of potatoes are available, and in so many colours! What we don't get here is red potatoes - we do get pink Desirees and Pontiacs - but none of the true red varieties. Now I know what goes into those amazing multi-coloured crisps. I wonder if we have different names for some of those potatoes - would our Kipflers be the Austrian fingerlings?

Jenise, I wonder if your Dutch Nugget potato is the Bintje? Apparently it's the most widely grown yellow-fleshed potato in the world.

Thanks for this, Celia. Nice to have the photos and references this thread has provided. I've noticed that my wife's Australian cooking magazines seem to reference a number of potatoes that we don't get around here. You all are lucky down there!

C'mon Mike, we're all lucky. You guys can buy blue potato chips. If they sold them here, I'd be the size of a bus...

Celia

In Peru they claim that there are something in excess of 3000 varieties of potato. It would take some time to eat your way through all of those.

http://www.gourmet.com/travel/2009/04/perus-potato-park
http://www.cipotato.org/

A new potato yesterday at the markets. These are Sebagoes - a standard white potato - but they've been grown in volcanic clay in the Atherton Tablelands in Queensland rather than ordinary dirt. Don't know that I can taste a difference, but it was fun to try. Sebagoes are our default Aussie white spud - what's the US or UK equivalent? Do you get sebagoes as well?

Any ideas what growing in mineral rich volcanic clay might do to the potato, compared to growing them in "ordinary" dirt (if anything at all)?

Bob, Brian, what are the gourmet varieties you get in the US? I'm sure they're very different to ours. Back in the old days in Oz, you could only buy white (sebago) and pink (pontiac) potatoes. Desirees, kipflers and royal blues are far more common these days, but the other varieties are really a specialist item...

Celia, I finally remembered your question when I was in the greenmarket! The stand with the most potatoes had these varieties for sale: Austrian Crescent, Russian Banana, French Fingerling, Ozette Fingerling, Red Thumb, LaRatte, Romance, Russet, Norland Red, Yukon Gold, Red Gold, Huckleberry, Colorado Rose, and Rose Finn Apple. Aside from the russets, they were all fingerlings, with some specimens as small as a marble.

Wow! Jeff, thanks...do you know, we don't have a single one of those varieties at our markets? That's amazing that it's so different. The big thing for us is we never get red potatoes - pink, yes, but not true reds. Nor blue fleshed ones, although the purple congo comes close. Thanks for taking notes for me.

I see the same varieties here that Jenise mentioned. We are getting fingerlings, yellow and red, which are fun to steam, and then sauté in butter. Jenise, I have never even thought of baking the Peruvian Purple. I have to give that a try. I went to a Lavender Fest this spring and they served purple potato salad. I know it had red onion, and lavender and possibly sour cream. It was delicious, but I have not been able to duplicate the great taste. The ones we get here are not dry after cooking and I love the looks of them. Humm....I think I off on another food adventure.

do you know, we don't have a single one of those varieties at our markets?

Celia, it's actually a possibility that some varieties *are* the same - only research would tell. There are hundreds of potatoes out there and probably thousands of names since people keep making names up. So you can have one potato variety going by many names. Consider this from the Washington State University website about your purple congo:

"Congo - A blue-skinned and blue-fleshed variety with a large number of synonyms, as determined by genetic fingerprinting. See the University of Melbourne's page. Synonyms: British Columbia Blue; McIntosh Black; River John Blue; Sharon's Blue. Suspected synonyms: All Blue, Blue Congo, Congo Blue, Purple Congo, Nova Scotia Blue, Himalayan Black."

On the other hand, that University of Melbourne site (http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Purple_Congo.html) goes on to say that Purple Congo might be the same as Vitelotte, so there seems to be some disagreement among "experts" in the field. If you want to read more about blue (and other) potatoes at WSU's site, it's at http://potatoes.wsu.edu/varieties/blue-purp-vars.htm.

Thanks Mark! I think there's probably also a lot of hybrid varieties - breeders seem to be crossing them all the time.

A friend recently pointed out that some varieties are copyrighted, so you never see them unless you're buying from a particular company. I'll check out the WSU website - ta.

C

At our farmers market I can buy potatoes which look a bit like your Kipflers, and which I think are quite close to the French "ratte" potato. I think those are named because their size and shape is rather like that of a rat.

What I love about these potatoes is flavor and texture. They are firm, and even when cooked in soup for a while they have a nice "bite" -- they don't go all soft and fall apart on you. One fun thing is to slice them into thick "coins" -- put them in with a little chicken broth to cook and soften and then fry up to brown the surfaces. Yum.

I haven't been too crazy about the blue potatoes I have tried. Of course by now everyone knows about Yukon Golds, and the old favorite Idaho Russet, waxy red potatoes, etc etc. I think they all have their uses, and I'm not sure where dramatically different potatoes would fit into the way I cook.

Of course if they offered the kind of flavor that heirloom tomatoes do, that would be different, but I don't get the impression that they do?