Bought a little net bag of small yellow potatoes the other day at the Food Co-op. Did not pay attention, if the signage indicated, where they were grown but I liked the name and decided I'd rather try something a little different than same-old, same-old. OH MY GOD.
Raw, these have a texture about halfway between an Asian pear-apple and a Yukon Gold, starchy but light instead of dense. Flavorwise, a lot closer to that Asian pear--I've never tasted a raw potato so sweet. Remarkable! I used the whole bag for a potato salad I'm taking to a wine tasting tonight, and will stop at the Co-op when in town to buy another bag before I alert local foodie friends about this treasure. The potato salad is a German style--bacon, green onions, oil and vinegar, and should accent the sweetness well where a mayonnaise type dressing would practically turn it into a dessert!
I love seeing unusual varieties at Farmers Markets, but so rarely do I ever see the same potato twice, or do the farmers specify them by name instead of just putting them out by color, that I rarely have the chance to re-buy and remember a potato I particularly liked. Last year I bought some red potatoes from a guy what were a very pure white inside; a week or so later I went back and bought more. They weren't signed as being different, but most of the potatoes in the second purchase were yellow-meated. Obviously, a different type after all, and though no less good in that case I actually had a very specific use in mind for the whiteness and was disappointed to have something else.
Anyway, do any of you grow potatoes? I just put some Peruvian blues in a pot to grow. I don't actually have room for potatoes here, but I did have a large pot of earth with nothing better to do so I threw a few in for fun.