Potato Talk

[flyinglentris]

Potatoes, I have been informed, were first obtained in the Andes of South America.

What many do not appreciate is the great variety of potatoes and their multiple uses beyond mashed potatoes, potato soups (including clam chowders), baked potatoes and pommes frites (French fries). Petite potatoes can be cooked and served whole.

There are arguments about whether it is healthy to eat potato skins. And indeed, health issues which include producing glycemic and insulin surges from the high carbohydrate content of potatoes.

BTW: Sweet Potatoes are Yams, not potatoes.

I did some digging on the web and found (for your pleasure) an informative site with a couple downloadable PDFs ...

Potato Types | Different Types of Potatoes | Potato Goodness

I have been aware of the large variety of potatoes, but I was recently looking to find something different. Fingerling Potatoes seem like a good candidate.

Share your potato interests.

 

[Hemulen]

I'm a big fan of almond potatoes which are almond-shaped, small(ish), sweet, tasty and light in color. Their skin is also thin. A cultivar/variety called "Lapin puikula" is a starchy (18,5% starch) cultivar grown only in Finnish Lapland and in northern parts of Ostrobothnia. Some almond potato cultivars don't grow well in southern areas as they are susceptible to plant diseases. Almond potatoes are hard to handle; they often break into pieces during cooking. They taste great when they are carefully peeled and steamed and they are impeccable as slits in the oven, unpeeled.

"Lapin puikula"/"puikulaperuna"; the Lappish potato variety (Photo source) ______________ _The same variety cooked. (Photo source)

I've recently found a less starchy almond potato variety which has its origins in France in the 1990's. It's called "Amandine". It matures early in the chilly Finnish climate but doesn't store well. At the moment, it is the only variety we (my hubby and I) order and grow in the countryside - despite the high price of the seed potatoes. We never keep the seed potatoes from the last season as we don't have a suitable storage space with the right temperature.

Amandine cultivar ____________________________________________________________ Rosamunda is a Swedish starchy potato cultivar commonly used for oven-baked (whole) potatoes.

Here (in Finnish; the column on the left consists of cultivar names) is a list of the most common potato cultivars in Finland. Potatoes are steamed, cooked, fried (deep-fried French Fries and skillet-fried slivers/pieces), mashed, made into Duchesse potatoes and Hasselbacka potatoes, used in soups, baked as oven potatoes, baked in the oven (whole, slivers and pieces), used for patties (often mixed-vegetable), stews and casseroles (cut into juliennes) etc. in Finland. Finns eat over 40 kg potatoes/person/year; in the 1950's (after WW II) the quantity was over 140 kg/person/year. Potato was widely introduced here only in the 18th century. Before that turnips and swedes/rutabagas were more common.

On Midsummer's Eve (celebrated on a Friday between the 20th and 26th of June), almost every Finn enjoys unpeeled, thin-skinned new season's potatoes ("uudet perunat" = new potatoes), steamed or cooked whole and accompanied with butter, pickled herring, smoked salmon and salads (+ sparkling wine, spirits and ale).

A pot/cauldron of new potatoes (Photo source)

 

[TastyReuben]

First, how could you miss titling this "Tater Talk?!" - the alliteration was right there!

That said, to get much of anything "unusual," I'd have to go on a hunt. Normal supermarket fare is:

Yukon gold
Russet
Red
Bags of fingerling potatoes
Bags of "gourmet" multi-colored potatoes
Sweet potatoes (yams)

Oddly enough, we can get sweet potatoes in three or four varieties.

 

[Hemulen]

First, how could you miss titling this "Tater Talk?!" - the alliteration was right there!

That said, to get much of anything "unusual," I'd have to go on a hunt. Normal supermarket fare is:

Yukon gold
Russet
Red
Bags of fingerling potatoes
Bags of "gourmet" multi-colored potatoes
Sweet potatoes (yams)

Oddly enough, we can get sweet potatoes in three or four varieties.

You poor Yankies (no affront intended). Your list of cultivars does seem a bit limited. There has to be at least one reason for people to settle on this faraway peninsula to battle on behalf of predominating neighbors, to ramble in the woods in agony with broken skis in sleet and supercooled drizzle and end up giving up Nokia and driving Angry Birds into oblivion. The reason may well be GOOD POTATOES!

I Googled "Tater Talk" and found out that it means both potato talk and whisky talk. Just wait; I'll soon write a four page novel about Finnish potato picking practices and whisky distilleries in Finland. Not.

But this has to be mentioned: Pottu Vodka, 37,5% alc, made of pure taters.

Pottu Vodka

 

[Herbie]

Hemulen Please tell more about pickled potatoes. Not heard of pickled potatoes before.

 

[Hemulen]

Hemulen Please tell more about pickled potatoes. Not heard of pickled potatoes before.

I'd love to churn out more babble but I meant picking/harvesting/digging up potatoes, not pickling them . That said, we do make German type pickled potatoes here too. Our new season potatoes are sweet and easy to handle. We just add some vinegar, sugar, salt, lemon juice, onion and/or chives/scallions/green onions and dill into diced, cooked (or fried) potatoes and enjoy them with e.g. smoked salmon or rainbow trout.

Photo source

 

[Herbie]

Oops! I misread. Sorry. Though that salad looks excellent.

 

[ElizabethB]

Because of George's weight issues I don't cook potatoes very often. The same goes for rice and pasta. When we boil crawfish we start by boiling vegetables (small red potatoes, corn on the cob, onions, garlic, celery and carrots) in the seasoned water before boiling the crawfish, I have a nylon laundry bag reserved for boiling the veggies. I make garlic smashed potatoes with skin on red potatoes. I love a loaded baked potato and creamed potatoes. One of my favorite preparations is Fondant potatoes. I almost forgot - potato salad is a required side for gumbo. I don't have a recipe for potato salad. George likes refrigerator potato salad. What ever I have in the refrigerator that can be put in potato salad is put in. I like French fries (chips) only if they are hot out of the fryer.
The TV is on and Andrew Zimmer is in Peru talking about and indigenous potato dish. I missed the name of it.
Potatoes really are an extremely versatile ingredient. I would not be surprised if you could make a different potato dish every night for a year with no repeats.
flyinglentris thanks for the topic. I am looking forward to see what other members have to say.

 

[caseydog]

You poor Yankies (no affront intended). Your list of cultivars does seem a bit limited.

TR listed common supermarket potatoes. Supermarkets stock what people buy the most of. There are other potatoes grown, mostly for the better restaurants and specialty stores.

CD

 

[caseydog]

Because of George's weight issues I don't cook potatoes very often. The same goes for rice and pasta. When we boil crawfish we start by boiling vegetables (small red potatoes, corn on the cob, onions, garlic, celery and carrots) in the seasoned water before boiling the crawfish, I have a nylon laundry bag reserved for boiling the veggies. I make garlic smashed potatoes with skin on red potatoes. I love a loaded baked potato and creamed potatoes. One of my favorite preparations is Fondant potatoes. I almost forgot - potato salad is a required side for gumbo. I don't have a recipe for potato salad. George likes refrigerator potato salad. What ever I have in the refrigerator that can be put in potato salad is put in. I like French fries (chips) only if they are hot out of the fryer.
The TV is on and Andrew Zimmer is in Peru talking about and indigenous potato dish. I missed the name of it.
Potatoes really are an extremely versatile ingredient. I would not be surprised if you could make a different potato dish every night for a year with no repeats.
Hemulen thanks for the topic. I am looking forward to see what other members have to say.

Try this potato salad. It has a bit of a cajun taste. It is my favorite these days.

Recipe - Lockhart's Potato Salad

CD

 

[flyinglentris]

Oh my gosh! I forgot about Potato Salad, Hash Browns, Tater Tots, Potato Pancakes, Curley Fries, Batter dipped French Fries, Potato Wedges, diced Potatoes and Onions and Potato Cakes!

 

[flyinglentris]

First, how could you miss titling this "Tater Talk?!" - the alliteration was right there!

Wow! I remember Mr. Potato Head, but I hadn't realized that there was book about Potato Talk or a Web community named Potato Talk or ...

Maybe I should have named the thread "Spud Talk."

 

[flyinglentris]

Oh my gosh! I forgot about Potato Salad, Hash Browns, Tater Tots, Potato Pancakes, Curley Fries, Batter dipped French Fries, Potato Wedges, diced Potatoes and Onions and Potato Cakes!

Oh hell! How could I forget the ever popular Potato Chips? I like Jalapeno Potato Chips, Sour Cream and Onion and Ripple Cut chips. Aye! Here's another ... Potato Sticks.

 

[flyinglentris]

Oops! I misread. Sorry. Though that salad looks excellent.

That "Salad" reminds me of Potatoes Au Gratin. And potatoes in a pot makes me think "Potato Stew."

 

[TastyReuben]

I would eat potatoes every meal, every day, 365 days a year, and be quite happy, though I'd probably be dead before too long.

I can't even begin to list the ways I like them, but I will say this - most people rave and rave about mashed potatoes, but it's not anywhere near the top for me. Don't get me wrong, I still like mashed potatoes just fine, but there are so many other ways I like them even better.