The New Potatoes

Potatoes and earth smell alike out on the flat field near Bakersfield.

Alex Weiser’s shovel breaks through the thin sandy crust, exposing rich brown loam. With another thrust of the shovel, the wiry young farmer pulls up the 18-inch-tall leafy plant from the earth and bares its thready roots and the cluster of Russian Banana Fingerling potatoes that dangle from it like a bunch of grapes.

We move on to another row, and Weiser brings knobby Red La Sodas to light, brilliant fuchsia orbs not yet dulled by age.

Now, that’s a new potato. Just dug, with skin so thin it rubs off as your thumb grazes the potato’s surface. So fresh, the potato snaps open like a crisp apple.

Only a decade ago, when it came to potatoes, it was basically your red, white and brown in the U.S. of A. Dependable, reliable, boring, the potato was the undemanding workhorse of the kitchen. Like a chameleon, it absorbed the colors and flavors of its surroundings.

The kitchen wallflower has finally been asked to the dance. Small-farm specialists like Weiser grow potato varieties from Europe and South America, as well as forgotten American favorites, and take them to local farmers markets.

That means we’ve got ruby-skinned, smooth-as-butter French Fingerlings, brilliant yellow German Butterballs, Russian Banana Fingerlings, Yellow Finns, pink-eyed Yukon Golds and Purple Peruvians of royal hue.

And May through July, we’ve got the fresh spring crop with all of its earthy sweetness intact. Although potatoes are harvested year-round in California, this is the peak season.

It’s a surfeit of riches; so many potatoes, in fact, that you might be tempted to walk right by them. Do you boil ‘em, bake ‘em or fry ‘em? Does it really matter? And which are really new?

The Spud’s Story

A little history sheds light on our bewilderment at the produce stand. Thousands of multicolored varieties have been developed since the potato was first cultivated in Chile and Peru more than 10,000 years ago. Potatoes traveled from Peru to Spain in the 16th century and slowly made their way through Europe. Most potatoes came to North America during the 17th century from the British Isles.

According to Meredith Sayles Hughes, founder of the Potato Museum, situated in New Mexico, only two potatoes found in this country today traveled directly north from South America: the Purple Peruvian Fingerling and the Ozette, which was given by the Spanish to the Makah Indians of the Olympic Peninsula in the 18th century.

Although there is much talk of heirloom potatoes, in reality varieties dating from before the 1870s are scarce. This is mainly because of the same poor seed propagation practices that led to the Irish potato famine in the mid-19th century, which left many varieties so susceptible to disease that they are now impossible to grow. Some of these older potato varieties are preserved only in gene banks, where plant geneticists are still trying to “debug” them.

Most of the yellow and fingerling potatoes we see are from Europe. The now-popular thin fingerlings were once discarded in this country as commercially impractical because they fell through the harvester.

As seed potato grower Dave Ronniger tells the tale, our chic French Fingerlings were unceremoniously smuggled into this country in a horse’s nosebag 90 years ago and called “Nosebags” until he figured out that a name change (its proper name is Roseval) would help sales.

This gets confusing for the shopper, especially because potato names often changed in migration. The adored La Ratte potato that people come back from France asking for looks suspiciously like the Russian Banana Fingerling from the Baltic.

Further complicating matters, commercial growers and vendors often don’t want to be bothered with expensive varietally accurate labeling. That’s why “Yukon Golds” don’t always look the same in the supermarket. Sometimes we find them round, yellow and thin-skinned, with pink eyes and a pale interior (true Yukons), but sometimes they’re deeper yellow with russet-like skin (Yellow Finns).

“Yukon Gold is a variety but became a marketing name for just about any yellow potato,” says seed potato grower Greg Anthony. The reason is the desire to keep a constant supply in the market of what is actually a highly seasonal crop.

Know Your News

Weiser digs the first young potatoes by hand, before the rest of the crop matures, and gets them to market immediately. These fragile-skinned gems bruise too easily for commercial handling.

When the potatoes are ready, Weiser “rolls” the vines with a heavy machine, breaking the vines and killing the plant to stop its growth. The plants can also be killed by depriving them of water. Then he “cures” the potatoes by covering them with soil for several weeks to allow the skins to set. Only then can he harvest by machine.

Truly “new” potatoes are sold soon after harvest. The label refers to a lack of storage time; size doesn’t matter. Potatoes on the same plant mature to different sizes, so a new potato can be large or small. And it can be any variety, not just a round red. Conversely, not all small potatoes are new.

More than a dozen San Joaquin Valley commercial growers have organized to promote their never-stored red, white, yellow and russet potatoes shipped within 24 hours of harvest. The skins have set but are still thinner than those of stored potatoes.

“ ‘New potato’ labeling is gradually being added at supermarket and even warehouse chains like Costco,” says Mary Lu Waddell, marketing director of California New Potatoes, “but generally the consumer has to come armed with knowledge. Look at the potato; know when the season is.”

From Waxy to Mealy

So which potato should you buy for what purpose? Many varieties can be used interchangeably. “Texture is the main difference,” explains Ron Voss, extension vegetable specialist at UC Davis. “You can’t really categorize by shape, skin or flesh color.”

Generally, potatoes range from moist and waxy at one end of the spectrum to dry and mealy at the other, with shape types such as fingerlings or color types like yellows falling at various points on the scale. Visually, it’s easier to group by shape and color, but as Voss states emphatically, “Knowing the variety is the key to knowing what you’re really getting.”

Waxy, firm potatoes, or what we call boiling potatoes, such as White Rose or Red La Soda, hold their shape when boiled and are good for salads or roasting whole.

“Bakers,” described as floury, starchy or mealy, include most russets and purples. These make fluffy mashed potatoes and, because of a lower sugar-to-starch ratio, make better French fries. These are sometimes called “Idahos,” since that is where many are grown.

Vaguely labeled all-purpose potatoes fall in between and include most fingerlings, yellow-fleshed potatoes and even some russets like the Norkotach. They yield dense, creamy mashed potatoes, and, as the term implies, can be used as boilers or bakers.

Some varieties inherently have a higher moisture content than others, and all new potatoes contain more water than their older counterparts, which helps them hold their shape better during cooking.

Flavor differences, often resulting from the moisture, texture and age of the potato, are subtle. At a tasting in the Times Test Kitchen, we couldn’t come up with a consensus on how to describe even one variety, but terms like “sweet,” “nutty,” “rich,” “creamy,” “mineraliness,” and “mouth-feel” hovered in the air.

Keep It Simple

Whatever. What’s important at home is how enjoyable potatoes are (they legitimately qualify as a comfort food, because they actually contain the feel-good hormone serotonin) and how easy they are to prepare.

Steam, rather than boil, small potatoes about 15 minutes to keep flavors and nutrients intact (a 4-ounce potato provides almost half the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance for vitamin C and lots of potassium). Try this with tiny fingerlings and then roll the hot potatoes, moisture droplets still clinging to them, in softened--not melted--butter, instantly creating a creamy emulsified sauce. Then sprinkle them with crunchy French sea salt, such as fleur de sel.

The classic technique of baking potatoes in salt is equally easy. Bury a couple of pounds of small potatoes and a few sprigs of rosemary in a bed of kosher salt or sea salt (you’ll need about 2 pounds of it) in a baking dish and roast at 400 degrees until the potatoes are tender, about 40 minutes. The salt seals in moisture and infuses the potatoes with just the right amount of flavor. You can even reuse the salt.

Flashy-looking purple potatoes mash well, but try playing up their color in other ways: in a cheerful salad mixed with yellow potatoes and butternut squash, or diced, crisped and strewn like deep sapphires into pale creamy cauliflower soup. The most readily available purple potato, All-Blues (often mislabeled “Peruvian”), holds its color well, and newer varieties are even more intensely purple. To keep the color vibrant, boil the potatoes gently and add a little vinegar to the cooking water.

The possibilities are limitless. Potatoes can be pureed, souffleed and gratineed. They can be layered with truffles or painstakingly stacked into “tall food.”

Still, it’s pretty hard to top those fingerlings and La Sodas fresh from the field, steamed with only a little butter and salt. Like the beauty who needs only the simplest adornment, the humble potato requires little effort to shine.

Sauteed Potatoes With Red Wine Vinegar

Active Work Time: 25 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 45 minutes

Italians love potatoes with vinegar and olive oil. Boiling the potatoes first in a mixture of vinegar and water gives them a piquancy that complements the olive oil, garlic, hot pepper and herbs.

2 pounds medium to large red or white rose potatoes or other boiling potatoes

2 cups red wine vinegar

6 cups water

Coarse salt

3 to 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic

6 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

* Peel and cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Cut each half into 1/4-inch thick lengthwise slices and place in bowl of cold water.

* Bring vinegar and water to boil in large pot. Drain potatoes, then add them and 2 teaspoons salt to pot and cook partially covered until almost tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain potatoes and discard cooking liquid.

* Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, bay leaves and red pepper flakes. Saute 1 minute, add drained potatoes and 1 tablespoon oil and cook until potatoes are tender but still hold their shape, 5 to 10 minutes. The potatoes will not brown. Season generously with salt and mix in parsley. Drizzle with additional olive oil to serve.

6 servings. Each serving: 182 calories; 337 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 7 grams fat; 28 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 0.73 gram fiber.

Spring Hash

Active Work and Total Preparation Time: 1 hour

The grassy green vegetables and herbs marry wonderfully with nutty sweet Yukon Gold potatoes, morels, browned butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Cooking the vegetables separately and combining them at the end keeps colors and flavors fresh. This makes a nice side dish with salmon or chicken and is wonderful mixed with pasta--orrechiette or large paddle-shaped cencione.

1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes or other boiling potatoes

1/2 pound fresh morels

2 bunches asparagus (stalks finger-thick), about 3/4 pound

1/4 pound sugar snap peas

3/4 pound fresh English peas in shell (about 1 cup shelled)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

Coarse salt

Freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup blanched, peeled fava beans, optional

Water

2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves

3 tablespoons snipped chives

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

* Peel and cut potatoes into 1/2-inch dice and place in bowl of cold water. Cut morels in half lengthwise and brush clean. Cut larger halves in half again lengthwise. Snap woody asparagus bottoms off and discard. Cut spears crosswise into 1/2-inch-long slices, reserving tips separately. Remove strings from snap peas and cut into 1/2-inch slices. Shell English peas.

* Heat 1 tablespoon butter in straight-sided saute pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add morels, season with salt and pepper and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove to serving dish and set aside. Lower heat to medium. To same pan, add 1 tablespoon butter, English and snap peas, fava beans and 1 tablespoon water. Shake pan and cover. Cook peas until almost tender, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add asparagus pieces (not tips), tarragon, chives and 1 to 2 tablespoons water. Season with salt and pepper, stir, cover and cook until vegetables are tender but still bright green, about 3 minutes. Add to serving dish with morels. Add to pan 1 tablespoon butter, drained potatoes and 2 tablespoons water. Shake pan, cover and cook potatoes over medium heat until just tender, 5 to 10 minutes, adding a little water if necessary to keep them from sticking. Season with salt and pepper.

* Return reserved cooked vegetables and asparagus tips to pan and mix gently with potatoes. Cover and heat through until asparagus tips are cooked, 2 to 3 minutes. Return hash to serving dish and sprinkle evenly with cheese. Cut remaining 5 tablespoons butter into a few pieces and place in medium skillet over medium heat. Swirling pan frequently, cook butter until it turns a rich nut brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Pour over vegetables and serve.

6 to 8 serving. Each of 8 servings: 248 calories; 332 mg sodium; 38 mg cholesterol; 15 grams fat; 22 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams protein; 1.74 grams fiber.

Tomato, Potato and Avocado Table Salsa

Active Work Time: 20 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 45 minutes

This is adapted from “Meatless Mexican Home Cooking” by Nancy Zaslavsky (St. Martin’s Press, 1997). The state of Michoacan, Mexico, is famous for both potatoes and avocados, and potatoes add heft and soothe the heat of the peppers in this chunky salsa. Use fewer peppers if desired, or keep the seeds in to crank up the heat.

1 white or red rose potato, or other boiling potato, quartered

2 avocados, ripe but still firm

4 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 white onion, chopped

3 to 6 serrano peppers, or to taste, stemmed and chopped

1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

1 teaspoon coarse salt

6 grinds pepper

Juice of 1 lime

* Boil potato in small saucepan until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and cool potato, then peel and cut into 1/4-inch dice. Place in medium bowl. Peel and dice avocados into 1/4-inch dice and add to bowl. Add tomatoes, onion, peppers, cilantro, salt, pepper and lime juice and mix gently. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve at room temperature or slightly cool.

4 cups. Each 1/4 cup: 55 calories; 159 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 4 grams fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 1 grams protein; 1.08 grams fiber.

Blue and Gold Potato Salad With Shallot Dressing

Active Work Time: 30 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 hour

POTATOES

1 pound purple potatoes or other boiling potatoes

1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes or other boiling potatoes

1 pound butternut squash

Salt

1/2 cup diced celery

3 tablespoons snipped chives

1/2 cup toasted walnuts, optional

* Peel and cut potatoes and squash into 1-inch cubes. Boil each vegetable separately in salted water until just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and toss with some of Dressing while potatoes are warm. When cool, add celery, chives, nuts and additional dressing. Taste and adjust seasoning.

DRESSING

1 large shallot, quartered

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 to 2 teaspoons coarse salt

Freshly ground pepper

3/4 cup oil

* Place shallot, mustard and lemon juice in blender or bowl of food processor. Process until shallot is pureed. Add salt, generous grindings of pepper and blend. With machine running, add oil in steady stream. Dressing should be a little salty as potatoes absorb a lot of flavor.

6 servings. Each serving: 382 calories; 580 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 28 grams fat; 32 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 1.25 grams fiber.

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When Green Means Stop

When Europeans regarded the potato with suspicion in the 16th and 17th centuries, they were not being entirely irrational.

From the shape of its leaves, they could tell the potato was related to a familiar European poisonous plant, deadly nightshade, a member of the Solanaceae family.

In fact, potatoes contain a small amount of the poison solanine, about 5 milligrams per 100 grams of potato. It’s meant to protect them from infection.

Food scientists Harold McGee and Shirley Corriher explain that this level is harmless, but when potatoes are exposed to light and turn green, solanine levels rise as much as 20 times and can make you sick. High amounts of solanine create a peppery feeling on the tongue. Luckily, the toxin is just below the green, so just peel deeply, about 1/16-inch below green, to remove all traces of solanine.

Potato sprouts can also make you sick, so cut those away as well before cooking.

Potatoes should be stored in a cool, dark place (which raises the question of why potatoes are so often improperly stored in supermarkets).

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POTATO PRIMER

Because potatoes are so affected by soil and growing conditions, varieties are highly regionalized across the country. This is a guide to potatoes you might find in Southern California at farmers markets and some supermarkets.

The potatoes are listed from waxy-moist to starchy-dry, with all-purpose occupying the middle range. Particular seasonal growing conditions, field locations and farming methods can alter a potato’s appearance and its ratio of solids to water, so the groupings are not hard and fast.

Store potatoes in a cool, dark place. If you’re lucky enough to get true new potatoes whose skins have not set, use them within a couple of days.

Waxy-Moist

Carola. Round-oval; light yellow thin skin; light to medium yellow waxy flesh. Similar to Yukon Gold. Late-season variety.

Red La Soda. Round; red skin; white, moist flesh. Deep-set eyes. Plant sets a lot of small tubers that don’t bulk up for a while, therefore are often marketed as “red new potatoes.” Good for roasting and boiling. Mid-season variety.

Rose Finn Apple Fingerling, also known as Ruby Crescent. Long; pink, blotchy skin; medium-yellow moist to waxy flesh. Variable maturity through season.

White Rose. Long, somewhat flattened; thin white-beige skin with deep, pinkish eyes; waxy. When new and small, often called “creamers.” Many early-season white potatoes sold in supermarkets descend from this heirloom variety (1893).

All-Purpose

Bintje. Heirloom dating from 1911, the No. 1 potato for fries in Europe and also popular here. Long; yellow skin; strongly yellow, moderately starchy flesh. Good for baking, mashing, frying. Late-season variety.

French Fingerling. Finger-shaped; smooth ruby skin with shallow eyes; moist cream-colored flesh, sometimes with a pink “starburst.” Sweet creamy taste, mineral notes near skin. Variable maturity through season.

German Butterball. Usually round; thick, netted skin, light buff or russet in color; deep yellow moist flesh. Rich-tasting, buttery, more flaky than Yukons. A mid-season variety and a favorite among potato growers.

Red Thumb. Short finger-shaped; red skin; reddish flesh that turns mauve when cooked; creamy texture. Prolific producer, variable maturity dates.

Russet Norkotah. Long oval; russet skin with shallow eyes; white, mealy flesh. Looks much like Russet Burbank, but more moist and more disease-resistant. Prolific producer, one of the most successful commercial russets. Early season.

Yellow Finn. Flat round-oval to pear shape, sometimes developing a distinctive “nose” or nubbin; heavy buff skin; moist, medium-yellow flesh. Sweet and creamy. Late-season variety.

Yukon Gold. Round and knobby; yellowish thin skin with pink eyes; pale, moist gold interior, Early season. Often replaced by the similar but more prolific Morning Gold.

Starchy-Dry

All-Blue. Long to oblong; smooth deep blue-purple skin with shallow eyes; purple flesh, often with a band of white under skin. Mealy texture similar to Burbank russet, mild flavor.

Purple Peruvian Fingerling. From South America, not related to All-Blue. Long oval; flesh deep indigo all the way through. When cut raw, releases dark blue juice. Very mealy texture, mild flavor.

Russet Burbank. Classic heirloom (1872) baking potato. Long oval; russet skin with shallow eyes; white, mealy flesh. Highest solid content of any commercial variety. Mid-season; stores well and is available for months after harvest.

Russian Banana Fingerling. Long oval with a definite “banana” curve; light yellow skin; deep yellow, moderately starchy flesh. Most popular fingerling on the market today because it is a prolific producer and has the “European qualities” chefs want.