Hot Potatoes

Thanks for all the potato feedback. In my last email (1st August) I mentioned my run-in with a particularly poor crop of Nadines and wondered if there was a place in supermarkets to showcase local specialities.  Gosh, I didn't realize the humble spud could stir up such emotions.
Kate
 

Josie Slack
I too am appalled at the quality of our humble spud as many start to sprout as soon as they come into my kitchen. I was told that they no longer spray them to stop the sprouting so on one hand we have fewer chemicals but on the other hand, being in plastic bags and under supermarket lights for many hours  makes them turn green and start to sprout. I have been planting the "sprouty" ones in my vege patch and get a small crop later in the year which tastes like what a real spud should taste like.

Julie Lindenberg 
Mount a campaign! Recently I've purchased Agrias (loose) then found blight/rot/whatever right in the middle when they were sliced. Spuds are not the only problem. Onions are often very soft – therefore old.  Pumpkin goes off after a couple of days in the fridge and on Saturday I decided not to purchase a half cabbage because it was soft and wilted. I could go on…

Jan Lewis
I couldn't agree more about the potatoes.  I've had very similar frustrating experiences and, being an avid gardener, I'm still amazed that I can't manage to produce a decent crop in my backyard these days either, whether I buy very expensive seed potatoes or use potato peelings! I can grow wonderful "tops" but at harvest time I'd be lucky to half fill a bucket. Where have all the flavoursome, earthy ones gone? Certainly not to the shops where the majority of choices are watery, ghastly excuses for potatoes, whether they're boiled, baked or chipped. This seems to have been more prevalent over the last two or three years and I'd love to know why. Potatoes are an absolutely staple food and we used to be able to buy many different varieties. Now it appears the growers have decided on Nadine, a very inferior version of Agria, and a couple of other equally tasteless ones, probably because they produce quantity not quality and react well to all the artificial fertilizers. Anyway, enough ranting! And great mag, by the way; wish it was monthly.
(Thanks Jan – Kate)
 

I think the last word on this subject should go to the font of all knowledge when it comes to the best produce in the country, Ruth Pretty. Ruth Pretty Catering is tasked, on our behalf, to feed and water the most distinguished of the VIPs coming to New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup. They're so famous we're not even allowed to know who they are. But we can be assured Ruth and Paul will show them the very finest New Zealand food and hospitality. Despite RWC being just ahead of them, they took the time to read my email
newsletter and sent me a 10kg sack of spuds! They are excellent Agrias. We've had them mashed, we've had them roasted, we've had them par-boiled in salted water then high-roasted in hot oil so they're crunchy.
We've had them boiled then crushed slightly and covered with delicious olive oil (my favourite at the moment is Pigeon Rock (pigeonrock.co.nz) and sprinkled with freshly chopped thyme and, as the oil is from Central Otago, this seems to be a special meal in itself. ruthpretty.co.nz

Ruth wrote:
I sympathize with your potato blight totally. Like you, I admire New Zealand supermarkets greatly and I am pleased that overseas colleagues are impressed with them. Our small population means that many supermarkets, and in particular the owner/operator variety, have local feel and are not just huge food barns. Their staff members even remember your name. However, your idea of a regional focus in supermarkets is brilliant and, what is more, a saving in miles. Your Agria had probably been to head office dispatch before travelling to Temuka. The secret to a good spud is that it should not be washed for sale. Supermarkets have been told by marketing departments that society, and particularly women, will not buy anything dirty so the dirt is removed. Soil on potatoes protects them. Many New Zealanders believe that only springtime potatoes are harvested with dirt on. They are all harvested with dirt attached before they become "washed" potatoes. We have our potatoes couriered to us from a family market garden in Wanganui as potatoes are not grown on the Kapiti Coast. When we ring to order we have a choice of varieties and sizes and they arrive in paper (potatoes don't sweat in paper but they do in plastic), all covered in rich, peaty, dry soil. Laugsen's Market Garden is world famous in Wanganui. Long may it live.
I will send you a bag of Agria. Small, medium or large?