The roots are broad at the top and don't taper so much as those which are good for exhibition. They hold their shape when boiled or cooked in a sauce such as dauphinoise or a hot pot. A typical ‘Smooth’ variety would be Desiree. The flesh is yellow and sometimes has a natural red colouring. The first thing to think about is how you want to use your potatoes. Step 1: Choose a potato cropping type; Step 2: Choose a variety of potato; Step 3: Plant up your potato tubers; Step 4: Harvest and enjoy your potatoes; Step 1: How to choose a potato cropping type . Do you like a fluffy roastie, how about a smooth mash or may be a roasted whole salad potato? Main crop potatoes are planted are little later, take longer to mature, but typically produce bigger potatoes. Apple flavour is also affected by autumn temperatures and the overall terroir of the growing region. Seed potatoes can be difficult to find in Britain, however. Very early traditional potato, bred on the Isle of Arran and the most popular variety in the UK in the 1930s. Other varieties which are well known to us as top quality roasters are Kerr's Pink , Arran Victory and Sarpo Axona. Best for chunky chips Favourite of Lawrence Hills, the famous organic gardener. September 2014. Potatoes are one of the most versatile natural foods that can be cooked in so many different ways, so to get great results you need to pick the right type of potato. Here's why hunting down shrub roses is worth the trouble, The prettiest weeds to look out for on your daily walks – and how to grow them from seed, Get ready to create a warm welcome in your garden, The highs and the lows over 20 years of Gardener's Question Time, Gardening offers and deals from Telegraph Garden Shop, What should our green spaces look like after Covid? For the best yields, dig during autumn/winter, adding well-rotted compost or manure. From the same breeder as 'Jazzy’, with oval, light-yellow tubers with bright, smooth skins. It has remained popular due to its excellent taste and high yields of white skinned tubers that are among the best boilers available. There are over 500 types of potato grown around the world, but only a small number are grown on a commercial scale and sold here in the UK. Excellent yield and flavour. The large tubers have a red eye; flavour is good when baked or mashed. However, they also work well in dishes where they’re baked or roasted, and they’ll hold their shape when boiled as well. You might find some of the more unusual heritage ones at farmers’ markets – with amazing names like Mr Little’s Yetholm Gypsy or Kepplestone Kidney – but you’re more likely to find Rooster, Maris Piper or Charlotte on the shop shelves. A tasty salad potato with yellow-fleshed oval tubers. This variety … It’s all a matter of taste. ... For the best quality crops, leave the tubers in the ground for an extra 4 weeks after cutting back the foliage. If you have ever wanted to find out about different potato varieties, the differences in how they taste and which recipes they work best with, then you have found it. Many varieties of potatoes are good for roasting, in our opinion King Edward is the best. Find out more, The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. Red King Edward. Cutworms, slugs, wireworms and potato cyst eelworm may all cause damage to potato crops. Accord High yielding, early bulking variety that hold their shape. First Earlies From sowing to harvesting this is can be as little as ten weeks. ..there's a potato on sale in some supermarkets now by the variety name 'Triplo'... sold as an Organic potato. Best boiled to enjoy the sweet aromatic flavour. Eat them hot or cold as a new potato or a fabulous salad variety. Another one for the crisp makers, but the rounded red tubers can be fried, roasted or boiled. Casablanca Seed Potatoes. A relatively new variety. Best potato varieties. Why not see for yourself what’s available in your potato aisle, after all there’s more to potatoes than meets the eye. The quality and value of our organisation, potato varieties and services, are based on the knowledge, skills and dedication of all who work for the business. This is the best salad potato around and very popular in France where it came from A very waxy variety that you want more of. Potato ‘Nicola’ is our top tasting salad potato, without a doubt. 'Arran Pilot' a waxy potato that is ideal as a salad or a new potato. ‘Salad’ potatoes are firm to the bite and are great for a quick, easy and healthier dish. What makes a potato a good roast or mash or chipper etc? We planted five tubers of each variety. Good mashed, steamed, fried or roasted. The handy categories below tells you everything you need to know about Fluffy, Smooth and Salad potatoes. You can find ‘Kennebec’ tubers via Burpee. Fingerling potatoes Next time you’re making roasties for the family why not try ‘Fluffy’ potatoes such as King Edward or Maris Piper. There’re about 100 varieties of potato grown in the UK, yet you wouldn’t know it – there’s a tendency among big food outlets to only stock a few of the better-looking types. This campaign was originally produced in the framework of a programme co-financed by the European Union. Stephen pointed out that Isabel from Fennel & Fern , has her own recipe for sun-dried tomato es, using this variety, so I may have to coax my Dad to grow these for me next year in his greenhouse! A handsome potato with lavish foliage, this chef’s favourite is best steamed. —Sandra Anderson, New York, New York We know that not all potatoes are the same but did you know that not all potatoes taste the same? Mainstay of the crisp industry; oval yellow-skinned tubers with light-yellow flesh. Apparently this variety was Percy Thrower's favorite potato. Discover your favorite type of spud by learning about the differences in fluffy, smooth and salad potatoes. A handsome potato with lavish foliage, this chef’s favourite is best steamed. Try them boiled or as wedges. BEST POTATOES FOR ROASTING. 3. Makes very goo… 'Red Cara’ is a sport found in 1976. Vivid blue-purple tubers with probably the whitest flesh of all, according to Morrice. Casablanca Seed Potatoes. View more . Salad blue - Maincrop . Add to basket. Add to basket. Read on or watch our video to find out about the different types of potatoes so you can choose the best varieties to meet your needs. The variety is from a different potato family called Phureja and originates in the Andean valleys of South America. And as we all know, nothing says summer like a freshly prepared salad and to add an extra level of depth and texture, potatoes make the perfect pairing. They're also very absorbent, so are great paired with butter and cream -- think mashed potatoes. Shop our range of potatoes at telegraphplants.co.uk. From: £5.49. Excellent sweet taste, unusually white colour, there is very little to criticise about this variety. Seed potatoes were set to ... fertile soil. Culinary Uses of Potatoes . It’s popular commercially as it can be cooked any way and eaten cold or hot. You may find one variety appears in two or more sections as some potatoes are more multi-purpose than others. Casablanca produces a clean smooth white tuber with shallow eyes and its cooking ability will make it popular with chefs with its ability to chip, bake or boil. Dig early for lovely salad potatoes or mature for great bakers. They can also have a distinctive nutty or buttery flavour making them just great on their own. £2.59 Potato / Onion Sets Value Pack range for just £8.99. BobTheGardener Leicestershire, UK Posts: 9,896. Just don't try using Idaho Russets for potato salads, gratins or any dish that requires the potatoes to hold their shape. This old-fashioned potato salad recipe doesn't have many ingredients, so it isn't as colorful as many that you find nowadays. All potato types are planted in the spring. Discount will be applied at the checkout. For the best results, try Charlotte, Maris Peer or any seasonal new potatoes, such as the exceptional Cornish new potatoes in season during the warmer months. chef says, the majority of fish and chip shops cook the Planting onion sets Resistant to potato cyst nematode Globodera rostochiensisi Ro1. But what type and variety of potato should you be growing? Harvest from May. Most of the potato (and any other vegetable) is water, what is left is the dry matter. The Salad Blue heritage variety is oval in shape, with the skin and flesh both a strong deep blue colour. Want some delicious recipes for Fluffy, Smooth and Salad potatoes, we've got 100s of potato recipes for you to try. An excellent F1 variety for the average UK gardener. Harvest from June. Arran Pilot Very early traditional potato, bred on the Isle of Arran and the most popular variety in the UK in the 1930s. Longstanding favourite with great flavour. Seed potatoes can be difficult to find in Britain, however. Abbot Very early variety with high dry matter. A cream skinned potato with a creamy/yellow flesh. Rooster is a red skinned variety with a yellow flesh which are also fluffy inside – an excellent potato. Try it and see if it isn't one of the best-tasting potato salads you have ever eaten! You have heard of King Edward. Check out these award-winning ideas, 10 green-fingered gifts to give this Valentine's Day, from sensual salvias to er, carrots, How faux flowers became cool again, and where to buy the best, The best garden centres open across the UK, Gardening in January: what to plant and tidy in your garden this month, Why invasive plants are better for honeybees than you think. The difference is that early varieties are more tolerant of colder weather, mature faster, and require a little less space between plants. Produces numerous small, creamy early tubers; waxy and full of flavour. We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future. 0. A benchmark variety for assessing others. It has great depth of flavour and copes better than many other varieties if growing conditions are less than ideal. But Mama made it the way her mother did, and that's the way I still make it today. Brand new variety which was added to UK list in 2017. A stalwart of the allotment, as it resists blight to a large degree and its foliage suppresses weeds. It’s best mashed or steamed. Even when those nice to look at aren’t always those offering the best flavour. There was some variability in the size of our harvested tubers, but their excellent flavour and texture means they still came out on top. Draga. 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Taste delicious boiled, steamed or roasted whole in their skins. Cream skinned oval tubers with a smooth textured cream flesh. A popular variety and bestseller among potato gardeners and top chefs alike, Yukon Gold potatoes come with a fine-grained, dense flesh that’s great at holding shape while you cook. To make your shopping hassle-free we have put together this handy guide to help you get great results every time. Good scab resistance. Annabelle. It has great depth of flavour and copes better than many other varieties if growing conditions are less than ideal. Precautions against slug damage are particularly necessary when planting through polythene. Arran Pilot is one of the UK's favourite garden potato varieties. An attractive red variety, popular on the show bench for its firm, white, waxy flesh and smooth skin. We are all familiar with the traditional, comforting potato taste with every mouthful bringing back memories of Mum’s cottage pie. Best Buy new potatoes (first earlies) What it looks like: Variety name: Yield from 14 tubers: 10kg: Producing some spuds that were large enough to be bakers, this extra-early variety gave us one of the biggest yields in our trial. So far, it's the best tasting potato I've had and it seems so versatile too...boiling..frying.. the flavour seems outstanding to me. The Kingsman potato produces short oval tubers with white skin and yellow flesh. These potatoes have a fluffy middle when cooked. So onto the tasting….Lucy and I loved ‘Egyptian’, a lovely rich tasting plum tomato, but I was disappointed to find that this variety could only be grown indoors. If you’re looking for a unique-tasting tater, look no further. This will allow the skins to ‘set’ prior top lifting them. This makes it easier to get more of the parsnip up without breaking at harvest time. Tests for resistance to potato cyst nematode demonstrated susceptibility to both Globodera rostochiensis Ro1 and Globodera pallida Pa 2/3, 1. These varieties are most flavourful when picked at peak ripeness and eaten within a few months of harvest. Casablanca Relatively new variety. Arron Victory are a famous blue skinned variety in Europe which have excellent boiling quality and a fluffy texture. Late in the ground, a good all-rounder. As with all the types of cooking potatoes, the … Trials have found good resistance to potato leafroll virus and potato virus Yo . Good disease resistance. They have a fluffy textured flesh with a delicate flavour and are believed to be a result of Victorian amateur potato breeding. 'Nicola’ (Second early) A tasty salad potato with yellow-fleshed oval tubers. Simply work through the steps below, take a look at our potato varieties chart and find the best potatoes for you to grow at home. Find out more. View more. 7. Cara - Maincrop. You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. 'Accent' AGM - A good cropper of small salad/new potatoes, pale yellow flesh, remaining firm after boiling. Get great results at every meal with our colour coded potato guide. These types of potatoes are best in soups and stews, and they’re great for potato salad. This variety has low resistance to potato leafroll virus and late blight on tubers. They are not only great for family favourites such as ruffled up roasties but also tasty jackets or chunky chips. recommended variety just make sure that it suitable for the cooking method that is important for you. Kingsman has been bred for a good overall disease resistance, and is notably resistant to golden potato cyst nematode. The main factor that decides what a potato is best for is the dry matter content. Great skin finish making it a good candidate for the show bench. Taste great simply prepared in their skins. It is a first early with good disease resistance and high yield. They are best cooked with the skin on to retain their colour. Red Gold. And depending on … The potato is one of our most versatile vegetables, and a well grown, well cooked, favourite variety takes a lot of beating. A typical salad variety would be Charlotte or Maris Peer. We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism. Well this one is the same in every respect other than the skin is 95% red. 4. Established in 1920, C. Meijer B.V. has always remained a family business and the UK representation ‘Meijer Potato UK’ is no different, marketing approximately 30,000 tonnes of seed annually. Arran Pilot is successful in all soil conditions including light soils. First found in a Dutch crop of 'Duke of York’ and superior both in flavour and vigour. Which means a bit of spud-hunting is in order. Popular in France. This is an early maincrop variety, ready for harvest in 80 days. It is grown for for the Inca Gold bag and is absolutely amazing roasted or baked . Casablanca is a modern white skinned first early variety with good potential on the showbench. Good eelworm and slug resistance. Good for containers. Some of the best tasting apple varieties are Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Fuji, Ambrosia, and Cox’s Orange Pippin. They have a neutral potato flavor, a fluffy, creamy and soft texture, and are best for baking, mashing and making French fries. They make great novelty chips, crisps and colourful salads. It’s resistant to late blight, black leg, and potato viruses A and Y. Duke of York are ideal roasting and for jacket potatoes. The variety is best suited to boiling and salads although it can be roasted sucessfully.