Other than the recipe for my Indian sweet potato fries, I haven’t written about potatoes yet this season.  I know it’s suppose to be Spring now, but it’s not, at least not in New York, so I’m going to jump on this oversight now before the tulips, already sprouted, get over their confusion at the climate-change weather and pop their pretty heads.

We know that potatoes “saved Europe” in that they kept the lower classes alive just well enough to keep them from rising up, in their starvation and despair, and taking out their monarchs.  We know them, thus, as a staple.  Or at least I do.  Their manipulation by the Queen drove my people to America, and for many a year they, in their fry form, were the highlight of the cafeteria.

But I ate some potatoes last week that made the standard, American Grocery Store-variety potato seem as bland as spray starch.

Healthway Farmsis a small farm in the Hudson Valley north of the city, and over the winter

Note: An old toothbrush is an excellent tool for scrubbing the dirt from your potatoes.

I’ve come to know that they grow superb spuds.  I bought three varieties from them: Adirondack Red, Adirondack Blue, and Carola.  I baked all of them with only olive oil, salt, and pepper so we could compare the taste.

Adirondack Blue:  You may have had purple fingerling potatoes.  I love them.  Shannon is “coming to like them.”  She claims they have a trace of a metallic taste to them.  The Adirondack Blue has a deeper taste than its purple fingerling cousins and none of that sharp minerality.  It’s starchier – more potato-y in its way – and holds together in your mouth.  Though it is quite different in taste from your standard Russet, its heft and density made it seem the most traditional of our lot, despite the color. 

Adirondack Red:  These red-skinned potatoes have red flesh as well, which is unusual.  The red potatoes we get in the grocery are usually white inside, and the Adirondack’s ruddy meat indicates a higher anti-oxidant quality.  These guys has a slightly crumbly texture.  They fell apart in my mouth in chunks, making them seem almost meaty.  They, like their blue cousins, are newbies.  They were created by three Cornell scientists in the early 2000s.

Carola: This was the big surprise.  This is a yellow, almost white potato.  I bought it because the woman working the Healthway booth told me they were her favorite.  And, man, these guys were positively luscious.  I’m talking super, super sweet.  You’d almost think you were eating a sweet potato except that they are far more buttery.  They also baked well, developing a nice, caramelized crunch on the edges.

We baked these babies and they were superb.  About a week later, I had to pick up a Russet at the grocery.  I prepared it the same way.

In comparison to the Farmer’s Market spuds, it had all the character of cardboard.