Kitchen Garden Forum

I've grown quite a lot of different potatoes over the years and have a few favourites for flavour but I thought I would try a commercial variety, Nectar, which I'd never heard of before and it is delicious as a jacket potato. It has smooth skin and a pale yellow flesh.

The parentage is Famosa and Red Cara and it says that it produces high numbers of tubers and stores well. It's an early main crop.

I've not seen it sold in garden centres so am thinking of putting a few of my shop bought ones in a potato grow sack to give it a try. That's if they haven't been treated with a growth retardant and if I grow them in a grow sack they won't be able to pass on any possible nasties.

My usual favourites for main crop are Picasso and Orion but Orion is hard to find and not a prolific producer.

Does anyone else have a favourite they would recommend?

I like Pink Fir Apples, though they are not popular in the kitchen if they need de-skinning and my favourite winter tattie, "Rooster"

I like chips

Anya for salad potatoes, Rooster for mash .

Re-ordered Jazzy this year as I really liked the taste as small salad /new spuds proper potato taste with several layers of flavour, not one hit (if that makes sense) & they grew well into quite large oval tubers which stored pretty well as a main crop without loosing that taste - & the slugs didn't like them too much either - bonus! Thanks Parsnip for the recommendation!

Foremost 1st early.

Aran didn't do that well last year but Pentland javelin and rocket first earlies were good

The most popular over here is British Queen. It's a second early, is very floury, doesn't boil too well, but is perfect steamed. Usually they are cooked and served in their skin which bursts open showing the floury white flesh.

I've yet to find a better first early than a Jersey Royal, although those grown outside of Jersey aren't worth bothering with, since the taste comes from the soil in Jersey, which cannot be duplicated on the mainland

Two second earlies worth seeking out are Linzer Delikatess and Elfe. LD is my favourite spud of all time; there is nothing as good. It is a salad variety from Austria/Hungary and is delicious, even when saved over the winter. It is also prolific and has grown well wherever I have grown it. Pennards sells it in the UK. A little expensive to buy, but I'd cross broken glass to get it.

A new second early, Elfe, is also another spud I rate. This one is "creamy", which means it boils, bakes and roasts fantastically well. Too many spuds have a bland taste; this one definitely doesn't.

I also agree that maincrop potatoes Pink Fir Apple and Anya, both salad varieities, are brilliant. They have a "nutty" taste, which is highly unusual.

Too many potatoes are being bred for looks or yield, with taste seemigly not a factor, so many of the newer varieties are not worth bothering with. Older French salad potatoes, such as Ratte, BF15 and Belle de Fontanay, are all firm favourites, but are not a patch on Linzer Delikatess!!!

Thanks for the recommendations. I agree that Ratte is an excellent salad variety and makes quite a good size. I'm going to try to get some Linzer Delikatess again. I liked the description and tried several suppliers a couple of years ago but it was unobtainable. I'll have to put in an early order for next year.

I'm with Gerry on British Queen. Great flavour but he is so right - it must be steamed.
For a main, we always grow Golden Wonder - very popular in Scotland but I think it may be too floury for elsewhere. We have tried a few Sarpo varieties but don't care for the flavour although their blight resistance is pretty handy. It was mentioned earlier that Pink F Apple is not popular in the kitchen. A couple of years ago we grew one that was a cross between PFA and Charlotte. Harlequin. Had a good crop of bold tubers but it seems to have disappeared. Another old favourite was Champion. No sign of it for many years but Gerry might know it as it was very popular in Ireland

Jazzy has nice nutty flavour, at least it does to us.

I had Charlotte recommended, as I'm growing them I hope they are tasty.

Jersy royals were my favourite but since they stopped putting seaweed on the taste has gone, my favourite is Elfe

Jethro,
Golden Wonder is the main crop of choice in my neck of the woods.
I don't have any knowledge of Champion I'm affraid, but floury potatoes are the favoured ones here.
Regards,
Gerry