Recipe - Potato Information

A humble tuber, the potato was keenly cultivated by the Incas thousand of
years ago. Like the tomato and eggplant, the potato belongs to the
nightshade family which was considered throughout Europe be to poisonous.
Instrumental in its European acceptance was Sir WAlter Raleigh who planted
potatoes on his Irish property. The rest, they say, is history. The potato
flourished and commands respect as a complete and nourishing food.

A potato low in moisture, low in sugar with high starch, is termed floury.
Floury specimens bake and mash perfectly and will render golden coloured
chips or roast potatoes. Because of their low sugar they are harder to
brown and tend to collapse with boiled. one the other hand a waxy potato
high in moisture with low starch, holds its shape and remains firm when
boiled. These potato varieties are best for salads or scalloped.

Potato Shapes Our tuber assumes some facsinating shapes. Generally speaking
the shape often relates to the starch content. Fortunely this makes
identifying the use easier. Ovals Long oval Long and slighly rounded they
include the Russet varieties and the New Potatoes. Low moisture and high
starch makes them floury and therefore superior baking potatoes that are
excellent for French fries, crisping and roasting. Examples: agria
(yellow), desiree (red) Short oval With more moisture and less starch
their waxy quality produce good boiling potatos. They are usually a good
all purposse potato. Ex: bildatar, draga, fianna, fresia, ilam hardy, iwa,
jersy benner, nadine, peru peru, rua, sebego, stroma Rounds Red and White
They ar a waxy potato and often referred to as boiling potatoes. Good
roasters and some are great for mashing. (Rima is a good New Zealand
example) Kidney shaped Not so common and obviously shaped like a lambs
kidney, these waxy potatoes are boulers and not suitable for frying or
crisping. In New Zealand Cliff Kidney occasionaly appears at the
greengrocer.

Storage Store potatoes in a cool dark, well ventilated place for up to six
weeks. use new potatoes within 4 days of purchase. Refrigerating potatoes
causes them to sweeten and turn dark when cooked. Warm temperatures
encourage sprouting and shrivelling.

From: Cuisine NZ, July 1994
Posted to FOODWINE Digest 18 October 96

Date: Sat, 19 Oct 1996 09:32:13 +0000

From: Joell Abbott abbott@ZIP.COM.AU