I was recently at a higher-end grocery store picking up some cheese to have around for the weekend. I grabbed fingerling potatoes to have for dinner that night, got up to the register only to learn that the small bag was $11. I had one of those moments of minor shock and uncertainty: I needed the potatoes for dinner but couldn't pay that for a small bag of fingerlings. I apologized and told the cashier I should put them back, strolled over to the produce aisle and found myself staring down what seemed like dozens of potato varieties: which to choose for roasting?
We don't eat a ton of potatoes at home, but when we do I pick up pretty basic russets for baked potatoes and waxier potatoes in the summer for potato salads. But a recent piece by food writer Megan Headley aimed to clear things up a little. Headley details the difference between three varieties of potatoes: starchy, waxy, or all-purpose. Here's a very brief re-cap of what she had to say:
1) Starchy potatoes (russets and many sweet potatoes): Great for baking and frying as they're absorbant.
2) Waxy potatoes (red-skinned and fingerling potatoes): These potatoes are great for soups and salads because they hold their shape so well during cooking.
3) All-purpose potatoes (Yukon Gold, blue, and purple potatoes): Good for roasting, mashing or baking.
While I actually ended up leaving the store without potatoes that day, I've now been paying more attention to this humble root vegetable and how the different varieties behave in the kitchen. When fingerlings are rung up at $11, I can reach for red-skinned potatoes and call it a day. I've also started chatting with the farmers at our weekly farmers market about different heirloom varieties they have -- for 1/5 of the price, I might add.
Related: How to Pick a Potato
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Nothing more comforting and reliable as a Russet. It has a really flavorful peel. Best of all, it's cheap, probably the cheapest variety out there.
I miss Bintje and Charlotte potatoes; can't find them here.
The best mashed potatoes are made with buttery tasting waxy potatoes (ideally, older potatoes); they should require just a little milk and a pat of butter. Mash that uses lots of cream, sour cream or butter is a sure sign of having used the wrong potato.
In North America, we don't have a great variety of waxy potatoes on our store shelves; we tend to use Yukon Gold, which I find is okay for everything, but truly excellent for nothing. It is very sensitive to over-boiling, and so is not the best candidate for potato salad or as a simple boiled potato, doesn't make a fluffy baked potato like a Russett, and is not as good as others for mash. I guess that leaves roasting...
I love mashed purple potatoes, but that is due in large part to the color. -I mash them with roasted garlic, goat cheese, a little Greek yogurt (why buy sour cream), and chicken stock if they're a little too thick. sooo good.
wow, this comment made me realize I may be overboilng my potatoes for soup, thanks.
I always say that I really started to feel like I was earning my Irish citizenship when I started making special trips to a particular store to get Maris Piper potatoes for mashing.
Oh -- purple potatoes!! I've been making an amazing recipe from Oprah's magazine -- roast the potatoes whole to keep them purple; spoon them out of their skins and mash (adding a little butter, cream, salt, etc.) and then drizzle with lime butter (melted butter, salt, lime juice and grated lime rind) -- you wind up with BRIGHT orchid purple where the lime butter touches the purple mash -- it's not only beautiful on the plate, but delicious (and fun!).
Here in the UK, we have Maris Pipers, which are great for mash - I like mine done the French way, puréed, so I add lots of warm milk and a ton of butter. For steaming and salads, I love the Ratte variety. They manage to be both waxy and crumbly, with a sweet, nutty taste.