Purple potato
Solanum tuberosum · Tuber
Top 10 pairings
The purple potato is an anthocyanin-pigmented class of Solanum tuberosum whose deep blue-violet skin hides flesh stained a vivid purple all the way through, rather than the cream or pale yellow of ordinary tubers. Types such as the gourmet French Vitelotte and the Colorado-bred Purple Majesty carry a dry, nutty, faintly chestnut-like flavour and, crucially, keep their striking colour best when roasted or baked, fading only if boiled hard.
Picking a good onedrag
Freshly liftedSprouting and green
Cured and dormantBuy the sackThe keeper — roast, mash, fry, bake, anything
SkinSet firm, dry, matte
FleshFirm right through
EyesDimpled but dormant
SmellFaint, almost nothing
These cues are Potato's, and hold across its varieties; where this one differs, its own page says so.
What you get from one
75%
Edible part
213 g · peel and eyes out
284 g
Weight each
each one
Keeping ittap a temperature
Below about 4°C starch turns to sugar, so it fries dark and bitter. Warming partly helps.
95–99%
Humidity
Steady
Airflow