A couple of years ago I found red and purple potatoes in our local supermarkets. At first I was intrigued by the exotic colours but what made them really special was the lovely buttery texture and the flavour.
Red & Purple potatoes from a couple of years ago! Sadly we have not seen them again!
As one should, I stored them in a dark corner of the pantry. When I came to eat the last few I found that they had started sprouting so I tossed them into a corner of the veggie garden. Within a few months I had lush plants and when I harvested them I was surprised with a few kilos of red potatoes.
I must have left a few potatoes in the ground because this summer I found a few plants had come up and enjoyed another potato harvest.
For some reason the supermarkets have not had them again, so if I am more diligent about tossing a few back into the soil I will be assured of an ongoing harvest!
A “foodie friend” found some at a market in Pretoria and mashed them. The result was rather unappetizing as it turned out purple-grey in colour.
I find the best use is to boil the potatoes with their skins on and to eat them with butter or use them in a salad.
I made this delicious red potato salad.
To tie in with the red theme I added red onion, used red wine vinegar in the dressing, slivers of red radish and I should have added black olives to complete the picture!
Not being partial to raw onion I pickled the onion in the dressing, resulting in a more mellow flavour that didn’t over power the delicate flavour of the potatoes.
If you do not have red potatoes use baby potatoes or what some South African supermarkets call Mediterranean Potatoes.
Gardening hint!
If you find Perennial Red Basil plant it. My plant has been going for about 6 years. I love the sweet flowers in salads and they are lovely in a vase too. The bees love it too!
