Coloured Potatoes?

[Lumpy]

Mooching through the seed cats that turned up this morning I've become a bit fixated on the coloured spud section but...
I never eaten one let alone grown them so are they worth trying? I was particularly looking at either Shetland Black or Salad Blue. I normally only grow salad spuds in my bags so can these colourful little chappies be grown the same way?

[Lumpy]

p.s do they keep their colour when they are cooked?

[starloc]

I grow a few coloured ones ,when you cook them normally they retain colour the water gains some, as long as you dont boil too long they seem to keep colour, I roast them without boiling and the colour does not seem to fade at all
I have 3 types i think Shetland black, Highland Burgandy and salad blue, they taste better than many varieties.....I think they taste better because they are a older variety they have not developed specifically for productivity

Also we are plagued by colorado beetles and they didnt seem to like these varieties much

[Lumpy]

Thank you Starloc that was useful as its all about taste and ease of growing for me.

[Alison]

Salad Blue are a must have every year, go grey if mashed but stay bright blue when rolled in olive oil and roasted.

[Chippy Minton]

Have grown all three, Salad Blue are excellent, lovely flavour and they make blue mash! Highland Burgundy also lovely flavour but less colourful once cooked, although I seem to remember they make a daemon roastie Stopped growing the Shetland Black although I can't remember why.....

Only problem I've had with them is they're really hard to spot when harvesting, they all look like rocks, especially the Salad Blues......

[Alison]

Only problem I've had with them is they're really hard to spot when harvesting, they all look like rocks, especially the Salad Blues......

I don't really have rocks and stones in my soil so don't have that problem and find the salad blues OK to find but do remember now that some other blues ones I once grew were so dark they merged into the soil, hardly dug any up but had loads of volunteers the following year

[heirloomsquash]

I grow a blue variety for mashing my nieces loved it.
As grow methods potato grow well if conditions are good depending on weather and space availability. If bag or ground is best for given variety that a matter of opinion, experience, and mostly luck.

[poly]

Both Salad Blue and Highland Burgundy are nice, although they are a bit too dry and floury for me. Similarly Shetland Black is on the dry side and I found it went to slop if boiled. It has a lovely dark skin but only a ring of colour inside. I love the red colour of HB.

Vitelotte another purple, is late to mature, I tried it in bags once - not impressed poor yield.

Purple Majesty has a good taste and is easy to grow, another maincrop, I've not tried it in bags.

Violetta is an early maincrop, dark purple and not so dry as the others, cooks nicely and is good as a salad potato too. It might be one to try in bags as it is quite early to crop?

Red Emmalie is a nice looking red, didn't do very well here as it was blasted by blight, but the few I tasted were good.

I spotted some coloured potatoes at ***co which includes a purple called, Bergerac, the others I think are white fleshed. I haven't tried them yet but if they taste good I might give it a whirl unless it's been treated to stop it sprouting!

If you've not tried eating purple potatoes, it might be worth trying some first as they do have a anthocyanin twang to them. Purple Majesty were available in a couple of supermarkets, not sure if they still are?

[Alison]

If you've not tried eating purple potatoes, it might be worth trying some first as they do have a anthocyanin twang to them.

Go on, what's an anthocyanin twang? I understand the anthocyanin bit as that's the colouring but have never known it have a twang?!?

[poly]

It's just that hint of taste that seems to go with most purple veggies. I've noticed it most in potatoes, tomatoes and purple podded peas, it's almost a sour note but more something else, not sure how to describe really! Twang might not be the right way to express it, it's just the way I think of it tasting

[Alison]

It's just that hint of taste that seems to go with most purple veggies. I've noticed it most in potatoes, tomatoes and purple podded peas, it's almost a sour note but more something else, not sure how to describe really! Twang might not be the right way to express it, it's just the way I think of it tasting

Ah, I don't get that at all in fact did a blind taste taste one time with a friend who said different coloured vegetables didn't taste right and she totally failed to tell which was which.

[poly]

How interesting, I find the taste quite discernible and reckon I could pick out a purple podded pea/mangetout or purple potato - though not at the moment as I've got a streamer of a cold! Perhaps it's a gene thing like being able to taste saccharin.

[Lumpy]

Thank You. The varieties mentioned have been useful as I have never heard of them - going off to Google.
As for the 'twang' it is possible that only some people are aware of it as a recent tele program talked about why some people hate sprouts because of an intolerance to.....(can't remember thename but its a chemical within the sprout)