Russet or Burbank potato is the classic ruddy-skinned potato. The flesh is very dry and the skin is thick, making it ideal for baking it up to be crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The best potato for French fries, Russet has a very pleasantly bland flavour, which carries other flavours beautifully.
With its golden skin and creamy fluffy white flesh, white wash potato makes the perfect all rounder, they are excellent steamed, fried, baked, boiled or roasted. Smooth and creamy, their delicate, thin skins add just the right amount of texture to any dish without the need for peeling. A classic salad potato with a good source of vitamin B6 and is fat and cholesterol free.
Red or pink washed potatoes are a salad variety, with a firm flesh and thin blush red skin. They have a firm, smooth, solid texture that stand up well to boiling, making them perfect for stews and sliced or diced in salads. Consume them whole as many of the nutrients are found in the skin.
With a creamy skin and light yellow flesh, chat or baby potatoes are relatively small potatoes. They are light fresh flavoured which tastes great either hot or cold. Soft and fluffy textured, they are ideal for steaming, boiling or whole roasted and are can be eaten hot or cold with their skins on. Chat potatoes are a good source of Vitamin C, potassium and dietary fibre.
Cocktail potatoes are not a variety but refer to the size. Generally a smaller sized Chat or white washed potato, they similarly have white flesh and yellowish skin. Extremely easy to use as they do not require peeling or cutting before use and cooks in half the time.
Desiree potatoes have a firm, creamy tasting flesh making them ideal for smooth mash or being cooked in a sauce. They are easily recognisable by their lovely red skin and light yellow flesh. Desiree are normally larger, longer and oval shape.
Yukon Gold has an attractive smooth yellow skin with a very yellow flesh. It makes a great baking potato but also a lovely roast or chip potato recipe.
A specialist heritage potato variety with an indigo blue skin and purplish blue flesh. They have a delicate sweet flavour, a slightly fluffy flesh and work well in savoury dishes. To retain the colour, it is best to keep the skin on.
There are an estimated 200 varieties of USA grown potatoes which can be classified into a number of categories based on the cooked texture and ingredient functionality. The medley potato is a good mix of yellow, red or pink and purple skin varieties which allows for endless culinary applications.
Fingerling potato has a firm texture and knobbly appearance with a slight nutty flavour. It can be enjoyed boiled, roasted or steamed, either hot or cold in salads but also tastes delicious roasted. It mixes well into vegetarian dishes and with green leafy vegetables.
Kipfler potatoes are small to medium in size with an elongated, narrow, finger-like shape. Fluffy almost creamy in texture with a nutty, creamy flavour, Kipflers are best suited for baking, roasting or boiling and not so ideal for frying or mashing. They make excellent wedges and as a salad potato as they hold their shape well when cooked.
Kanta-kun is a Japanese sweet potato variety from Oita prefecture. Similar in appearance to other Japanese sweet potatoes, it has a deep pinkish purple skin and is fairly firm inside. Its shape varies from rounder and fatter in the center to elongated. Its whitish flesh turns golden when baked and is 1.5 times sweeter than a normal sweet potato. Best steamed or baked whole with skin on and served piping hot. Kanta-kun require no seasoning and is deliciously sweet and fibreless as is.
Sweet potato also known as yam, has two commercial varieties, Garnet and Jewel. A deep orange, almost copper interior encased in a light brown skin. When cooked, it has a mildly sweet taste and maintains its firm texture, but falls apart easily when taken apart.
