Potatoes — season, tips, and recipes in New Zealand
Potatoes is a vegetables available in New Zealand during January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, peaking in April, May, June. This page is a practical guide for home cooks: when to buy potatoes, how to pick a good one, how to store it, what it goes well with, three original recipes, and detailed nutrition information.
New season potatoes arrive from November: waxy, sweet, best boiled with mint and butter. Waikato and Canterbury are major regions.
How to pick a good one
Firm, no green patches (green = solanine, mildly toxic). New season (Nov-Jan) have thin flaky skin.
How to store it
Cool, dark, well-ventilated. Never fridge. Keep away from onions.
Goes well with
butter: Potato's starch granules absorb fat readily, which is why butter makes mashed potato taste fundamentally different from boiled potato. The fat changes the texture as much as the flavour.
rosemary: Rosemary's resinous, pine-like flavour sits well against potato's mild starchiness. The contrast is strong enough to make potato interesting without competing with it.
garlic: Garlic's savoury glutamates make potato's blandness taste intentional rather than accidental. Roast potato with garlic is more than the sum of its parts.
sour cream: Acid in sour cream brightens potato's heaviness. The cooling effect also contrasts with hot potato in a way that adds interest.
chives: Chive's mild onion flavour is exactly the right intensity for potato -- assertive enough to notice but not enough to overpower. The combination is functional, not creative, and works every time.
Recipes
Perfect Roast Potatoes
Crispy outside, fluffy inside.
Ingredients: 1kg potatoes, 3 tbsp oil or duck fat, salt, rosemary
Method: Peel and cut into chunks. Boil 10 min until edges are fluffy. Drain and shake in the pot to roughen edges. Toss with hot oil in roasting pan. Roast 200C for 45 min, turning once. Salt and rosemary.
Potato & Leek Soup
Comforting. 30 minutes.
Ingredients: 4 potatoes, 2 leeks, 1 onion, 1L stock, knob butter, salt, pepper
Method: Sweat sliced leeks and onion in butter. Add diced potatoes and stock. Simmer 20 min until tender. Blend until smooth. Season.
Smashed Potatoes
Crispy, buttery, addictive.
Ingredients: 800g small potatoes, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp butter, garlic, salt, herbs
Method: Boil potatoes until tender. Drain. Smash each one flat with a glass. Arrange on oiled tray. Drizzle with oil and butter. Roast 220C for 25 min until crispy. Season with salt and herbs.
Nutrition
One medium potato provides 45% of your daily vitamin C (surprising, isn't it?), 25% of your potassium, and 25% of your vitamin B6. Also provides 4g of fibre when eaten with skin. About 160 calories. Potatoes have more potassium than bananas and were the primary vitamin C source in many diets before citrus became affordable.