What are they and where are they from?

The title "Jersey Royals” indicates early season new potatoes grown on the island of Jersey. For best flavour and full tradition they should be grown on dairy farms whose herds provide manure for the fields, together with vraic (seaweed gathered from the beach); côtils, steep south-facing slopes which catch the sun produce the earliest crop.

What is their heritage?

Potatoes were an important crop on Jersey by the 19th century. Around 1880 local farmer Hugh de la Haye bought an unusual potato from a local potato merchant. Cut into pieces and planted in his garden, it produced a harvest of much better flavoured potatoes than his commercial crop. The “Jersey Fluke” potato soon became a commercial crop; “royal” was added to the name in a late 19th century flush of enthusiasm for the British Empire.

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Few farmers on Jersey now combine the traditional combination of dairying, pigs and potato growing, and because of pests it is difficult to grow potatoes as a monoculture, so a judicious chemical input is necessary, but best-flavoured potatoes still come from land fertilised with animal manure and vraic.

The fields are planted in January; the earliest potatoes are lifted about 3 months later.

Supermarkets have tended to monopolise the market for Jersey Royals, leading to blanket cultivation, a precarious existence for small producers (including, sometimes, no buyer for a substantial part of the crop) and produce which is occasionally past its best for consumers; competition from new potatoes produced in Mediterranean countries, and breakdown of the dairy and potato farming combination on Jersey have all eroded the tradition.

What do they look and taste like?

Small kidney-shaped potatoes with fragile, papery skins, Jersey Royals are graded into three sizes – ware, small ware and mids (the smallest). The texture is firm and waxy with a nutty, earthy flavour.

How are they used?

Rub off the skins and boil (with mint if desired), and serve with butter and salt, or wrap in foil with olive oil and salt and barbecue; excellent in potato salad.

Where can I buy them?

For very fresh potatoes produced on a traditional small dairy farm, by post from www.holmegrown.com; most greengrocery stores also stock Jersey Royals, but they are likely to be intensively produced and less flavourful.

Slow Food is an international eco-gastronomic movement which promotes the enjoyment and protection of locally grown produce. For more information on how to join your regional convivium and forthcoming events: www.slowfood.org.uk

©Laura Mason

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