If you love blueberries like me, you might fall in love with the deep blue of these potatoes. Original, surprising, and sensational, colored potatoes add so much fun to your traditional dishes, and their health benefits are plenty.
An Old Lady
First cultivated in the mountainous regions of Peru and Bolivia 3000 to 7000 years ago, potatoes arrived in Spain in 1570 by Spanish boats. Used first to feed livestock, they eventually became part of the farmers’ diets when other food became short. The popularity of this vegetable soon spread all over the world. This remarkable tuber is adaptable and easy to grow anywhere. Amongst the 2000 varieties of potatoes existing in the world, the colored potatoes (blue, violet, pink, yellow, red) are the most surprising and interesting types. The more they are colored, the more health benefits they offer.
Why Go For Blue?
All Blue, Vitelotte, German Black, Peruvian Blue, Edgecote Purple, Russian Blue – the blue potato comes in various varieties and shades of blue. The All Blue’s origin is ancient, coming from the Andes in South America. No genetic manipulation here! Its dazzling color results from a pigment called anthocyanin, which is also found in other plants, fruits, and vegetables such as blackberries, cornflowers, blueberries, and the skin of eggplants.
Blue potatoes offer a more delicate taste than potatoes with white flesh. Cook them with their skin to preserve their beautiful color and all the nutrients it contains. Loaded with antioxidants, health benefits range from lowering cholesterol, reducing cardiovascular illnesses, protecting against eye diseases, and fighting against skin aging.
Try These Tips
- Add a few drops of cider vinegar to the cooking water to keep the beautiful blue color bright.
- Make a notch on each tuber before cooking to ease the peeling process.
- Once cooked, place the potatoes in a bowl of ice water as this makes peeling easy.
- The blue potato can be prepared in many ways: chips, steamed, mashed, roasted or in salads.
- Truffe is the name given to this rhizome in some regions of France.
Look for them at farmers markets and green grocers. The rest is up to you. Let your imagination fly, and surprise your guests with lovely colors on their plates.
Looking for some ideas? Watch this video for a delicious recipe using colored potatoes. Enjoy!
Christine is a life enthusiast, attracted to happiness, creativity and beauty in everything. It is not because she is French that she loves Fashion but she does. Photographing her food is becoming a habit of hers!
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