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Mason-Dixon Recipes #1095582 added September 3, 2025 at 11:52pm
Restrictions: None
You say "poh-tah-toe," I say poh-tay-toe."
The potato plant growing in the wild is a poisonous plant. It is a member of the deadly nightshade family. But fortunately, the Incas domesticated it. That made no difference to Europeans when it was brought back by the Spanish Conquistadors, namely Cortez. Most Europeans still looked on it as a poisonous plant, because they had been using it for centuries to poison people they didn't like. Except for the Irish. By the 17th century, Ireland had planted potatoes sea to shining sea on the Emerald Isle. Unfortunately a blight wiped them all out in the mid 19th century.
Thomas Jefferson brought a fried potato recipe back from Paris in the late1 700s, though America had already assimilated the potato—the non-poisonous variety that is. Potatoes were an important crop in Idaho by 1860. Unhappily, it was being marketed not by variety, but by location of origin, color, biologic developer. all kinds of weird ways. All that did was confuse people.
A perfect example is an Idaho potato. In the United States, the name Idaho potato is synonymous with high-quality russet potatoes. The well-known brown, baking potato, however, isn't the only potato grown in Idaho. The state harvests more than two dozen other varieties, including red, fingerling, and Yukon Gold, all of which can bear the stamp "Grown in Idaho." However, for most Americans, Idaho is synonymous with russet. The Idaho potatoes you're buying in your grocery store are Russet Burbanks.
The list below is not even close to being thorough when considering all the different varieties of potatoes available. To find specialty varieties, you will need to visit grocery stores that focus on organic or gourmet items. You can also look for online retailers that specialize in heirloom or unique potato varieties, explore local co-ops, or search community-supported agriculture programs. Online marketplaces like eBay or Etsy might also have specialty food items.
This potatoes listed below provide journeyman kinds of meals from potatoes you will find at your local grocery store. The best way to classify potatoes is by their starchiness. High starch potatoes are the russets. They are good baked and mashed. Medium starch is Yukon Gold. They are good for making scalloped potatoes and potato salads because they are firmer. The low starch potatoes are the red-skinned potatoes—the Norlands. They are all purpose. If you're looking for new potato varieties, you won't find them. Any potato can be a new potato if harvested young.
PRODUCTION
NAME SIZE and COLOR STARCHINESS USES RANK
Russet Burbank large, brown very starchy baking, mashing, frying #1
Russet Norkotah large, tan starchy baking, frying #2
Ranger Russet large, tan or brown starchy baking, mashing #3
Umitilla Russet large, brown high starch, low sugar boiling, baking, frying * #4
Yukon Gold medium, light-skinned medium starch scalloped, salads
Red Norland small, red low starch all purpose ** #6
* They are also good for making potato chips, but the #5 variety is a proprietary variety held by Frito-Lay which is the best for chipping and used for their production of potato chips.
** There are a number of varieties of red potatoes—too numerous to list—but the most popular seem to be Red Bliss, Red Gold, Red Pontiac, Desiree, Red Norland, and Dark Red Norland. The Red Norland is the #6 potato variety grown in the US and the #1 variety of red-skinned potatoes. Dark Red Norland variety is a later variety.
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