Produce News for Feb 11, 2008
LONG PROMO: Well, next week may be the week of love and romance, but did you know February is also Potato Lover’s Month? So we’re going to talk about spuds – all kinds of spuds. I know Russets rule for most of us, but there are all kinds of other potatoes including the little babies in the family plus the hottest potatoes in the group…next week, with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.
SHORT PROMO: I’ve got the hottest potatoes in the produce department. Think of fingers…next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.
POTATOES (Monday, February 11): You know before the spud came along, what was the potato of Europe? Right here. Parsnips. That’s right. If you made roast beef in Europe, you had parsnips next to that roast beef, but then the old spud came along and all kinds of different kinds of potatoes, but you know Russets rule. But there are really…look at all these types of potatoes. These are the most common that we find in the supermarket. When you think of potatoes, I want you to think of two things – sugar and starch. These potatoes right here – loaded with starch, less sugar. These potatoes here – loaded with sugar, less starch. That’s very important to know with where you’re going to store the potato because these potatoes here that have high starch, you’ve got to keep them ice cold. These go in your refrigerator. If not, the sugars turn to starch and they get all flabby. Now these others that have high starch, if you refrigerate them, the starches turn to sugar. You don’t want that. You want the starches to stay starch. So a cool, dry place. I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.
TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report, do you know how to store your spuds?
RUSSET AND YUKON GOLD POTATOES (Tuesday, February 12): In the world of potatoes, Russets rule. That’s right. You walk down the potato aisle – huge stacks of bagged potatoes and big old displays of loose…what we call loose baker potatoes, and Russets do indeed rule. This is a Burbank Russet named after the guy who developed it. His name was Luther Burbank, and that’s why we call these Burbank Russet potatoes. Now this time of year I wanted to show you something that’s very cool. Right in here. Take a really close…see that? These are what we call little peepers. They’re starting to regrow. These little eyes. That’s very, very typical in the springtime. Tubers have a normal dormancy cycle, and of course they go to sleep, and in the springtime they wake up so you start getting these little sprouts. Don’t worry about it. That just means it’s a healthy spud. Now also with Russets, I love these, absolutely love them. They’re called Yukon Gold potatoes. They’re called Yukon Gold because…look at that! It looks like there’s butter inside. I absolutely love these both baked and mashed. I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.
TEASE Hey, in my next Produce Man report…do you see it? Do you see it? The little peepers are coming out!
NEW POTATOES (Wednesday, February 13): So have you heard the term “new potatoes”? Ah, you’ve got Russet potatoes and then you’ve got the new potatoes. Most people refer to a new potato as a white potato. Also red potatoes are considered new potatoes. Now, the actual definition of a new potato is a potato that is dug and then sold immediately. It is freshly dug, and it is new; whereas, a Russet potato, you dig all the Russet potatoes and you put them all in storage. Those are storage potatoes, the Russets. So actually the definition is because they are freshly dug, but that’s not always the case. For example, these red potatoes, they’ve been dug for about three or four motnhs, and they’ve been in storage, but we still refer to these as new potatoes. Now a couple things about…do you see the color on those reds? Absolutely gorgeous! The darker the red color, that just tells you they came from a more northern growing region – Washington, North Dakota. The lighter color red potatoes come from places like Arizona, Florida, and California, but they’re all still great new potatoes. I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.
TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report, so what makes these new potatoes?
BABY POTATOES (Thursday, February 14): Would you get a load of these babies? One of the things I like about the potato section these days are the baby potatoes. I absolutely love them. Now when I first started in the produce industry 30 years ago, these are called the creamer potatoes, the little baby pototates. These actually were thrown away. They were cold. They weren’t even sent to the supermarket. But today, oh, my goodness! These have become the hottest deal in the produce department. Now, when did the little baby potatoes become popular? It happened actually during the 1970’s with a governor in California. His name was Jerry Brown, and he started this phrase “Small is beautiful,” and that’s when all the chefs went crazy with little baby vegetables. And that’s, of course, when the growers in Washington and Idaho and everywhere else said, “Hey, you know, these little baby potatoes we used to throw away? Come on, let’s call them creamers, and let’s send them to the stores.” And now they’re making a lot of money on these. I absolutely love these. They’re easy to roast. Just load them up with a little bit of butter, olive oil, and some salt, and that’s it. I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.
TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report, don’t you just love ‘em? Aren’t they cute? The little babies, baby potatoes.
FINGERLING AND PERUVIAN BLUE POTATOES (Friday, February 15): They are the hottest potato in the produce department, and actually they’re not new. They’re actually really old. Some of these potatoes date back to the czars of Russia. In fact, this one called Russian Banana, actually these are fingerling potatoes. Do you know why they call them banana? Because “banan” is the Arabic word for “finger” so “Russian fingers”. In fact, that’s why they call them a finger potato, because they look kind of look like a finger. Now when you use these, don’t cut them up because it just spoils the whole thing. You’ve got to roast these whole. Also, one of the old potatoes that’s becoming new again, the little blue potato. They call them Peruvian blue or purple potatoes, and yes, indeed, let me cut one. They are indeed purple inside. These make an awesome mashed potato, or roast them just like that. I love to slice them and steam them. They look gorgeous on a plate. So if you’ve never tried the hottest potato in the produce department, they’re really old. They’re the fingerlings and the Peruvian blues. I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.
TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report, they’re the hottest potato in the potato section.
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