2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Almost everyone loves and eats potatoes with great pleasure, and we all know very well that at present there is a truly incredible number of a wide variety of potato varieties. Did you know that there are also black potatoes? This potato got such an unusual name for its too dark skin, the color of which can vary from purple to almost black shades, and just like all other potato varieties, it has certain advantages and some disadvantages
Where does it come from and what does it look like?
Most experts agree that black potatoes are from South America, in particular, from Bolivia and Peru, and, by the way, this vegetable is still cultivated there much more often than any other vegetable crops! And you can distinguish black potatoes from ordinary ones by the characteristic dark purple color of their tops. The rind of the tubers of such potatoes is either purple or almost black, and inside these tubers are almost always painted in purple tones with white stains.
pros
One of the biggest benefits of black potatoes is that the Colorado potato beetle has little interest in it. And such potatoes are also very useful, because they contain all kinds of minerals with vitamins, and anthocyanins, and carotenoids, and phenolic acids, and antioxidants! If you include dishes from dark potatoes in your daily diet, then they will greatly contribute to the restoration of vision, a significant improvement in the activity of the gastrointestinal tract and the cardiovascular system, as well as slow down the aging process.
In addition, black potatoes boast a fairly high resistance to various ailments, droughts and heat, as well as the ability to be stored for a long time and not lose their presentation. Such root vegetables are sent for storage only after thorough drying - they are sprinkled with sawdust and sent to well-ventilated rooms.
And, of course, among the pluses, one cannot fail to mention the rather unusual taste of black potatoes - pronounced nutty notes are inherent in it!
Minuses
If black potatoes are completely unattractive for the Colorado potato beetle, then the bears feast on them with great pleasure, that is, when growing these potatoes, pest control should be more active than when growing traditional potatoes. But in general, such potatoes do not require any special care when growing them, and this is even more a plus than a minus! And so that the plants invariably let all their juices into the root crops, shortly before digging the tubers, the potato bushes are carefully mowed.
Another disadvantage is the relatively low yield (if we compare dark potatoes with white ones), and even the best and most popular varieties, that is, for growing on an industrial scale, such potatoes will not be the best option due to their unprofitability.
Which varieties should you prefer?
The most suitable varieties for cultivation in our latitudes are Viking Viking, Black Prince, Peruvian Purple, Negro Woman, Scottish Black Truffle and Chinese Truffle. These varieties can be grown even in the Far East and Siberia!
Cleaning and cooking
Where the tails of tubers are located on black potatoes, sometimes you can see small greenish stains or specks - this is how areas of accumulation of solanine, poisonous to humans, look like, so they must be cut off without fail. As for cooking, such potatoes are cooked a little faster than usual, almost always retaining their unusual color, and they really turn out to be very, very tasty! Dishes prepared from dark potatoes have a surprisingly pleasant nutty flavor, which is probably why such tubers are so popular among gourmets!
Have you ever tried black potatoes?
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