Purple Potatoes

Posted by CC Bakes


So I picked up some little purple potatoes the other day at the market – smaller than new potatoes, but slightly bigger than kipflers, and purple.

I’d never seen these little things before, and I though perhaps it was just the skin on the outside that was fantastically alluring. But after busting them open, cooking them and mashing them with some manchego and butter, they became an amazing purple dish, good for flamboyant colour schemed meals – perhaps, purple potato pizza?

Anyway, I was curious, and thought of the origins of the carrot, they used to be purple too. So I did a little research. Apparently purple potatoes were the first variety ever grown, some 800 years ago no less. They originate in the Peruvian Andes, and were first served as a royal dish by the people of the Inca Empire.

Sure, they’re not the cheapest potato option around, but when did potatoes ever break the bank? And when food looks that wild on the plate, it’s worth every penny.

Oh also, they are called vitelottes, makes sense.

Another delicious taste of what is to come every Wednesday from CC Bakes