Jersey Royals

Sorry, slightly off piste, but I seem to remember buying Cyprus potatoes in the UK in the 1970s. Did I just make that up or were they really available?

toscalily

I bought some small, yellow potatoes recently but can't remember the name and they were better, think they were from Scotland. I shall make a point of looking out for Ayrshires when next shopping, will they be available in England, do you think Daddima (I'm in the NW)

I wouldn’t think real Ayrshires would be available in England. I know there is a ‘Scotty’ brand which are grown in Ayrshire, but are not the Epicure type, and that, to me, makes all the difference.

Buy them in a street market. Plenty of those in most towns and, even now, usually one vegetable stall. That is where I buy mine.

Pembrokeshire potatoes are the way to go. Full of flavour. Alternatively, buy a little bag of seed potatoes in March, stick them in an old empty compost bag or large bucket, water well and voila! By early June you'll have more sweet, tasty potatoes than you know what to do with.

Squiffy

Sorry, slightly off piste, but I seem to remember buying Cyprus potatoes in the UK in the 1970s. Did I just make that up or were they really available?

Still available, I see them sometimes as early new potatoes, but rarely buy them. I try to 'buy local' !

I had some Jersey Royals from the local Coop last week, they were quite good.

Plus one 👍🏻 for Pembrokeshire tato newi! They are lovely. Bostons are good too. I haven’t had a decent tasting Jersey Royal for some time. I thought I had read somewhere that the EU banned the use of seaweed as a fertiliser, but I’m willing to stand corrected about that. I can’t see the point in paying inflated prices for something that tastes of nothing special.

I have family in Jersey the potatoes we are getting in the shops. Do not look like Jerseys or taste like they used too

Very disappointing this year and unable to buy loose ones in my branch of Tesco.

midgey

Have you remembered the mint and the butter? Without those two they can be very dull!

And plenty of salt when cooking them too.

Ohhh I had forgot about the Cyprus potatoes, they were lovely and I seem to think they made delicious chips.

Made me fancy some New potatoes now.

bikergran

Ohhh I had forgot about the Cyprus potatoes, they were lovely and I seem to think they made delicious chips.

They do indeed make great chips, second only to the Golden Wonder, which I hardly ever see these days.

Yes Sainsbury’s have them loose but be careful to tick the right box. I thought I was getting 1kg of potatoes not one single one lol.
We’ve grown Intermediate Kidney which are the same variety as Jersey Royals but only those grown on Jersey can be called Royals. They grew very well and tasted good.

I just love Jersey's but can say I have not had a tasty one for such a long time,when I lived abroad I used to buy 2/3kls to take back in my hand luggage the grocer I bought them off had them delivered in a hessian sack from the importer they where still covered in soil and when washed they where to die for.
The prepacked one's available now taste awful and I would rather have new Cheshire's or Cornish all day long.

Squiffy I was buying Cypriot potatoes from our local farm shop a few weeks ago, filling the gap until the Cornish ones were ready.

I got some really good traditional Jersey royals from an independent greengrocer near me. Husband joked they were the price of gold! But they were delicious. Since then bought supermarket ones, washed and in plastic bags, definitely not as good. But I have a fondness for majorcan potatoes, not seen many this year.

Jersey potatoes stopped having their lovely flavour many years ago. I read somewhere that this was due to the EU banning the use of the ashes of burnt seaweed as fertiliser. However someone pointed out to me that Jersey was/is not part of the EU.

I don’t think Jersey Royals have been the same for a couple of years now. They used to be really distinctive but although the shape remains the same, sadly the flavour hasn’t.

I have bought jersey royals three times this year, once unwashed from an organic supplier, once local and loose unwashed and one pack on offer, small washed and in a supermarket. None of them have lived up to my memory of the JR taste. All were too expensive for what turned out to be a fairly bland potato

25Avalon

Yes Sainsbury’s have them loose but be careful to tick the right box. I thought I was getting 1kg of potatoes not one single one lol.
We’ve grown Intermediate Kidney which are the same variety as Jersey Royals but only those grown on Jersey can be called Royals. They grew very well and tasted good.

I did the same and got one Jersey Royal also one mushroom.
They're not too bad to taste at least DH recognised them and said they were good.
Where we live potatoes are grown over by the coast the clay soil is meant to be good for them and sea breezes.
My family grew new potatoes and big late-season King Edwards or some that seem to have died out called Duke of York.
Ulster Premium ? is in the back of my mind. The family laugh as DD and I can taste the different potatoes, they say we have more Irish genes than the others .

I think we need to remember that as we get older our capacity to taste things diminishes, so we will not always be able to taste things the way we tasted them when we were younger.

I have noticed that Jersey royals have not lived up to memory, but I am not sure whether it is my taste buds wearing out or how they are produced.

Global warming may also have an involvement in any changes of flavour. If the soil warms up too soon, or rain patterns change, this will affect flavour.

After living in Jersey for several years and eating freshly dug up Jersey Royals, nothing compares to that…. Sorry, can’t help.

I bought some very recently for a sister visiting from the US - she often complains that she can never get ‘proper’ new potatoes there - just ‘baby’ potatoes, which are not the same thing.
At any rate, she enjoyed them and I thought they were pretty good - perhaps not quite the same as years ago, but then I dare say my taste buds aren’t quite the same, either.

They were from M&S, so TBH I’d expect them to be a wee bit better than average.

I know this is an old thread. But it's that time of year again.

I feel the same I have not had a good Royal Jersey for a few years now.

I was eating some earlier that I bought at the supermarket and they were burning the back of my throat.

Has anyone else experienced this?