Unbelievably awesome potatoes. They are called Purple Majesty but I call them Goths.
Dark potatoes are fairly common, but the ones I’d had before would turn ordinary white when boiled. Not these beauties! These are perfectly unique. To start with, the skin is almost completely black and while scrubbed, they reveal to have a thin film covering the tuber - like a second skin or, as I like to think, a veil. In cross-section they are almost veined, like beetroot but in a more haphazard pattern. And then you boil them and, wonder of wonders, they stay purple, only taking on a blueish hue. The cooking water is turquoise and the picture doesn’t give it full justice.
The purple varieties are Majesty, Viking and Peruvian and in spite of the Viking red herring they are native to South America. But then all spuds are - perhaps the Goths were not too popular with the conquistadors as they didn’t remotely look edible?
They taste delicious, more waxy than floury which I prefer, but I imagine they could bake well. I believe they are supposed to be extremely nutritious and contain whatever it is that gets the cleans and the paleos excited, ‘packed with anti-oxidants’ like anything purple. But at the end of the day a spud is a spud - if you sustain on them alone you’ll get rickets. I’m so bored of those superfoods and anti-oxidants - so, so bored.
I wanted to include these spuds in a simple dish which could be entirely vegetarian if you get rid of pancetta with no harm to the taste. Zucchini is there for the contrasting colour, likewise the radish garnish. But if you can get hold of those post-punk wonders, you can just boil them and enjoy with a bit of salt and butter.