Big British Food Map Spuds you'll like

Date Published:

02/05/2008

When I ring John Wallis' mobile to ask him if the Cornish Earlies are ready yet he tells me he's on the tractor digging them out of the ground right now - and would I like to come and have a look.

Ever heard of the Cornish Early? I hadn’t until I began the research for this project. It's one of England's unsung treasures which John describes as the Cornish truffle. The tip of the end of Cornwall provides a much milder climate, meaning that Cornish Earlies were traditionally the first potatoes harvested in the UK.

John 47, his brother-in-law and his 81-year-old father are just beginning the harvest of the young crop that was planted at the end of last year as I arrive. I was invited up onto the machine to see the plants being dug up, the main seed crop potato and leaves being separated out, and the resulting new tender tubers being boxed and ready for sale.

The UN has declared 2008 the year of the potato - it’s a plentiful, nutritious and cheap item in a time of rising cereals and fuel costs. This doesn’t have to mean it’s mundane, as John's crop proves.

And though we now live in an age when you can now get 'new' potatoes from all over the world all year round (which kind of defeats the point of new) what's so special about these? Well as John says, ''You just got to try 'em". They're banging fresh, with a soft sweet buttery taste and an almost zincy mineral flavour that perhaps comes from their unique growing position; all of this packed in to something no bigger than the end of your thumb. Go on, try and get some.

Watch John talking about his favourite spuds