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I found some strange looking knobbly purple-black spuds in the market, and got some small ones to grow on. As far as I can make out they're either Vitelotte, a rare French heirloom, or Congo, an equally rare British heirloom. Both have blue flesh which supposedly keeps its colour on cooking. The only drawback is that they're both late maincrops, making it a bit of a tossup whether the blight spares them long enough to produce anything. Anyone come across either?

Saw some Vitelotte on sale at Ryton.. but only ever seen Congo in books.  :o

I don't know about Congo, but Vitelotte's listed as an early maincrop so could avoid the blight.  T&M have got minitubers and so have I  :)  Posted before, but tried it in a restaurant and it certainly lived up to expectations for colour and taste.

Got some Vitelotte coming from Alan Romans.... IIRC he's got Congo too.... think I saw them at Charlton Park too...

chrisc

Could you post a pic of the Vitelotte when you get it? I'll get a pic of mine up before long. If they are an early maincrop, that would make things easier. One of the diffculties is lack of information on these rarities.

Tattieman does Congo potatoes
http://www.jbaseedpotatoes.co.uk/heritage-seed-potatoes/congo-p241.html

Rats... they are out of stock...  :(

I brought back some vitelotte from france a few years ago.  They produced small blue potatoes.  Not a very big crop.  Certainly would not describe them as knobbly. Flavour good and did not loose the colour in cooking. 

Alan Romans have Congo as well as vitelotte. Rather fancy the Mr Little's Yethom Gypsy too - anyone tried those?

The Vitelotte I ate looked like the sliced ones here
http://shizuokagourmet.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/for-vegans-vegetarians-"forgotten"-vegetables-2-vitelotte/
Nice page.

I did the Little Gypsy last year, but it did very badly - a couple of small spuds per tuber.

The problem I found with Congo is that it just seems to grow and grow and grow without producing large tubers. You would have to plant them really early to get an edible crop from them.
You are much better growing Salad Blue.

Quote from: Tattieman on February 14, 2010, 18:40:14
The problem I found with Congo is that it just seems to grow and grow and grow without producing large tubers. You would have to plant them really early to get an edible crop from them.
You are much better growing Salad Blue.

Congo's an antique variety.... back from the days when you had to chit maincrops.... BY modern standards it would be an exceptionally late main needing 26+ weeks or so.... get them in (chitted) mid-March, out just before the frosts I'd have thought.....

chrisc

I've put a pic of the potatoes on my blog at http://thisandthat-robert.blogspot.com/ .

Can you cut one in half so I can see the flesh colour inside please.

I should have done that in the first place. I've added one to the blog post; it's not much good but I couldn't see what I was doing. My wife says it looks just like black pudding.

There is another black skinned & fleshed variety. It's French and is called Negress. Not too politically correct I'm affraid. It looks very similar to your one. Photo here, the ones on the right of the shot.  http://oca-testbed.blogspot.com/2010/02/oca-centric-aims-for-2010.html. Yours may be slightly more pear shaped tho'.

The taste is very good.

That does look about right. I can imagine what Namissa, who is African, will make of a name like that!

They have the flesh colour of Congo but it is hard to tell for sure.
If you plant them take some pictures and let me see.

I will. If it's Congo I don't know what chance it has with the annual outbreaks of blight we're getting, but there will certainly be pics!

My potato book says this about Congo.

Main Crop,late.Suitable for boiling,mashing and salads.
Striking small thin and knobbly shape with very dark shiny skin and beet black flesh,the flavour is surprisingly bland and the texture stodgy.It is dry when cooked but does retain it's colour which makes it impressive in salads and as a garnish.Peel after cooking and either boil briefly,steam or microwave.Makes good mashed potatoes or gnocci. Since they are small and dark you may need to harvest them on a bright day!



Vitelette( aka truffe de Chine) is described as. Suitable for salad and boiling.
Long thin smallish purple/black fingerling pots with dark greyish bluish flesh.Firm waxy texture with a mild nutty taste.The colour does not fade on cooking. T he name Truffe de chine is seldom used as there is a truffle  called Truffle di chine which causes confusion in France. The picture looks in shape like an Anya. The difference between the two visually is the Congo is a little fatter.

XX Jeannine