When are potatoes not just potatoes? When they are Carlingfords, snow gems, purple congos or pink kisses, for starters. At Highland Gourmet Potatoes, Norm Gair and Robyn Jackson are a little spud crazy.
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The passionate potato farmers grow 33 varieties of the humble tuber. And they love talking about them, describing the different varieties, and hopefully saving Sydneysiders from soggy gnocchi and waxy mash. They'll do just that at the Flavours festival over the June long weekend, when they and other producers in the Southern Highlands welcome visitors to their farms.
Jackson's grandfather was a potato farmer, and as a little girl she walked the paddocks after the professional pickers had been through, gathering the chats. Her first career was as an office manager.
Husband Gair did everything from construction work, to running a guest house and driving tour buses. Today, the couple spend their weeks hard at work on their patch of land near Moss Vale, and each weekend head to the Sydney markets. They buy seed potatoes from Tasmania, and generally plant their first crop in August. First harvest is in December, and they continue to dig until August, as the different varieties all have different growing times.
Gair says there is no great secret to growing potatoes, although it can be hard to get it right.
''It's good seed, good fertile soil, plenty of sunlight, lots of water and lots of luck,'' he laughs. ''TLC is what does it.''
Every variety has unique qualities. Gair favours the white flesh and purple skin of toolangi delight, whereas Jackson's favourite is ottway red. ''I love that red skinned, old-fashioned potato flavour,'' she says.
This year, the ruby lou and the brownell did not find much favour, and the pair plan to replace them with new varieties in the next planting.
Monty Koludrovic, head chef at high-end Sydney restaurant Becasse, took home one of every potato after visiting their stall, so he could experiment with all the different types. When he returned, his request was quite unusual. Koludrovic wanted tiny potatoes, much smaller than chats, about the size of a 10 cent piece. The farmers needed some convincing, because such small potatoes are difficult to harvest.
''We go along on hands and knees, and scratch for the tiny ones,'' Jackson says. But eventually they decided they could supply Becasse, and have dubbed the smallest potatoes ''Montys'' in the chef's honour.
While they would be forgiven for getting thoroughly sick of spuds, Jackson says she and Gair still love them. ''We eat five varieties in a night,'' she laughs.
Highland Gourmet Potatoes will have a roadside stall outside their farm on the June long weekend.
Feature writer Larissa Nicholson and photographer Graham Tidy were guests of the Gibraltar Hotel, Bowral, www.gibraltarbowral.com.au
