Jersey Royals

I live in London by the way so stores that are available to me pls

I am beginning to wonder if they are not being grown in the traditional way anymore, which gave them such a distinctive flavour.

Waitrose has loose dirty ones that are good.

They never taste as good as I expect!

I always enjoy Jersey Royals in the Spring, this year I have been disappointed, just do not seem to have the same flavour. They do of course have "The Protected Designation of Origin" but I am beginning to have doubts too about what what I am being sold and where it is coming from.

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

From what I understand (friends who live there) the best Jersey Royals are actually the ones that you can get from the honesty boxes at the side of the country roads on the island. They are grown in vraic which is collected from the beach and used as a fertiliser. They come in various sizes, large, medium & small and need to have their skins scraped to get rid of the soil. The UK supermarkets have a standard demand where they prefer the slightly smaller ones which are then washed and packed in a factory in Jersey ready for export. I also think that it is recommended that these are again washed and cooked in their skins. My friends prefer the larger ones which you can't get in our supermarkets and are only available from private growers. Sorry, but I did raise this question with them last time we spoke.

Oh yes, probably more butter than is good for me

The quality and taste seem to have declined in recent years , or perhaps my taste buds are succumbing to age. I've never been able to recreate the taste of the baby new spuds I used to grow in my vegetable patch. Just a quick rinse and into the pan. Lovely grub. The same with tomatoes. Hard to find tasty ones these days.

I save my purchase for a couple of weeks and go for ayrshires. Mush tastier imo. Used to love jerseys but now find them less enjoyable. That, of corse, may be my tastebuds and memory!! Fickle indeed.

It is because the growers (the main ones) don’t use seaweed as fertiliser any more. The taste is just not the same.

I still enjoy them, but agree they don't taste as good as they used to. Best I've ever had was on holiday in Jersey many years ago. That's interesting about the seaweed fertiliser. Is there a reason they don't use it anymore?

Thanks everyone its not just me then. What a blooming shame, I've done butter and my own mint but they taste like old potatoes. Ill try Waitrose and see or maybe a different named one.
Thanks

Tizliz

It is because the growers (the main ones) don’t use seaweed as fertiliser any more. The taste is just not the same.

That's what I read, something to do with EU exports?

I agree not good this year, I've stopped looking for them.
Shame normally my favourites.

I got some from Sainsbury’s which were okay. Any day now my son’s mother-in-law will begin sending me Ayrshire potatoes. I also have some Epicures ( the type of the proper Ayrshires) growing in bags. I just need to stock up on the Lurpak.

Are there some good Cornish ones we can get instead?

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)

The vraic is not to grow the potatoes in just spread over the soil as a fertiliser. It’s another name for a variety of seaweed.
I think as we age our taste buds do change, whoever enjoyed some of the things we do now as a child !

Tizliz

It is because the growers (the main ones) don’t use seaweed as fertiliser any more. The taste is just not the same.

Yes

Exactly this

I`ve found that they don`t taste as nice this year, very disappointing.

When I was young jersey potatoes were magnificent. Now they taste of nothing. I suspect the soil there has become totally depleted of whatever gave them their unique taste.

I think that Jersey skins (the potatoes that is!) have a tendency to be bitter. If the potatoes are too small, the skin / flesh ratio is all wrong.
A Jersey native told me about the seaweed as well.
I think that other 'new potatoes' are much nicer - the best this year have been Cornish. We are not great gardeners & don't have much room, but we grow 3 'black bags' of new potatoes, just to have a few. Pink Fir Apples this year.

Stuck an old chitted potato in a plant pot a few months back and just had 15 lovely new potatoes off it

The Jersey Royal potato, when grown anywhere else is called International Kidney. Easily available here in the uk as seed potatoes. I will experiment next year with International Kidney on my allotment fed with seaweed.
Maris Peer which we get round here are very good as a new potato.