Conference tallis::celt

1464.0. "Take yer lumpers..." by TALLIS::DARCY (Alpha Migration Tools) Tue Mar 28 1995 16:14

Subject: Potato Follows Irish To U.S.
Slugword: Irish-Spuds
    
	BOSTON (AP) -- The potato whose blight launched an exodus of
Irish is now taking root in America.
	The Lumper -- the most popular spud in Ireland at the time of the
19th century famine -- is being grown on American soil for the first
time.
	``I'm holding history,'' says Tom Stones, a British
microbiologist, caressing the lumps of a small Irish Lumper.
	Stones is responsible for bringing American farmers two strains
of Irish potato -- the Lumper and the smoother, rosier spud known as
Kerr's Pink. He's pushing his products in Boston because he
recently signed a sales deal with Shaw's, a New England supermarket
chain.
	A few weeks ago, Stones brought some Lumpers down to Mr.
Dooley's, a Irish pub in the city's financial district. He and the
pub's owner say patrons ate the potatoes raw and remembered their
ancestry.
	``We had big Irish guys in here going like this,'' Stones says,
wiping an imaginary tear from his eye.
	On Thursday, the eve of St. Patrick's Day, Stones was back at
Dooley's, leaning on the bar dispersing a little potato history:
	Lumpers were the most popular ``praties'' in Ireland until 1845,
when a fungus blight wiped out the crop and caused a famine that
killed nearly 750,000 people and led 1.6 million Irish to emigrate
to the United States.
	The Lumper mostly disappeared, but Stones said he found a few
growing in Scotland. He spent the past three years ridding the
vegetable of viruses so it could past U.S. customs quarantine and
be planted in the new world.
	Today, Lumpers and Kerr's Pink potatoes are growing in Hatfield,
Mass., Florida and North Carolina. They should be on supermarket
shelves by the end of April.
	Shaw's supermarket spokesman Bernard Rogan says he hopes the
Lumpers will appeal to new Irish immigrants hungry for a taste of
the old country. In Europe, he explains, a potato isn't just red or
white. Discerning shoppers go for specific varieties.
	The difference between potatoes surprisingly isn't taste, but
texture. When cooked, American potatoes are firm and lumpy, while
Irish potatoes are fluffy, as if they've already been mashed.
	``You have potato aficionados,'' says Rogan. ``It's very much
like the apple eater who will prefer the Mack over the Red
Delicious.''
	One such gourmet is John Sommers, a co-owner of Dooley's pub who
says he grew up eating potatoes every day, picked fresh from his
family's farm in County Kerry.
	``I got sick of farming,'' he says of his decision to leave
Ireland. ``Sick of picking praties.''
	But surely not sick of eating them.

    Indeed, you can't beat a good spud!
    
    Send that erudite Sasanach over here to the UK to teach his
    fellow-countrymen how to grow dacent spuds

    Not all Irish spuds are fluffy only Whites such as Queens.
    
    Fluffy spuds such as  Queens ((usually called Irish or British Queens
    depending on which side of the  Irish Sea you happen to live) are nice
    with butter and scallions (champ) but they make poor Chips (french
    Fries to our  US listenrs) 
    
    Kerrs Pinks on the other hand do not have the fluffy texture of Queens but
    make good Chips.
    
    Nor do we cut our chips into matchsticks like McDonalds!.
    
    Gareth
    
    
     

>    Nor do we cut our chips into matchsticks like McDonalds!.
    
they're not even made of spuds are they?  And McDonald's can't be arsed
to fry their onions, either.  Yuk.

Chris.

    
    �Kerrs Pinks on the other hand do not have the fluffy texture of Queens but
    �make good Chips.
    
    Now you're talking.  Bet you can't eat one...
    
    --Jay
    

    I've been looking for British Queens for years. I regularly get
    directed to Green Park but have been unable to find any there!
    
    They keep talking about Monarchs. Do you have those in the 'States?
    

    RE: .5
    
    Sean,
    
    If I were you I'd try the Earls Court Road, not that I speak from
    personal experience you understand!  I'm told you'll find not only
    British Queens there, but also Antipodean Queens in large numbers as 
    well.  Finally, when in this locality be careful in the Fish and Chip 
    shops - asking for a portion of something can bring tears to the eyes!
    
    Mike  

    #5 reminded me of keeping bees. I envisaged loads of males swarming
    around the British Queens - perhaps those are the Monarchs people talk
    about.
    
    But enough of that idle speculation, I'm assured that Antipodean Queens
    do not grow in Ireland. I'm not sure if I'd want to eat a spud with
    that name anyway - be it raw, boiled or chipped. They'd probably be
    alright with a good home-made butter and some of your man's scallions
    from a previous reply. You know that combination would cover-up a
    multitude of sins!