For many, early potatoes are the best delicacy of the summer.
Early potatoes and new potatoes are easily confused colloquially. However, the terms have a difference in meaning.
Early potatoes mean the first potatoes of the summer, which are picked from the field right at the beginning of summer. The skin of small early potatoes is very thin and it comes off with a light swipe. Early potato varieties include, for example, Siikli, Timo, Jussi and Annabelle.
After the early potato season, you can see summer potatoes on sale, which means potatoes with a slightly stronger skin.
Instead, new potatoes mean potatoes from the new harvest that are raised in the fall, with which the cellars are filled in the fall.
The best cottage and summer food
According to a recent survey commissioned by the K group, up to 84 percent of Finns consider early potatoes to be the best summer and cottage food. The second most popular summer food in the survey was fish, and the third most popular was fresh berries.
Summer is the golden time for the sale of potatoes, and the sales peak falls especially in June. Over the past five years, potatoes have been sold 30 percent more in June and 20 percent more than the average in July compared to other months.
– The potato has an established place as the number one summer delicacy for Finns, and for good reason, because it is versatile, easy to use and also an affordable food. As always with harvest season products, the price is affected by both availability and demand. Traditionally, the first batches have been slightly more expensive, but as the supply has increased, prices have started to decrease, says Kesko’s vegetable purchasing and sales manager Liisa Eronen in the bulletin.