New Potatoes

Too much choice, that’s what’s wrong with the modern world.

Women with packed wardrobes insist they have nothing to wear, men flick through 500 TV channels and insist there is nothing to watch, and we wander through the vegetable aisle of the supermarket unable to decide what to buy for dinner because there is too much choice.

It is for this reason that I try to remember to eat by the seasons. This is much easier said than done given that our supermarkets ignore seasons and offer us choices such as watery Peruvian asparagus for Halloween and Spanish strawberries for Christmas dinner.

March and April are difficult months for the seasonal cook but in May it starts getting interesting as the first Irish grown new potatoes begin to arrive, as precious and worthy of praise as any vintage wine.

Home Guard is the first early to appear and is delicious – smooth creamy flesh with a hint of flouriness that will increase as the season progresses.

Specialist vegetable shops such as Get Fresh on Marian Road in Rathfarnham are the place to go – the supermarkets lag long behind and will try to fob you off with Cypriot or Israeli new potatoes; do not succumb.

Early potatoes are not cheap but at a mere €5 per kilo at the time of writing, the value per mouthful of butter drizzled pleasure is enormous.

Steaming is recommended over boiling as this allows the potatoes to retain their vitamin C content and prevents them from breaking up.

Mint, Parsley, Marjoram and Oregano are my favourite herbs for new potatoes but anything green seems to work – even frozen peas.

Rocket leaves, with their slightly spiky texture and peppery flavours, match well, and for a real feast you need some pan fried wild salmon if you can find it (or know a fisherman you can mug); then you really will be eating the food of the Gods.