A Potato That Tastes Like Roast Chicken? Chefs Say This New Variety Delivers
Row 7 has introduced the Poulette, a new potato variety with a savory flavor that chef Dan Barber and his team compare to roast chicken, without the need for chicken drippings.
First bred in 2014, the Poulette is a cross between a rare French heirloom potato and a Cornell University breeding line, developed with an emphasis on flavor and agricultural performance.
Poulette potatoes are available at select Whole Foods Market stores in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey for $6 per bag.
We can all probably agree that the best part of a roast chicken dinner might be the potatoes. You know, those tucked beneath the bird that soak up the drippings, perfectly crisp around the edges and soft in the middle. (Anyone else drooling just thinking about it?) While the entire meal is certainly fantastic, there’s a new potato on the block that promises to deliver that flavor on its own, no bird required.
On Sept. 22, the seed company Row 7 introduced its new Poulette potato at about 60 Whole Foods Market stores across New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, the result of more than a decade of breeding.
Dan Barber, the famed chef behind Blue Hill at Stone Barns and co-founder of Row 7, says the new spud, a cross between a French heirloom and a New York potato, delivers “a savory depth I’ve never tasted in a potato.” And it’s all about getting back to the potato’s, for lack of a better term, roots.
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“I love old potatoes. I don’t love most modern varieties of potatoes (think: Idaho Russet), which have been selected for yield and uniformity and shelf life but not flavor,” Barber shared with Food & Wine. “But the heirlooms we love were once new too. Someone selected them. Row 7 is about continuing that tradition with both breeders and chefs at the table.”
The Poulette, he added, is a perfect example, a “beautiful French heirloom crossed with a New York potato.” And while the taste certainly sounds divine, he noted that it also offers “incredible productivity in the field for organic farmers.”
The new Poulette potato, developed in collaboration with Cornell University and chef Dan Barber, is now available for $6 per bag at roughly 60 Whole Foods stores across the New York Tri-State area.Credit: Courtesy of Row 7 Seed Company
As for how the new potato came to be, it all began at the 2013 Seed Summit at Stone Barns in New York, where celebrated French chef Michel Bras got to talking about potatoes with Walter De Jong, a professor in the Plant Breeding and Genetics Section of Cornell University’s School of Integrative Plant Science. De Jong tracked down Bras’s favorite rare heirloom, an old French variety called Institut de Beauvais. In early 2014, he crossed it with one of Cornell’s own breeding lines.
“Poulette started with a cross we made in early 2014, pairing an old French variety called Institut de Beauvais, with one of our own Cornell breeding lines,” De Jong explained. “We planted the first seeds in 2015 and grew the seedlings out on our research farm on Mount Pleasant, just outside Ithaca. Every fall after that, we’d walk the fields and decide which ones earned another year.”
Each season, he added, the plot grew larger and larger, and the team’s standards grew “tougher, so fewer and fewer made it through. We were looking for a potato that looked good, had the right starch content, was free of defects, resisted disease and pests, matured on time, and yielded well. And then came the ultimate test: flavor. For that, we trusted Dan and his team. They were the ones who told us Poulette was something special.”
Fast Facts: Poulette Potato
More than a decade in the making, the Poulette potato began with a rare French heirloom beloved by chef Michel Bras and a breeding line developed at Cornell University. The goal wasn’t just to create a better-tasting potato, but one that could also perform well in the field. The result is a golden potato with a delicate, floury texture and a rich, savory flavor that chef Dan Barber and his team compare to roast chicken. Here’s what to know about the new variety, from the farms growing it to where you can buy a bag.
Name: PouletteDeveloped by: Cornell University researchers, with flavor evaluations by Dan Barber and his teamSeed company: Row 7Parent varieties: Institut de Beauvais, a rare French heirloom potato, and a Cornell University breeding lineFirst cross: 2014Flavor profile: Rich, nutty, and savory, with roasted notes reminiscent of chickenTexture: Delicate and flouryBest uses: Frying, roasting, baking, boiling, mashing, and pommes aligotGrower partners: Red Hill Farms in Pennsylvania and Norwich Meadows Farm in New YorkOrganic certification: Certified organicPrice: $6 per bagWhere to buy: Exclusively at approximately 60 Whole Foods Market stores across New York, Connecticut, and New JerseySeason: September through March
So, where does the potato’s distinct roast chicken flavor actually come from? Even Barber isn’t entirely sure. “I wish we knew. The first time we tasted it, everyone at the table said the same thing. The name more or less picked itself,” he said, explaining why they gave it the moniker poulette, which is French for young hen. “That’s the magic of working at the seed level. There’s a whole library of flavors out there we’ve barely begun to explore.”
If you’re ready to give Poulette a try, Barber suggests keeping it easy the first time around. “Start simple: bake it or roast it. My cooks swear it tastes like roast chicken,” he said.
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“But it also makes the most luxurious potato puree I’ve ever had. Use it anywhere you’d reach for a Russet, and you’ll never go back,” Barber adds.
For those who want to go all out, Barber says the Poulette has just the right starch for pommes aligot, the garlicky, cheesy potato puree from France’s Aubrac region, where Bras made his name. Good starch content, Barber explained, is key to the dish, whose brilliance lies in its “signature stretchy, elastic, and silky smooth texture.”
How to prepare Poulette potatoes
If you get your hands on a bag of Poulette potatoes, chef Dan Barber recommends keeping things simple the first time around. But there are plenty of ways to put their rich, savory flavor to work. Here are four worth trying.
Roast them: Barber’s cooks say Poulette potatoes taste remarkably like roast chicken. Roasting is one of his recommended ways to experience their distinctive flavor.
Bake them: Another of Barber’s suggestions for a first taste, baking is a simple way to enjoy the potato’s naturally savory flavor.
Mash them: Barber says Poulette makes the most luxurious potato purée he’s ever tasted.
Make pommes aligot: This French dish combines potatoes and cheese into a rich, silky purée with a signature stretchy texture. According to Barber, Poulette has just the right starch content to pull it off.
The Poulette is available now through March at Whole Foods stores in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey for $6 per bag. Not in one of those states? Row 7 has plenty more coming.
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“[It’s] a whole pantry full of deliciousness,” Barber said of what’s to come. “Today we’re working with more than 50 plant breeders and chefs around the country, so there’s always something new in the field. That’s the beauty of this work. It doesn’t stop.”
on Food & Wine
Source: Lifestyle
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