Noruega: New Norwegian gourmet potato

"We want to be an alternative to the French Amandine potato. Our goal is to compete on both price and quality," says Kari Helga Viken.Since last autumn, the three Frosta farms Viken Central, Valberg and Evenhus have been backing a scientific study to determine how to produce the best potatoes.With money from Innovation Norway, visits to the fruit and vegetable trade fair in Berlin and regular correspondence with Norwegian Agricultural Consulting the producers tested three kinds of potato that shared the trait of producing many tubers.Seed potatoes from Soloist, Folven and Cerise were placed close together in the soil and placed in slow growth conditions, with a small amount of room to develop and little fertiliser. They remained in the dark and matured slowly.Eventually, they were harvested, and "we called them pearl potatoes, because they emerge from the earth like beads on a string," says Janne Mette Valberg.The potatoes were launched globally at Trøndersk Festival. Ever since, Norway’s potato market has not been quite the same. All Rema 1000 stores in Trøndelag now have pearl potatoes in their range, in addition to the newly established "Food Hall in Trondheim." An advantage of this Norwegian gourmet potato, beyond its taste, is its short cooking time of up to twelve minutes. It should appeal to most people who know that time occasionally goes too hastily.