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Benjamin Flynn is a cook at the
Downtown Diner in Lake Placid. Watching him man the grill in the
kitchen isn’t too much different than observing any other short
order cook do their thing.
But as Flynn leans in to check on a
batch of home fries, he proudly points out something that separates
his menu from the rest of the pack.
“We use the Tucker’s taters for the
home fries and occasionally baked potatoes,” he said. “We used to
use the little reds and the chefs, but right now we are getting just
the chef.”
The combination of a worldwide crash
in the potato market, an aggressive marketing campaign by Cornell
University and a new-found allegiance to locally-grown crops are
reshaping the landscape of what species of the staple vegetable
people are eating.
Over the last decade, researchers at
Cornell have been developing strains of potato that can cope with
the highly inconsistent soils and frequent cold-weather snaps of
upstate New York.
They are typically of the low-starch,
high-sugar variety and designed for multipurpose use.
And for Flynn, some of the strains
make a mean home fry.
“They are great for home fries, baked
potatoes and occasionally we do our own shoestring French fries,” he
said.
Cornell has developed strains ranging
in color and size, meant to not only grow in the region’s
unpredictable climate, but also in some cases replace the more
widely known and recognized Idaho Russet or Yukon Gold varieties.
The university’s Keuka Gold strain was
designed to mimic the popular Yukon Gold species, but grow better in
the Western New York Region, while the white Eva and Salem strains
can be supplemented for a russet.
But of even greater oddity are the
strains produced for the sandy Adirondack soils.
The Adirondack Blue and the Adirondack
Red strains have become a hit throughout the state, and growers are
now shipping them to restaurants as far south as Manhattan.
But a blue home fry is a little weird
looking, and may be a bit much for a hungry patron.
“I have tried the blues, they are
tasty,” he said. “However, they look kind of weird on the grill so
we don’t use them as much.”
Locally, eateries ranging from diners
to high-end restaurants like the Lake Placid Lodge are taking
advantage of the Adirondack strains, using both their unique colors
and multipurpose flavor in a plethora of dishes.
Tucker Farms in Gabriels specializes
in Cornell potatoes, selling seeds and grown produce to would-be
growers and chefs alike.
Chefs remain torn on the blues, which
have high sugar content and often creates a glutinous texture during
cooking.
According to the farm’s potato
specialist, Steve Tucker, the seeds cost almost double of what’s
charged for standard russet. But demand remains strong nonetheless,
with diners preferring the white strains. The blues and reds are
often reserved for more exclusive fare.
“We sell to some of the top-end
restaurants in Lake Placid,” Tucker said. “And they like to use some
of the specialty ones that you wouldn’t get in a regular
restaurant.”
Tucker said that the farm has been
having better yields with the white strains, but expects the blues
and reds to improve as Cornell refines them.
-Jon
Alexander, 10-14-09
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