BOTANICAL NAME: Solanum tuberosum
FAMILY: Solanaceae
American bombs leveled Calais, France, during the course of two world wars, yet despite the massive destruction the people of Calais have preserved their Picard soul in their market. It was there one brisk January day that I discovered the Roseval (pronounced rose-VAAL) potato.
The air was filled with the smell of freshly baked bread. There were pheasants, squabs, and hares hanging in tastefully arranged booths. There were carts of cheeses of untold variety. There were giant leeks and màche the size of small lettuces. But over to one side of the market square stood a small blue truck, rather muddy from a recent excursion down some back country lane. And beside it stood an old farmer in a dark blue smock. All around him French housewives pressed forward with shopping bags and baskets; their conversation was animated. I entered the fray and discovered potatoes that were smooth, cherry red, and rather flat. The shoppers considered them a great prize, and so they were. This is one of the tastiest French salad potatoes sought out by connoisseurs. It is also rather scarce.
Roseval was developed in France and released commercially in 1950. This timing was doubtless chosen to coincide with the opening of English markets to French potatoes that same year. The English had refused to buy French potatoes since 1932, but Roseval did not appeal to English tastes. One of its parents, Rosa (the other parent was Vale), was trialed at Wisley in Kent during the war and subjected to a tasting at the Savoy Hotel in London in 1942. Imagine exacting Englishmen stationed at their crisp linen tables laid out with silver platters of cooked potatoes while overhead buzz bombs are zooming down on London. Hitler’s impudence was duly ignored, but Rosa was deemed waxy and this trait was carried down in Roseval. The English, unlike the French, do not like waxy potatoes.
This is one of the tastiest French salad potatoes sought out by connoisseurs.
In France, however, Roseval has replaced the old French variety Etoile du Nord. Its yellow flesh is good for boiling. Roseval’s complex flavor holds up even after over cooking, and it is a terrific match with wines made from the Müller-Thurgau grape, and just about anything sent out of Alsace. Chef Joël Robuchon singled it out as one of the preferred varieties for his 1994 collection of potato recipes. This is a potato to serve with goose liver paté, onion tarts, leeks, or, as they serve it in Calais, poached as a side dish with skate and a sauce flavored with raspberry vinegar. It is a potato that needs no garnish.