Purple Bliss Potatoes

Most coloured potatoes lose their nerve once they hit heat, fading to a sad lavender grey. Purple Bliss does the opposite. Roast it and the colour deepens, turning a tray of wedges into something closer to a centrepiece.

The flesh is floury and medium high in starch, which is why it behaves like a true roaster rather than a novelty. You get a fluffy interior, edges that crisp, and a mash that comes out a genuinely dramatic dark purple. The flavour underneath all that colour is honest and earthy, the sort of thing that holds its own next to red meat or a robust gravy.

At Spud Sisters we stock Purple Bliss for the cooks who want their colour to mean something on the plate, not just look pretty in the bag. It is the floury, roast and chip member of our purple line up, the louder sibling to the waxier Purple Sapphire.

The deep purple comes from anthocyanins, the same antioxidant pigment family found in blueberries and red cabbage, and it is concentrated right through the flesh rather than just the skin.

Purple Bliss gets its colour from anthocyanins, a powerful antioxidant pigment from the same family found in blueberries and red cabbage, running all the way through the flesh rather than just the skin. Purple fleshed varieties like this carry a higher antioxidant load than standard white or yellow potatoes. A medium potato holds more potassium than a banana, supporting healthy blood pressure, alongside vitamin C and B6 for immune function and energy metabolism. It offers dietary fibre, especially with the skin left on, is naturally gluten free, and cooked and cooled, it develops resistant starch that feeds beneficial gut bacteria.

Purple Bliss is in season from January to August, spanning summer through to late winter.

This is where Purple Bliss earns its keep. Parboil for around 10 minutes, then toss in good olive oil and salt. Roast at 200C for 35 to 45 minutes, turning once. The colour deepens in the oven and the edges crisp while the centre stays fluffy.

Cut into thick chips, soak in cold water for 30 minutes to draw out surface starch, then pat dry. Roast or fry hot. The floury flesh gives you a crisp shell and a soft, deeply coloured interior.

Boil until just tender, drain well and let them steam dry in the pot for a minute before mashing. The result is a striking dark purple mash. Add butter and warm milk and keep the mixing gentle so it stays light.

Bake whole at 200C for 50 to 60 minutes until the skin crisps and the flesh is fluffy. Splitting one open at the table is half the fun.

No need to peel. The skin is thin and carries plenty of the antioxidant pigment, so a gentle scrub is all it needs. To keep the colour at its most vivid, avoid long boils in plenty of water, since that is where purple potatoes bleed and fade. If a green tinge appears, cut it away generously before cooking.

Purple skin and purple flesh both like the dark, so a cool, dry cupboard or pantry is exactly right. Keep it out of the fridge, because cold turns the starch to sugar and dulls both the flavour and the texture. Leave it in the paper bag it arrives in rather than sealed plastic, since potatoes need to breathe, and keep it well away from onions, which speed up spoiling on both sides. Purple Bliss will hold for around two weeks in good conditions. Because the skin is already dark, greening from light exposure can be tricky to spot, so if any patch looks yellowish green, cut it away generously before cooking. When your order arrives, open the box straight away and move the potatoes somewhere cool and dark.