NEW SEASON Gatsby Potatoes

Not every seasonal variety needs to be a showstopper. Gatsby is the one that makes itself useful. It is a new season all rounder with a thin skin, a mild creamy flavour and a texture that behaves itself across nearly every cooking method, which is exactly what you want from the potato doing the quiet heavy lifting on a weeknight.

The appeal is its ease. Gatsby slots straight into your standing weeknight order and improves it without asking you to change how you cook. Roast it, mash it, boil it, bake it. It is medium starch, so it leans more all rounder than dedicated roaster or dedicated waxy, and that flexibility is the whole point.

It is still a new season variety, though, dug fresh for a window rather than sitting on a shelf year round. That freshness gives it a lift over your usual everyday spud, which is why it is a genuine, if humble, seasonal upgrade. At Spud Sisters we list Gatsby when it is in season and note its status the rest of the time.

Gatsby's medium starch profile makes it a genuine all rounder, sitting between waxy and floury extremes to give a balanced, steady release of energy. Its creamy flesh points to carotenoids, the same antioxidant family that colours carrots, while a medium potato holds more potassium than a banana for healthy blood pressure. Vitamin C and B6 round out the immune and energy benefits, and it is naturally gluten free. Fat content stays low regardless, it is what you add to Gatsby that shifts the nutritional picture, and cooked then cooled, it develops resistant starch that feeds beneficial gut bacteria.

Grown in Victoria and dug fresh for its season before being sent your way, rather than spending months in cold storage. Even a humble all rounder tastes better when it is genuinely fresh, so we keep the journey short and let that freshness do the work.

Gatsby is in season from March to September, making it the natural choice for the cooler months when a reliable all rounder is exactly what the kitchen needs.

The signature method for a seasonal all rounder. Cut into even pieces, parboil for around 8 to 10 minutes, then toss in olive oil and salt and roast at 200C for 35 to 40 minutes, turning once. You will get a nicely golden outside with a creamy centre, a happy middle ground rather than an extreme.

Boil until just tender, drain well and let the potatoes steam dry in the pot for a minute before mashing. As a medium starch all rounder, Gatsby mashes smooth with a modest amount of butter and warm milk. Do not over work it. For an extra rich, buttery mash, [Dutch Cream internal link] is the go to.

Cover with cold salted water, bring to the boil and cook for 18 to 22 minutes depending on size. Test with a skewer. Gatsby holds together well enough for a simple boiled side, though it is not built for a showpiece salad.

Bake whole at 200C for around 50 to 60 minutes until the skin is crisp and the inside is fluffy and creamy. A solid jacket potato that takes a filling happily.

No need to peel, the thin skin is fine to leave on, so a gentle scrub will do. For roasting, cut into even sizes so everything cooks at the same rate, and rough up the edges of parboiled pieces in the colander for a better crust. Handle gently, as new season skins mark more easily. If any green tinge appears, trim it away before cooking.

Store it somewhere cool and dark, a pantry or cupboard away from sunlight, where light cannot cause greening and warmth cannot speed up sprouting.

Do not refrigerate. Cold turns the potato's starch to sugar, which affects both flavour and texture when cooked.

Avoid sealed plastic. Potatoes need to breathe, so the paper bag they arrive in is ideal.

Keep them away from onions, which make both deteriorate faster.

Shelf life: as a freshly dug new season variety, Gatsby keeps a little less time than a long stored potato. Eat within around two weeks of delivery for the best of it.

If you spot a green tinge: cut it away generously and cook the rest as normal.

When your order arrives: open the box promptly and move the potatoes to a cool, dark spot. The thin skin marks easily, so a few transit marks are perfectly normal.