The first Comber Early potatoes of the season have shrugged off a difficult season to go on sale in shops and restaurants across Northern Ireland today.
With their own unique flavour, Comber Earlies were awarded Protected Geographical Indication status by the EU, which recognises the Comber spud alongside some of Europe’s most iconic regional food brands, such as Feta Cheese, Champagne and the Cornish Pasty.
Chair of the Comber Farmers’ Market committee run by the Comber Regeneration and Community Partnership, Alderman Deborah Girvan, says: “I know it has been a difficult winter for our potato farmers with late frost preventing them from planting and indeed keeping them awake at night.
“It is fantastic, therefore, that some will be available from the start of June. Then, of course, the whole county looks forward to the Comber Earlies Food Festival later in the month, when all the producers can come together to celebrate this humble and tasty little spud.”
Comber Earlies are the first potato harvest of the year in Northern Ireland. The potatoes are grown on the shores of Strangford Lough, where the milder climate and fertile soil provide ideal early conditions.
Noted for their unique flavour, the variety is a particularly expensive business because of the tight timetable which usually requires covering the crop with plastic.
Comber New Season potatoes are available from the beginning of June to the end of July.The first earlies are usually harvested in small quantities and eaten straight away when fresh boiled..
They were granted PGI status in 2014, meaning only new season potatoes harvested from fields around Comber in County Down can now be marketed as ‘New Season Comber Potatoes’ or ‘Comber Earlies’.
There are currently fewer than 20 Comber potato growers in Northern Ireland supplying the retail and foodservice sectors and have been grown since the early 17th century in Northern Ireland.
