Jersey Royals

Jersey Royal potatoes  are totally unique to the island of Jersey. They are so prized that the EU protects them with an ‘Appellation Contrôlée’ label (as is the case with Champagne) and they are the only fresh produce from the UK to enjoy this status. This means that the only potatoes that can be sold under the Jersey Royal name have to be grown on the island of Jersey. 

The Le Maistre family (Philip,Peter and their father Charles) who run  Master Farms Ltd at Les Pres Manor which has been in the family since 1841 grow Jersey Royals organically and have just started to harvest the small kidney-shaped tubers from the fertile soils of the steep south-facing ‘cotils’ (slopes) on the west of the Island. All of the seed potatoes are planted  by hand which is very labour intensive.

They run a mixed farm growing a whole range of organic crops for export to the U.K.,including cauliflower,broad bean,runner bean,outdoor tomatoes,courgettes, PSB, and a range of potatoes. The majority of the farm is now organic or in conversion to organic,aprox. 220 acres. The Jersey Royal dates Back to 1880, a Jersey farmer, Hugh de la Have, bought an exceptionally large potato bearing lots of shoots from a local market stall. He cut the potato into pieces and planted them – they all produced regular potatoes except for one of the pieces, which bore nothing but curious kidney-shaped tubers. And thus the Jersey Royal was born, since Hugh had the foresight to taste these odd-looking potatoes instead of rejecting them. But, being a generous sort of chap, he never thought to cash in on his discovery, instead sharing the secret with his fellow farmers and ending his days in abject poverty.

Jersey Quality Produce was established in May 2004 by three longstanding Jersey farming families and became a supplier to langridge having worked for several seasons with Master Farms (one of the partner farms).

They have some more information at http://www.jerseyqp.com/

Click on the Jersey Royal logo at the top of this page for a link to the official Jersy Royal web site.