Potato Classification

• French potato varieties are rigorously tested and categorized before inclusion in the official catalog of French potatoes. Set up by the Permanent Technical Committee for Plant Breeding, a section of the Ministry of Agriculture, this catalog lists all the varieties of potatoes with seeds or plants sold in France. It's an invaluable aid to farmers in choosing which varieties to grow for which markets.
  
  

The Firm-Fleshed Ware Varieties

• This category contains varieties such as the cherie, altesse, charlotte, pompadour and rosa. These potatoes plants produce many tubers that have a fine texture to their flesh and do not disintegrate while they're being cooked. Most have a long shape and are good in preparations such as potato salad or soups where they're required to hold their shape or undergo a lengthy cooking time.
  
  

The Ware Varieties

• The tubers produced by these plants aren't as fine-textured as the firm-fleshed varieties. Coarser and somewhat grainier, these disintegrate more while cooking and are good for a wide range of culinary applications, from baking to frying, as suited to the particular cultivar used. Ware varieties include the adora, anais, kuroda and resy.
  
  

The Starch Varieties

• These potatoes are used mostly to produce starch. The leaves of the potato plant gather up the sun's energy and convert it to a solution of sugar. This sugar is then moved into the tuber itself, where it's converted to starch. When it's needed by the plant, the tuber converts it back to sugar and sends it up to the plant to burn for energy. Potato starch is used in a wide array of industries, including the manufacturing of paper and cardboard, biotechnological materials, textiles, glue, detergents, medicines, cosmetics and even biodegradable pseudo-plastics. Starch varieties include the albas, hinga, pollux and taramis.
  
  

Other Considerations

• There are other considerations when it comes to choosing a French potato. Each variety is noted for characteristics such as its "keeping quality" (how well and long the potato can be stored), its susceptibility to pests and disease, and its culinary quality. Whether you're looking to cook them or grow them, or both, there's plenty of information available to help you choose just the right potato.