vilakins | Tutaekuri

I bought some Maori potatoes this week. They're not really native, having been introduced from South America by whalers in the 1700s, but they're old Incan varieties: small (about a finger's length), cylindrical, and knobbly, The type I got are a very dark purple--all the way through--and the Maori name for them is 'tutaekuri', printed right there on the packaging. My father spoke Maori and he taught me enough to know what that means: 'dog shit'. And they do look like it too. :-) It's not often you find a product so open about its appearance.

As for taste, they're very nice, like some of the more old-fashioned potato varieties grown in people's gardens, and not at all purple.